Cultures (video game)

Cultures: Discovery of Vinland
Developer(s)Funatics Software
Headup Games (iOS)
Publisher(s)Phenomedia
Headup Games (iOS)
Platform(s)Windows, iOS
Release
iOS
July 24, 2014
Genre(s)City-building game

Cultures: Discovery of Vinland (German: Cultures: Die Entdeckung Vinlands) is a 2000 real-time strategy and city-building game developed by Funatics Software and published by Phenomedia. It is the first entry in the Cultures series.

Gameplay

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Cultures is a real-time strategy and city-building game in which players manage the historical Vinland settlements of the Vikings. This includes constructing roads, handling the settlement's economy and training citizens in jobs such as blacksmithing. The ultimate goal is to gather shards of a crashed meteor that possesses magical properties.[4]

Development

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The PC version was developed by Funatics Software, and was originally released in Europe during late 2000. Its North American release occurred on July 31, 2001.[3] The iOS version was developed and published by Headup Games in 2014.

Reception

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Critical reviews

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The PC version received "mixed" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[5] John Lee of NextGen said of the game, "The gameplay may be plentiful, but Viking reputations will suffer."[13]

Sales

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As a city-building title, the PC version is part of a genre that tended to see success in European countries but "never seems to catch on in the States", GameSpot's Bruce Geryk wrote in 2001.[3] PC Games billed it as a competitor to games such as The Settlers IV and Anno 1503.[2] Retailers pre-purchased 140,000 units of the game in preparation for its release, and sales expectations were high; Funatics' previous title, Catan: Die Erste Insel, had become a sleeper hit.[15] In the German market, the game debuted at #3 on Media Control's computer game sales chart for September 2000.[16] It placed sixth the following month, before falling to 16th in November.[17] Global sales of the game rose to 150,000 units by March 2002.[18]

Sequels

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Cultures was followed by three sequels: Cultures 2: The Gates of Asgard, Cultures: Northland and Cultures: 8th Wonder of the World.

The Cultures franchise became Funatics' most successful line, with combined sales above 700,000 units by 2018.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Bye, John "Gestalt (November 3, 2000). "PC Releases". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on November 20, 2001. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Fröhlich, Petra (March 7, 2001). "Wo die wilden Wikinger wuseln". PC Games (in German). Computec. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Geryk, Bruce (August 9, 2001). "Cultures Review". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on November 9, 2001. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  4. ^ Beers, Craig (July 12, 2001). "First Look: Cultures". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on July 14, 2001. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Cultures (PC)". Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on April 13, 2024. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  6. ^ Mimi (September 13, 2000). "Test: Cultures (PC)". 4Players (in German). 4Players GmbH. Archived from the original on July 9, 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  7. ^ Cook, Eric. "Cultures - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 17, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
  8. ^ Asher, Mark (November 2001). "Déjà Vu All Over Again (The Settlers IV and Cultures Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 208. Ziff Davis. p. 96. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 28, 2023. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  9. ^ Bramwell, Tom (October 20, 2000). "Cultures". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on December 3, 2000. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  10. ^ Brogger, Kristian (September 2001). "Cultures". Game Informer. No. 101. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on September 24, 2004. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  11. ^ Adams, Dan (July 24, 2001). "Cultures". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on April 13, 2024. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  12. ^ pilou (November 29, 2000). "Test: Cultures". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Webedia. Archived from the original on November 27, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  13. ^ a b Lee, John (August 2001). "Cultures". NextGen. No. 80. Imagine Media. p. 90. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  14. ^ Korda, Martin (December 2000). "Cultures". PC Zone. No. 96. Dennis Publishing. p. 92. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  15. ^ GameStar staff (September 11, 2000). "Catan erfolgreich". GameStar (in German). Webedia. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018.
  16. ^ "Stand: September 2000". Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (in German). Archived from the original on October 24, 2000.
  17. ^ "Stand: November 2000". Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (in German). Archived from the original on December 9, 2000.
  18. ^ Ziegler, Peter-Michael (March 22, 2002). "Moorhuhnjäger schießen Vogel beim Umsatz ab". Heise (in German). Archived from the original on December 2, 2018. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  19. ^ "Corporate". Funatics (in German). Archived from the original on December 3, 2018.
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