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When I Think About Games That Have Sucked the Most Man Hours from Humanity Over the Years: Civilization Stands Out

When it comes to games that have consumed an enormous amount of human time, there are very few titles that can match the dedication and engagement provided by a single game. For me, Sid Meier's Civilization is darned near at the top of my list.

The Origins of a Time-Consuming Empire

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It all started with Sid Meier's Civilization, released by Microprose Software in 1991 for MS-DOS PCs. This groundbreaking game has been a benchmark for countless hours lost in virtual worlds, and its influence can still be felt today.

Reliability and Immersive Experience

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What sets Civilization apart from other games is its ability to reliably turn the early morning into late night with players barely noticing the passage of time. The game's complexity and depth ensure that every session is a new experience, keeping players engaged for hours on end.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWhen I think about games that havesucked the most man hoursfrom humanity over the years,Civilization is darned near the top of my list.There are very few games that can reliablyturn the early morning into latenight with you barely noticing,and it all started with Sid Meier's Civilization,released by Microprose Software in 1991for MS-DOS PCs.\"Build An Empire To Stand The Test Of Time,\"and bury giant Egyptian sarcophagusesunderneath twentieth-century cities simultaneously.While \"Civ,\" as it's often called,went on to appear on mostevery popular system of its dayand spawned its own littlegaming civilization of sequels,its origins are pretty humble.Back in the 1980s, game designer Sid Meierwasn't exactly a household name yet.Sure, he'd made some prettysweet military combat simulationsand left his mark on the industry with his game Pirates!But it wasn't until Railroad Tycoon in 1990 that Meierand fellow designer BruceShelley cemented themselvesas game design royalty.A top-down sandbox gametaking some cues from SimCityand combining economics with asset management,Railroad Tycoon was fantastic and really set the stagefor something more ambitious.That something turned out to be Civilization,a game partially inspired by theAvalon Hill board game of the same name,along with even more elementsdrawn from the 1987 computer gameEmpire: War Game of the Century.Instead of ruling an industry,the goal in Civ was to rule the world,starting in the Stone Age and workingyour way through the rest of time.It not only helped establish strategy andgod games even more than Railroad Tycoon,but it went on to sell millions,spawn a huge franchise,win tons of awards and ensure the name Sid Meierwas synonymous with quality gaming.Inside the box, you get the game ontwo high-density 5¼-inch floppy disks,technical supplements and addendumsspecific to the system you have,and a nice thick instruction manualcovering everything you needto know about the gameplay,historical context for thereal-life stuff found in-game,and a fold-out technology treeshowing all the sweet crap you'll get to research.Once you start the game, you're given a main menuconsisting of options, letting you start a new game,load a saved game, view the high scores,play on an approximation of Earth,and customize your own planet.Though there are a varietyof customization options,you'll play on an Earth-like planetno matter what you choose,though the layout will berandomized each time you play.When you're done playing God,Civ begins at the beginning–the very beginning–not long after the planet came into existenceand the continents began forming.It then proceeds to unnecessarilytell you the story of how life formed.How things evolved and whatthe first vestiges of civilization were.I say \"unnecessarily\" because itreally has no bearing on the game itself,but it's still nice to look at, and even a bit educational.Although it's not exactly Carl Sagan.Plus it's a chance to enjoy some of thememorable soundtrack by Jeff Briggs.After approximately three tofive billion years have passed,it's 4,000 B.C., and it's timeto choose your difficulty level.This not only changes requirementsfor advancement and AI complexity,but also when the game ends for scoring purposes.Next, to decide how manycomputer-controlled civilizationsyou want crowding up yourworld and fighting for resources,then choose the historicaltribe and leader you'll start as.Personally, I'd choose someone with an awesome beardand proceed to give them an equally awesome nameworthy of such an impressive facial manscape.Your starting tribe also determineswhat technology you'll have knowledge of,so there is some strategy herebeyond who would make the besttestosterone-infused lumberjack.You're then provided with some insightinto what each part of the screen does,which is incredibly useful for new players.In fact, despite how complex the game is,Civ is surprisingly noob-friendlywith its frequent hints and tips,as well as things like the Civlopediaand easy-to-understand tech tree.But basically it's a top-down,turn-based 4X strategy gamethat plays a bit more like a boardgame than a computer game.Although the 4X term came after thisgame had been around a couple of years,it mantra of \"explore, expand, exploit and exterminate\"most certainly applies here.While the game is an open sandboxthat lets you do what you want,most of what you do comes down to exploring the map,expanding your territory,exploiting resourcesand exterminating rivals.You start with a single settler unit,and using either the keyboard or the mouse,you'll need to find a suitablespot to found your capital city.Note that every time you use upthe allotted moves for your