For those people who just can't stand to read instructions, click the "New Game" button, and click "Play" in the new dialogue that appears. All of the default settings will be used and a two-player game with one human and one computer player will start.

To play a game with a new map, first open the "New Game" dialogue by clicking on "New Game" from the main toolbar. From the New Game dialogue, under the "Map" section, click the "New" button. This will open a new dialogue that will help you generate a brand new world map for you to conquer based on the settings "Style" and "Countries" tabs.

To play a game with a map loaded from a file on your computer, first open the "New Game" dialogue by clicking on "New Game" from the main toolbar. From the New Game dialogue, under the "Map" section, click the "Open" button. A file chooser dialogue will appear, allowing you to locate and select the map you with to play.