Below is another great article from one of our newer blog contributors, David Waldorf. You can find his previous InsideGMT article covering Conquest of Paradise here. Enjoy! -Rachel

In this series of articles I’m looking at how Conquest of Paradise stretches across genre borders.  This time, I’m going to look at how it holds up when considered as a eurogame.

Perhaps if you have played the game, you read the title of this article and thought “Wait! Is Conquest of Paradise a eurogame?”  Of course it is—look at all those little wooden houses!

These ubiquitous colored dwellings have been one of the hallmarks of the genre ever since they appeared in Catan.  If a game has ’em, it’s definitely a eurogame.

. . . Sort of.  In reality, houses don’t make a game euro-style (though they are in some of the most popular titles of the genre).  What does make a game a eurogame is hard to nail down precisely, because it hinges on a variety of factors in design, gameplay, and win conditions.  Considered as a whole, Conquest of Paradise does not fit the mold very well, especially with the direct combat between players—which is pretty much a non-starter.  But the aspect that feels very euro-style to me is the victory point system it uses to determine turn order and ultimately the winner.  As you play, you may find yourself caring more about how to accumulate the most victory points than seeking the well-being of your tribe, as I mentioned in my previous article.  This is exactly what you spend a lot of time doing in a many eurogames.

The fact that turn order can vary dependent on your position on the victory point track reminds me slightly of another eurogame involving connected wooden houses: Power Grid.  I love mechanisms in which the person in last place gains an advantage over other players. In the case of  Conquest of Paradise, that advantage is determining who the first player will be and the direction of play for that round.  Or, with an advanced rule, the last player can choose to resolve a random event.  The presence of mechanisms such as these helps players who are not doing as well to remain competitive—another hallmark of eurogames.

Earlier I mentioned Catan.  If you think about it, Conquest of Paradise echoes that classic, sharing some striking similarities while also showing a stamp of individuality.  It is, if you will, an American answer to Klaus Teuber’s design: in both games you are connecting villages/settlements to each other via transportation networks, and increasing those villages to gain more currency—while also gaining more victory points.  In both games you can purchase cards that might give you military advantages, victory points, or other benefits.  In both games the winner is usually the person who has built the biggest and best civilization.  But where Catan is generic, Conquest of Paradise is specific and more complex, fully embracing a certain culture at a certain time.

In conclusion, I think the basic strategy and direction of this game will feel familiar to eurogamers.  Again, there is obviously much more here that is not euro, but I think this game does bridge a gap between the American and European design schools in a very natural way.  Try introducing it to eurogamers as a game that shares design similarities with Catan—only you don’t trade resources, and if someone plunks down villages where you wanted to go, you can fight them off and take over.  That dynamic may not appeal to some, but it works well in this game and with this theme.

Author: David Waldorf