LAST TWO HOURS GOES IN RIGHT NOW! HOW CAN YOU MISS SUCH OPPORTUNITY LIKE THIS?! HOW CAN YOU!?

Caps for ultimate bump. Go go lads!

TftD is probably a very nice game, but I think I'd rather get the original first ;) Thanks all the same.

Will tell you what made an impact, though.

Europa Universalis 2

I had never imagined I'd be into this kind of game; didn't even like the thing when I tried it the first time, went right back to Medieval: TW. But, for some inscrutable reason, it stayed with me, always there in my periphery, teasing me. I've tried numerous games and discarded them, never finished. It wasn't a matter of them being too hard, but rather just not being compelling enough; good games, too. But this thing, this thing I'd never even understood, never given it a real chance, and subconsciously it kept on reminding me. So, upon finding myself suitably bored and not blessed by a sufficiently 3D-capable rig, I decided to give it a second go. It took a bit of reading and forum investigation, but curiously enough, that only heightened my interest. There was meat behind this clumsy declare-invade-besiege-take-rinse-repeat-haggle-profit! mechanism. I am still fascinated how much fun can be had in a game without any meaningful victory conditions, story, progression, characters. In a sense, it was one of the ultimate role-playing experiences: you can mould your state as you see fit, but you have to co-exist with the rest of the world.

Needless to say, it was a profound eye-opening experience. And while I now love the entire grand-strategy genre, I've not yet found a game that's quite as good as good old EU2.

GIVEAWAY CONTEST IS CLOSED!

Winner has been PM'd!

Thank you everyone!

Congrats to the winner and thanks to Palvikinkku for the giveaway.