The manager of a 15th-century Portuguese trading company is responsible for two things: profit and exploration. As admirals return with reports of what they have found, the player decides which reports to believe and which to doubt — and those decisions literally shape the world. A disbelieved report may mean a discovered city ceases to exist; a believed fantastic claim may add new lands, creatures, and resources to the map. Meanwhile, trade routes must be established, goods produced, and the business kept profitable. The world is partly what the explorers find and partly what the player chooses to believe.