The Seven Cities of Gold — Tutorial
Version 1.8.1. A first voyage, step by step. The full rules are in the manual (docs/manual.pdf).
How to begin
- On the title plate, type your captain's name, choose a New World (a random one, or the Americas) and a difficulty (Easy, Normal, Hard; Normal is the default), and press Begin a new career.
- The Outfitters of Seville open. Suggest an outfit fills a sensible fleet for your Crown funds. Read the King's commission at the top: it is this voyage's bonus objective.
- Choose a course (northern, middle or southern) and press Set sail for the New World. After the crossing your fleet lies off an unknown coast.
Controls
| Action | How |
|---|---|
| Travel | Click any charted hex: the expedition goes there by the quickest charted route. Keys W E A D Z X step one hex (NW, NE, W, E, SW, SE). |
| Pan and zoom | Drag the chart to pan; mouse wheel or pinch to zoom; arrow keys pan; + and − zoom; F fits the whole chart; C centres on the expedition; click the small chart at the top left to jump. |
| Camp or fish | Space, or the Camp/Fish button. |
| Visit a settlement | Walk into it, or press V beside it. |
| Marks | M, or Place a mark, then click a charted hex. |
| Halt | Esc halts a march, or closes an encounter. |
The left sidebar is information — your captain, the expedition, the commission, the Seven Cities, nations, forts, honours and the ship's log. The right sidebar holds every control.
Turn order
There are no fixed turns: every action spends days. Each step at sea is one day; ashore each hex costs days by terrain; camping takes three. Every ten people eat one food a day. A voyage runs outfit in Seville → cross the ocean → explore → sail home → the Crown's Ledger, and then Seville again. While you are in Seville the New World moves on: rival crowns sail, nations make war and peace, forts and colonies work, and mines send ore.
Movement
Click the sea to sail; click a land hex beside the fleet to go ashore; walk back onto the fleet's hex to board. Click any charted hex and the expedition goes by the quickest charted route — the route and its cost show when you point at a hex. Grassland costs 1 day, forest, hills, desert and tundra 2, jungle and swamp 3, mountains 4. Rivers (blue lines) can be sailed by caravels far inland. A native guide, a river valley and a mounted column (one horse to every 3 men) all save days; winter costs one.
Combat and scoring
Walk into a settlement to visit it. Talk for maps and rumours of the Seven Cities; trade goods for gold, food or the local commodity; give gifts; found a mission; at a nation's capital swear a treaty or broker peace. You may also demand tribute or attack — the plate shows your odds — but every nation hears of a massacre and the Council of the Indies charges 15 favour for each. On returning to Seville the Crown's Ledger scores the voyage: gold home, land charted, settlements reported, each of the Seven Cities (150 favour), wonders, forts, missions, colonies, treaties, the commission and more. Favour raises your rank: Adventurer 0, Captain 300, Commander 900, Admiral 2,000, Governor 4,000, Viceroy 7,500.
Winning conditions
A career ends when you retire (at any time in Seville, or at age 60). Your score is your royal favour plus your personal fortune; the best ten careers are kept in the Hall of Fame. Reaching Viceroy, finding all Seven Cities and earning all 20 honours are the great achievements.
Losing conditions
If every man of the expedition dies — of starvation, fever, cold, ambush, storms or a lost battle — the expedition is lost and the career ends there. Watch the food line in the left sidebar: below ten days it turns red and a warning appears. Forts can also be lost to sieges while you are away, and a mutiny stops the expedition until you answer it.
Saving and restarting
The game saves automatically after every action, in this browser. On the title plate, Continue saved career resumes it exactly. New career (under Game) starts again; you are asked to confirm before a career in progress is abandoned. Careers saved by version 1.1.0 or later continue in this version.