American Conquest's basic gameplay mechanics and economic factors are shared with the earlier GSC Game World title Cossacks: European Wars and its add-ons.

As in Cossacks, American Conquest allows the building of a base with which the player will conduct military and economic activities to prepare for victory in a scenario.

The usual chain of activities involve building dwellings for peasant workforce and to gather resources like wood, food, and gold, stone, coal and iron from mines which the player will have to construct at designated areas.

Forts and fortresses are central to the defense of any base and garrisoned troops will open fire on encroaching enemy units or wild animals.

Similarly, an attacking army may also capture these garrisoned buildings by sending units into them and defeat its defenders in unseen hand-to-hand combat.

The campaign mode covers most of the major European powers' conquest in North America which includes the Spanish, the British and the French as well as the counter-campaigns narrated from the viewpoint of the Native Americans who fought against them.

The project was undertaken by Gexozoid (helped by several associates) from 2004 and since then had a fairly active community on GameRanger and forums up until 2015 with a recent resurgence in 2024 with the re-release of the mod.

The Hawks Group recreated a vast database of historical battles that can be played in multiplayer by up to 7 players at the same time, sharing armies or fighting in co-op.

[8] The Mod features over 200 new units and over 30 new buildings that range from a faction's Barracks to fortifications in the form of manned cannon towers and breastworks much like in Cossacks.

[9] 13 fully playable nations include: France, England, Poland, Austria, Prussia, Russia, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Confederacy of Rhine, Sweden, Holland and the USA.