That’s what Paradox does with EU4, and considering that it’s a five-year-old game with literally hundreds of dollars of DLC that still sells very regularly, still has an audience that is very attached to the franchise, and which is actively supported. Wealth of Nations might as well have been called 'the trade expansion.' Res Publica turned to the complexity dial up to 11 and gave us all sorts of Republic and monarchy stuff for the Dutch in the Netherlands, as well as added in a real mechanic for focusing which Monarch Points you got.Īrt of War recalled its namesake by saying 'let’s make war more complicated and fun,' especially if you were playing in Western Europe… And so on.Įvery expansion has some stuff going on, it tends to focus on one area where the provinces (smaller areas which make up a nation) get updated, detailed, and generally messed around with, and there tends to be a thematic experience which gets pulled onto the table with active mechanical changes.
When it comes to Paradox Interactive's grand-strategy epic Europa Universalis IV, there is but one constant: A significant expansion every six months that will attempt to shake gameplay up in different ways.Ĭonquest of Paradise gave us random New Worlds and more expansive North American tribes.