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Apple Games has posted a new feature article focusing on the recently released The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom. The game puts players in the role of a ruler trying to create, build, and manage a kingdom. Apple's article includes an overview of the game, an examination of prestige points, and a history of the Settlers series.

Once you establish an economy, you’ll want to decide which of the three roads to success — military, trade, or technology — best suits your style of gameplay. Military might depends on your ability to amass the goods required to train five types of units — pikemen, musketeers, cavalry, cannons, and standard bearers — as well as your skill at dictating your generals’ combat strategies.

A powerful trading empire depends on training three kinds of traders — hawkers, salesmen, and merchants — and shrewdly developing trade routes; you can take control of neutral areas, thus expanding your commercial empire, by sending bribes with traders. And if technological prowess is your forte, you’ll want to train three types of clerics — novices, brothers, and fathers — who will research technologies at monasteries scattered around the map; players can interrupt each other’s research and take it over, albeit at a higher cost than if they had initiated the process.

No matter which route you take, you’ll earn Victory Points for achieving certain goals, such as building the largest army, amassing the most money, or researching a specific high-level technology. The player who reaches a pre-determined Victory Point total and holds onto their points until the timer reaches zero is declared the winner. (Sure, you can also win by simply wiping out everyone else on the map, but where’s the fun in that?)

While some Victory Points are permanent, many of them can be taken away and reassigned to another player. Thought you had the largest army? Nope, someone just trained a few troops that put them over the top. So if you find yourself in the catbird seat, watch out: everyone will know about it, and they’ll start looking for ways to knock a few Victory Points out of your grasp.

Apple Games: The Settlers 7

Ubisoft (add to watch list)

The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom Gold Edition (add to watch list)

The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom Standard Edition

Buy The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom Gold Edition

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