Computer games - Inselkampf

A build screen.  Click
here for a larger image.

Inselkampf (a literal translation from German is island struggle) is a graphics low strategy game where you rule an island.  You have to create buildings, raise an army, research new technology (spears, shields, bows, catapults and sails) and then sail forth to conquer new islands.  It is an extremely simple game to start with.  All you have to do is register then start building some new buildings.  You can find a guide to start yourself off here and look at the wiki to read about what everything does here.  Buildings are built, troops recruited and technologies are researched in a certain amount of time, so you can set the activity off and then log back in when it is complete.

The aim is to build a fleet of ships and to control as many islands as possible.  If you are lucky, you can find an unoccupied island to conquer.  However, when I played it, it seemed that a few people owned huge empires and armies which made it very difficult for newer players to get very far ahead (unless you joined one of their empires.)

A battle calculation.

Click here for a
larger image.

The game boils down to making calculations for sailing times and for battles to see if you can win.  There are other aspects such as mining and logging, trading resources and making alliances but eventually, you will probably get caught up in some war eventually.  

In terms of inspiration for gamebooks, it is a good guide for simple battles and managing settlements.  I have not played the game for some years so they may have sorted out the balance issues.  It is important in a game to make sure that everyone can advance and that a few people don't control most of the resources as that leaves out most of the players and stops them having much fun.

You can play Inselkampf here.

You can read the wiki for instructions here.