The Canon of Civ

[Arvedui]

I was thinking to myself: what exactly makes or defines a civ game? I came up with these:

1 - It has to be a turn based strategy game.
2 - It must have a square based grid.
3 - It must be about all of human history.
4 - It must be a Sid Meier's Civilization.

Anything else is up for grabs.

What else would you add?

 

[KrikkitTwo]

I'd eliminate #2, and not add anything

 

[Ray Patterson]

yes, let Civ V finally adopt the magic of hexagons, where you travel just as far no matter which direction you go!

otherwise it seems a solid definition, although 4 is a bit too strong I think.

 

[m_dorian]

+ % Postmodern History Advancing and

+ % Bug Free Game perhaps?

 

[bshock727]

5 - It must be extremely buggy out of the box.

 

[Arvedui]

5 - It must be extremely buggy out of the box.

Yeah, I forgot that, #5 - It must be a patch-heavy game...

 

[Breunor]

Seriously, I think the key to Civ games is:

You have a lot of choices how to build your civ. The game shoudl involve a tough choice -- what do I build? We have choices dealing with military power, economic development, scientific development, and poissibly other choices.

Tthe game should allow different types of strategies to win.

Breunor

 

[Good Omens]

A strong emphasis on scientific research is a critical aspect of all Civ games (and 4X games in general). Also, the importance of strategic trade-offs (by which I mean that no choice is entirely positive, and there are always negative consequences to any decision).

 

[oagersnap]

And the space race victory! Don't forget that, it's one of the most important things in civ!

 

[Control Group]

Well, they should show up in the tech tree sometime after gunpowder and before flight, I should think. Really, they ought to have a two-tile ranged bombard ability, too, and - oh, wait.

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

I think there's one more thing that needs to be added to your list, though I don't know if I can write it clearly or succinctly enough. To me, a big part of what makes Civ is that it does encompass all of human history, but strikes a balance between real history and what you create. It's important that when you build the Pyramids, you're building the Great Wall Of China, not Mel Shlabotnik's City Protector. At the same time, it's important that things like "convert to Buddhism or we'll kill you" are in the game, too.

The former gives the sense of epic control, the latter the out-and-out fun.