Was Civilization a board game before it was a PC game?

[CivCube]

Curiously enough, Civ 6's districts might have originated in Fantasy Flight's Civ boardgame back in 2010. Ed Beach is listed as a playtester in the manual.

 

[Leifmk]

I loved the Civilization Board Games and played them extensively back in the day.

Yeah, Advanced Civ was a classic and a favourite of my circle of boardgame geeks in college... at least a favourite in theory; even back in the day when nobody had family commitments or anything, it was a logistical nightmare to get enough people together for enough hours to play a full game, so I've only actually played it a handful of times. There was a mechanically similar successor that came out later in the 90s, called "Age of Renaissance"; that required fewer players and fewer hours and got played a lot more often because actually getting in a full game was less of a challenge.

 

[master__jj]

I gave away my original copy of the Civ boardgame along with the expansion and now it runs in the hundreds of dollars.
However, a new and updated version came out, aptly named "Mega Civ."
I am hoping to get a group of 16 together someday to play this awesome game.

I'm in. You're Vancouver, I'm Brussels, luckily enough two neighbouring city-states

 

[thecrazyscot]

Random FYI...anyone who would want to get their hands on Avalon Hill's Civilization can purchase boards, pieces, and cards from Camelot Games. Useful if you need to refurbish a copy as well. Lots of fan made stuff is also available for download so you can even print everything out yourself.

 

[Thormodr]

I'm in. You're Vancouver, I'm Brussels, luckily enough two neighbouring city-states

Vancouver is giving you a new quest.

 

[Aristos]

However, a new and updated version came out, aptly named "Mega Civ."
I am hoping to get a group of 16 together someday to play this awesome game.

Spoiler :

Only 14 to go!

Who else is from the GVA?

Dexters? Who else?

 

[Decius]

I still have the 1981 Avalon Hill board game, which was one of what they called "bookcase" games back then. The full title is
Civilization
Game of the Heroic Age
The Dawn of History 8000 BC to 250 BC

Sid Meier co-founded Microprose in 1982 in Baltimore, which was where AH was located. I have always sort of assumed that the "inspiration" for the Civ I PC game also involved a lot of what I would call cross-pollination. I mean, how many game designers worked in Baltimore in the early '80s?

 

[DJ_Tanner]

Basically, the long answer; Yes.

The short answer; No.

No.

Basically, the long answer; Yes.
The short answer; Yes.

It was very clearly a board game before a video game.

 

[Depravo]

It was the Advanced Civilisation PC game's misfortune to have released almost simultaneously with the original Civ.

I'm part of the neckbeard spergkore who entered both Civ and the EU series through the boardgames.

 

[rastak]

It was the Advanced Civilisation PC game's misfortune to have released almost simultaneously with the original Civ.

I'm part of the neckbeard spergkore who entered both Civ and the EU series through the boardgames.

It was released 5 years after Civ.

 

[Depravo]

It was released 5 years after Civ.

Sorry, meant almost simultaneous with Civ 2. Geek fail