▁of ▁Earth ' s ▁history ▁around ▁possible ▁" what ▁if " ▁scenarios ▁based ▁upon ▁current ▁issues . ▁ ▁Each ▁game ▁in ▁the ▁series ▁is ▁mainly ▁a ▁stand - alone ▁title , ▁featuring ▁the ▁same ▁level ▁of ▁re occ urr ing ▁game play ▁mechan ics , ▁though ▁with ▁each ▁install ment ▁am ending ▁existing ▁game play ▁mechan ics ▁and ▁adding ▁new ▁features , ▁with ▁exp ans ions ▁pack s ▁adding ▁in ▁further ▁content . ▁Initial ▁games ▁mainly ▁focused ▁on ▁two ▁modes ▁of ▁game play , ▁with ▁players ▁able ▁to ▁operate ▁in ▁single - player ▁or ▁multi player ▁over ▁L AN ▁or ▁online ▁connections , ▁while ▁later ▁titles ▁added ▁in ▁a ▁campaign ▁mode ▁of ▁several ▁miss ions , ▁each ▁featuring ▁their ▁own ▁unique ▁story line ▁- ▁plots ▁usually ▁focus ▁on ▁players ▁becoming ▁involved ▁in ▁a ▁major ▁incident ▁while ▁beginning ▁life ▁as ▁the ▁r uler ▁of ▁a ▁small ▁island . ▁ ▁While ▁primarily ▁developed ▁for ▁PC , ▁the ▁series ▁has ▁also ▁included ▁a ▁variety ▁of ▁spin - off ▁titles ▁mainly ▁for ▁hand h eld ▁cons oles , ▁which ▁in ▁turn ▁feature ▁more ▁simplified ▁game ▁mechan ics ▁to ▁those ▁of ▁the ▁main ▁series . ▁Each ▁title ▁over ▁the ▁series ' ▁history ▁has ▁featured ▁a ▁variety ▁of ▁different ▁developers ▁and ▁publish ers , ▁with ▁the ▁most ▁recent ▁entries ▁being ▁currently ▁developed ▁by ▁Blue ▁Byte ▁and ▁published ▁by ▁U b iso ft . ▁Most ▁entries ▁in ▁the ▁series ▁have ▁received ▁average ▁reviews ▁from ▁critics . ▁The ▁first ▁title , ▁An no ▁ 1 6 0 2 , ▁was ▁Germany