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FreeCol

Found colonies in the New World, trade with Europe and the natives, and win independence.

▶ Play FreeCol free, in your browser, nothing to install

It is 1492. You lead one of Europe's colonial powers to the New World: explore the coast and the land, found colonies, put colonists to work in the fields and the workshops, and ship what they make back to the market in Europe. Meet the native nations, trade with them, learn from them or fight them, and race the other powers for land and the founding fathers of your congress.

The crown taxes your trade and sends its Royal Expeditionary Force when you declare independence: win the war of independence to win the game. FreeCol plays by the rules of Sid Meier's Colonization (the classic rule set) or by FreeCol's own, with eight European nations.

This is a port of FreeCol 1.2.0 from its Java source, checked against the original. Alone you play against the computer's nations in the browser; online, two to eight players share one game, with the computer playing the other nations.

Screenshots

1492: the first ship of the Dutch arrives off the coast of the New World
1492: the first ship of the Dutch arrives off the coast of the New World
The main menu
The main menu
A new game: the nations, their players and advantages
A new game: the nations, their players and advantages

Controls

MouseSelect units and colonies, give orders, open panels
KeyboardMove the active unit (number pad, arrow keys); the menus' shortcuts (W: wait, F: fortify, B: build colony, Enter: end the turn)

The original

FreeCol (2003) by The FreeCol Team; Java (Linux, Mac OS X, Windows). This port follows 1.2.0 (2024), the same rules, levels, graphics and sounds, running natively in the browser. License: GPL-2.0-or-later (code and most data); music CC-BY-4.0 (Licenses & source). Players: 1 against the computer, 2–8 online.

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