units,you need to end the turn and allow some time to passbefore you can move again.Go ahead and start your first city,name it whatever you want,watch your settlers move in and do their thing,then choose the next course of action.There are any number of possible things tolook at here in the city management screen,but since each city can only do one thing at a time,and it uses up valuable turnsand resources to produce units,it's pretty important that you choose wisely.You have advisors that'll give youan idea of what needs to be done,but it's totally up to you as to whetheror not you want to listen to them.Near the beginning, it's pretty straightforward, though.Scout the area, make sure your cities are protected.There you go.Eventually you'll run across native settlements,barbarians or other civilizations.Settlements are often helpfuland can provide things like extra units and resources,though, sometimes, they'll unleasha horde of barbarians instead.Barbarians are just troubleand will cause no small amount ofaggravation until you exterminate them.And other civilizations...well that's, uh, that's up to you to handle as you please.They can be a bit testy.Along the way, you'll have yourcivilization's smart people doing things,researching everything from the wheel to engineeringto the freakin' Manhattan Project.And managing your cities alsobecomes quite vital to your game,since they'll need roads, mines, walls,markets, entertainment,and who knows what else tomake sure the people stay fed,wealthy and not in the mood to start an uprising.You'll also have a chance to apply taxes on luxuries,as well as upending your existinggovernment with a revolutionin order to bring something like monarchy,democracy or communism into play.And what would any worthwhilecivilization be without some wonders,which not only look wondrously cool,but bring in extra prestige and wealth for your cities,since there can be only one of each type.For a while, this constant march forward in time,researching stuff like philosophyand being ancient hippies,is all well and good.You even get to choose upgradesfor your own personal palacewhen your people decide you're awesome enough.But eventually push will come to shoveand someone will want to crap on your parade,usually in the form of arrows to the faceand burning down your precious hippy empire.The combat side of things is pretty straightforward.Research upgrades, make units in your cities,and send them on their merry, pillaging way.Units can attack adjacent units,and generally whoever has the better overall stats wins.The only two ways to win the overall game, though,are to stay alive until the colonization of space beginsor wipe out all other civilizations completely.Depending on which goal you have in mind,you will either want to beat theminto submission with your militaryor use diplomats and diplomacy to make peaceand maybe send in spies to stealtheir technology in the meantime.Or if you don't really give a crap andjust wanna play and see what happens,then go right ahead.That's the beauty of Civilization.Although there is a quote-unquote \"goal\" or ending,the game doesn't end unlessyou are totally annihilatedor you put a stop to the game yourself.Since everything hinges on looking forwardto that one next move or set of moves,there's a strangely compulsive attribute to the gamethat pushes you to play just *one* more move.If you're strategically-minded even slightly,Civ tends to engage you on a levelthat few other games are able to.You always want to see what the additionof a new technology will mean to your people,or how things would be if you could justtake one more settlement over on your island.And for me at least,the appeal of taking over the worldas the Aztecs or the Russiansis highly appealing,since I love playing with what-ifscenarios and alternate history.I mean, just the idea that the Germanscould have had nuclear capabilityin the 18th century is just twistedand awesome at the same time.And there are few games thatlet you play with such ideas.And the element of randomness inthe game is implemented in such a waythat it really doesn't feel random,it just feels natural somehow.Every game ends up being completely uniqueand it's not really done in a forced way,so it's always a pleasure to play again and againjust to see who can take overancient Egypt with battleships first.Sure, there are some things that coulduse ironing out to make a better game.For instance, it's too easy to lose early water unitsby using the Go To commandsince their pathfinding is stupid,and the AI sometimes seems tocheat its way to getting wonders first,even if they seemingly don't have enough production.There's also a major lack of diplomacy options,so there really aren't too many choicesif you don't want to play a very aggressive game,especially on higher difficulties.But these and other complaints are thingsthat were addressed in later Civ games,so whatever.For the first game in the series,I'd say it's pretty extraordinary.When I first played this back in the mid-'90s,I was blown away with how awesomely unique it wasand how huge the game felt.And even going back and playing it today,I find it to be very satisfying to play for hours on end.Even if it's a lot simpler than the modern Civ titles,there's something to be said for simplicity,and that something keeps me coming back to this one.And I really was surprised at how accessible it all still is,especially for an old DOS strategy game.Since games in this genre can often feel overwhelmingwith their giant rule books and huge tech trees,Sid Meier's Civilization is just awesome,and I'd highly recommend givingit or any of its offspring a shotif you haven't already.If anything, it's worth playing justto answer the age-old questionof what life would be likeif a bearded Babylonian DukeNukem took over the world.\n"