Malta, 1565

In the spring of 1565 the largest fleet the Ottoman Empire had ever sent west came for Malta. The island was held by the Knights of St John, a few thousand soldiers, and the Maltese. Everything turned on one harbour and three positions around it.

One thing here is not true. Jean Parisot de Valette, who commanded the defence, dies in January 1565 and you are elected in his place. Everything else is as it was, and the game says so wherever it departs from the record.

What you must do Hold Birgu until the relief fleet reaches Malta from Sicily. If Birgu falls, the siege is lost, however well the rest went. In 1565 the relief landed on 7 September. Your decisions can bring it sooner or hold it back.

How you decide You watch scenes and you choose. There is no dice in this game: the same decisions on the same island always give the same siege. You are never shown a number, only bars and the words of the men in the room, and you will have to judge from those.

The history notes Words in gold open a note on what is actually documented, and every note says how firm the evidence is. Portraits open one too. Reading them counts towards your score at the end.

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Grand Master of the Order of St John

January 1565

What actually happened

One thing in this game is not true, and this is it. Jean Parisot de Valette did not die in January 1565. He was alive, he was Grand Master, and he commanded the defence of Malta through the whole of that summer. He died three years later, in 1568, and Pietro del Monte — the knight who calls the election — was the man actually elected to succeed him.

Everything else you are about to play is built from what the eyewitnesses wrote down, and where they disagree with each other the game will tell you so. We changed one fact, on purpose, so that the chair is empty and you can sit in it.