Conquistador is set in the 16th Century and is about Europes exploration of the Americas. The game is played over 21 turns, covering 100 years of exploration, which can take 8 hours or more, and yes, it's worth putting a day aside to play this.

The components are up to Avalons Hill usual standard, complete with well-written rules, which however, always seem to have an errata attached :)
Each turn, the players decide what colonists and explorers they are going to send over to America and what the colonists already there are going to do. This is all pre-plotted on the Expedition Log. Providing the Random Events don't do anything too drastic, you set off to America. Again, if you survive the crossing, you can then move across and around America, seeking gold and colonising, or just going off on voyages of exploration to earn Victory Points. The natives do not allow your explorations to be a walkover, however.

Gold is carted off back to Europe, where it can be used to fund more expeditions. Whoever has the most Victory Points at games end, scored from Ducats in your treasury, Areas under your control and Voyage of Discovery VPs, wins.

I actually enjoy this sort of exploring the unknown type of game and games where each game you play will be different. It's not too complex, unlike some of Avalon Hills other games, but does rate a 7 on their 1 - 10 scale of complexity. As I said at the beginning, this is one game I have been wanting to add to my collection, so if you like the idea of the game concept, search the Internet like I did. Copies can still be found out there.

Review by Brian