Should I play this, or Two Crowns?

[DizzyChimera]

Is this the sort of game like Civilization where the newest installment is usually best, or should I play this first? (Or Classic, for that matter?)

[Gatebase]

Surprisingly they are pretty different games.

Classic is pretty much out-dated. It has a single island where you fight to the death (yours or the enemies').
New Lands on the other hand has the goal of building a boat on each island to move to the next before you are overwhelmed. There are unlocks that will gradually make the random island generation more interesting and give you new tools, but apart from what you bring on the boat you always start fresh on each island. I would say New Lands is straight-up better than Classic while still staying fairly faithful.
Two Crowns takes a different direction. Unlocks affect all islands and future runs. Islands are somewhat persistent (there is slow decay, but generally you can return to an island and most of your stuff will still be there).

The big differences are in New Lands winter is permanent - after a set amount of days the world freezes over and your income stops for a true survival challenge (or a frantic push to leave to the next island). In Two Crowns there are seasons and you can play infinitely. In New Lands you can destroy some portals that spawn enemies, but not all (or at least not permanently). In Two Crowns you can permanently remove enemies from an island.

I think it's a matter of taste. Two Crowns has a lot more content and variety (especially with the new DLC). But it feels a bit different from New Lands, hard to compare the two.

[DizzyChimera]

Okay, thank you! That's exactly what I was looking for.