Recent reviews by Boricapra

While I miss the unique units of Switzerland from the original game (Halberdier instead of pikeman, Harquebusier instead of 17th century musketeer and Swordsman as Roundshier and Sword Clansman equivalent), I am most disappointed by Swiss architecture. In the old game the architecture was bright and vibrant, deserving of the gorgeous Alps and the walls were overgrown with beautiful ivies and flowers dotted all building in pots and planters on balconies and such- Such is not the case in Cossacks 3 where their buildings have had their beautiful botanic decor removed and have become rather dull and barren.

Now gone are the yellow-black bee-stripped halberdiers and yellow and red flowers and ivy overgrown stables... and it indeed makes me sad very much...
Well, at least the legacy of Reisläufer is present within the strong unique pikemen of 17th century Swiss can muster.

A game of dwarven mining enterprise upon an alien world, one consisting of vast subterranean networks and cavities. A game of fast paced and yet planned combat, interspersed between humorous largely peaceful mining and building periods. A game of drinking ales, tossing barrels and being a wacky dwarf! A game where you get in, mine, build, extract, eliminate, collect, befriend some Steves, pat some Lootbugs, dig some tunnels and shoot some woken-up-from-nap bugs! A game of infectious, addicting charm!

I've been playing demo for a good long while and I can very much say, with great love, that this is a most wonderful game.
It is a relaxing pixel 2D simulation game of beekeeping, that charms its way into your heart with its bees, its visuals, its calming music, its gameplay of exploration of the world on a quest to find more bee species and rehabilitating them back into the world.
As a beekeeper, I can confirm the beekeeping practices of the game as authentic, if simplified in some less important details.
Building frames, putting them into apiaries, fertilising queens, scrapping wax off the capped combs, centrifuging the contents out - And it doesn't stop there. As a beekeeper you must also deal with sustainable forestry, after all your equipment is made of wood and protected with resins. As an added bonus you can brew meads, spice them with spices and create your own meadery of potion-like meads, which grant you various buffs. Honeyed-Alchemy!

I absolutely adore this game, for it speaks to my heart. It is quite an in-depth sailing simulator of maritime trade, exploration, navigation and survival at sea.

While it still lacks in content, it is nevertheless very enjoyable. Others have already suggested features and I concur with them. To be able to establish our location by celestial bodies of the night's sky or an astrolab, so to better be able to plan our path would be grand. Furthermore, ability to chart route with simple geometrical tools on our maps would be amazing too. I would also love to see more settings options. My laptop, while quite beautiful and modern, is inept at portraying good graphics, so ability to scale resolution and lower graphics for a smoother experience would be a blast. I wouldn't mind implementation of oars, multiplayer and multi-crewing.

All in all, this is a beautiful sailing game set in three distinct settings. A setting that is apparently inspired by Oriental traders of Arabian peninsula in their arid but productive lands (Along the Persian gulf, Indian Ocean and Red Sea) and northern Africa, bordering the warm Mediterranean sea (of Morroco, Algeria, Tunis and Mamluk Egypt); a setting that is supposedly inspired by southern Chinese and Indonesian traders, such as in jungle lands of old Vietnamese kingdoms, Han Imperial China along the banks of Wu river and Majapahit Empire and a setting that in a way combines all of European Western and Adriatic Mediterranean cultures of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, France and Spain in the warm fertile lands dotted with mountains. Ships follow suit, with different ships for different settings, from Dhows of Arabia and India, to Junks of China and cogs, hulks and sloops of Mediterran.