And because there aren’t any victory conditions apart from a nebulous point system at the end of a game, EU4 is all about self-defined goals within historical settings. From rising empires like France and Russia on one hand, to the Creek in North America, or Ming China, or the merchant republic of Venice, the wide selection provides a solid amount of variety. My colonial wars with Russia comprise a perfectly normal set of events in EU4, which lets you take control of any nation on the map, as drawn in the age of the Renaissance and Enlightenment (from 1444 to 1820). What makes Europa Universalis IV special, in a way that most sandbox-style strategy games fail, is that it’s unusually free of annoyances and contradictions that get in the way of enjoying alternate histories.
