Play The Settlers Online

The Settlers is a real-time strategy game released in 1995 for MS-DOS. Developed by Blue Byte Software and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc., it presents a managerial simulation from a bird's-eye view, focusing on economic and territorial expansion within a cartoon-styled world.

Players control a faction of settlers, beginning each mission by selecting a starting location rich in flat land and resources like trees, stone, and water. The primary objective is to achieve supremacy over up to three rival factions through careful resource management and territorial control. Gameplay revolves around constructing buildings that require specific materials, such as wood and stone, and establishing complex production chains. For example, feeding the population involves creating food sources like fish, bread, or pork, which in turn requires a network of specialized structures like farms, windmills, and butchers. This economic output supports workers who mine essential resources such as iron, coal, and gold. Territory is expanded by building huts and watchtowers, which can strategically encroach on enemy land to disrupt their production.

The game includes thirty preset missions, along with six tutorial missions designed to introduce its mechanics. Victory in a level is achieved by defeating all opposing factions through combat, where individual soldiers engage in one-on-one battles; winning a fight causes the surrounding enemy buildings to be lost. Beyond the preset scenarios, the game offers semi-randomly generated maps based on a sixteen-number key, with sizes ranging from small for quick matches to very large for extended play sessions. These custom maps can be played in single-player mode or by two players on one system using two mice, with the screen divided vertically.