The Guild II is a medieval merchant simulator, taking cues from games like The Sims and Stronghold. Players take control of a dynasty, starting from the bottom with a humble fishing hut or carpenter's shop and building a commercial and political empire over the course of hundreds of game years. There's a huge range of possibilities-- players can bribe their way to power, abusing political offices and sending thugs after any who oppose, or can play a clean game, keeping a chain of inns or smithies and going to church every other day.
Regardless of profession, my favorite part of Guild II was building an efficient economic machine. I loved watching one of my farmers wake up, go to the fields, pick wheat, and load it on a cart. The cart would go to town and drop off the wheat at my inn, where an innkeeper would make it into wretched gruel and carry it up to paying customers. With these chains of production going on for each apothecary, tailor's shop, and bakery, Guild II cities are swarming with workers convincingly going about their business, wearing different-colored tunics depending on which great family they were employed by.
The Guild II is a bit buggy, but for a game of its ambition and scale, it holds together remarkably well.
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