Europa Universalis (board game)

A game can last from six hours up to several weeks; Board Game Geek estimates the playing time to be 15 days. About 1,000 markers are used, as well as two {{convert|56|x|86|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} maps: one for Europe and one for the rest of the world. The English rulebook is 154 pages long including player guides and various tables.

The game is primarily designed for 6 players, but a 5-player variant also exists.{{cite book |title=Europa Universalis Manual |url=http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?233@@.1dd32933/284!enclosure=.1dd2f7f8 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811015254/http://talk.consimworld.com/WebX?233@@.1dd32933/284!enclosure=.1dd2f7f8 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2022-08-11 |access-date=20 September 2024}} Playable countries are Spain/Austria{{refn|group=nb|Under certain conditions, Spain player has the choice of switching over to Austria in 1700Manual p. 53}}, France, Turkey, Portugal/Russia{{refn|group=nb|Russia starts as NPC and other players are unable to interact with it, until 1560 when Portugal player switches his country to Russia, making it a major countryManual p. 53}}, England, Venice/Holland{{refn|group=nb|Holland starts with no provinces, because the Netherlands are controlled by Spain. However, as the game progresses, Spain receives events where they lose their provinces in the Netherlands to Holland. When these events occur in 1560, the Venice player changes his country to Holland.Manual p. 53}}.

Each country has unique events, objectives, and special rules, for example, Turkey deal with corruption of the pashas, Russia's military power is limited until the arrival of Peter the Great, England has access to powerful privateers.

A first official extension was released and introduced new rules for forts and missionaries, as well as a new set of objectives.{{cite web| url=https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5069/europa-universalis-extension-no-1| title=Board Game Geek description of the extension| access-date=2006-11-24}} A second extension has been widely circulated on the internet. It introduced yet another set of rules, such as palaces, including historical monarchs with predefined characteristics and a faster combat system that could divide by ten or more the time for one battle, as well as many new minor countries and counters. It was never published officially.

Two more variants have also been circulated: the event rewrite by Risto Marjomaa{{cite web| url=https://groups.yahoo.com/group/EU-list/files/| title=Risto's rewrite| access-date=2006-11-24}}{{dead link|date=December 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and the Europa8 version{{cite web| url=http://bamgames.free.fr/Europa/EU8/| title=Europa 8 variant| access-date=2006-11-24}} by Pierre Borgnat, Bertrand Asseray, Jean-Yves Moyen and Jean-Christophe Dubacq, which introduces two more players, revised counters and maps, and is not finished yet.

• Casus Belli #79{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/casus-belli-079/page/19/mode/2up | title=Casus Belli #079 | date=1994 }}

In 2000, Swedish video game developer Paradox Development Studio adapted the board game into a video game, with notable changes including replacing the turn-based gameplay with realtime. Paradox continued developing sequels to their adaptions, including Europa Universalis II, III, IV, and V.

In 2023, Paradox also published their own boardgame based on their video game, Europa Universalis: Price of Power.{{cite web |title=Europa Universalis: The Price of Power |url=https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/254127/europa-universalis-the-price-of-power |website=BoardGameGeek |access-date=20 September 2024}}

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• [https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/195/azure-wish-enterprise-awe Azure Wish Enterprise]

Category:Board games introduced in 1993

Category:Board games about history

Category:Europa Universalis

Category:Political tabletop games

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