Following in the tradition of great building/evolution games like Sim City and Civilisation, Dawn of Discovery starts of in the 1400s and asks you to grow an empire from tiny towns to huge cities.

In two different modes of play you will gather resources, appease citizens, commission new buildings, build ships and conquer islands on your quest for ever greater size and glory.

A lively and bright interface is visible with both the Nintendo DS and Wii versions of the game, making gameplay easy and accessible.

The game does an excellent job of staying entertaining and engrossing without being too complex.

In fact you will find that the game only becomes complex when it needs to be, but for the most part it is simple, straightforward and enjoyable.

One of the main goals is to progress the citizens in your cities from peasants to aristocrats, and allow them to become wealthier and have better standards of life along the way. Once they are wealthier you can, of course, tax them more and use the increased income for greater expansion.

Discovering new islands is an exciting part of the game, and the mechanics of it are clever too. The layout of the world map is such that no island has all of the resources needed for total success; instead, you are required to spread your civilisation across many islands in order to take advantage of their various offerings.

Combat in the game is simplistic, and this may be a little bit of a drawback for some. You will come across ships on the high seas wanting to prevent you from settling in a certain area or take your gold, and you will need to defeat them with greater military numbers. It is a simple equation: more troops leads to more victories.

There is only one military unit to build – troops – and these can be stationed in shipyards and warehouses. It is clear that the designers of Dawn of Discovery wanted to keep this as a firmly exploratory/building/civilisation game, and as such they have kept the combat aspect of it to an absolute minimum.

You will enjoy the airy visual style of the game as well as the entertaining voice acting, and before you know it you will find yourself enchanted with the game.

Simply put, if you have enjoyed adventure and building games in the past, Dawn of Discovery will be right up your alley.

7.5/10

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