Some countries, however, are higher tier countries, which means that they have much more flavor, which includes decisions, events, missions and ideas than others. The game features the ability to play as anyone in the world, from one of the warring Daiymos of feudal Japan, to the Ottoman Turks, even to the Iroquois of North America. The game is very similar to the previous Europa Universalis 3, but it takes all of the expansions from that game as a baseline for EU4.
Europa Universalis IV uses an improved version of Paradox's Clauswitz engine, and brings in UI improvements from Crusader Kings II. As a sandbox game with no true goal, the player can conduct war, diplomacy, trade, and many other managerial aspects of running a country, though missions and events in the game, if accepted, push players towards strengthening their nation and expanding their rule throughout the world.
Like previous games in the series, any nation in the world active during its time frame is playable. The game's time frame is set from 1444 to 1820. It was released for PC, Mac and Linux on August 13th, 2013. Europa Universalis IV is the latest game in Paradox Interactive's long running Europa Universalis franchise.
