The way not-E3 games showcases work is that you open with something attention-getting an unexpected, end with the biggest game of the show, and pack the middling and mundane in the middle. Sid Meier's Civilization VII is surely one of the biggest announcements of this year's (in-progress, as I type this) Summer Game Fest 2024, and yet it was buried in that middle section, as unassuming as Sid himself.
]]>March’s first batch of Game Pass additions included JRPGs and remixed versions of history, and the second group is adding… more JRPGs and remixed versions of history. We now know what’s coming to Game Pass through March 21st, and there are some big highlights like Ni No Kuni 2, Civilization 6, and Guilty Gear.
]]>Earlier this month, we asked you to vote for your favourite strategy games of all time to celebrate the launch (and glorious return) of several strategy classics this month, including Relic's WW2 RTS Company Of Heroes 3, Blue Byte's The Settlers: New Allies and Cyanide's fantasy Warhamball Blood Bowl 3. And cor, I've never seen such love for individual expansions and total conversion mods among mainline RTS games and 4Xs. As with all strategy games, however, there can only be one victor - and you can find out what that single strategy game to rule them all is right here. Here are your 50 favourite strategy games of all time, as voted for by you, the RPS readership.
]]>I came, I saw, I claimed some free DLC. That’s probably what Julius Caesar would say about being given away for Sid Meier’s Civilization 6, right? Well, whatever his nibs might think about the offer, you’ll be able to pick him up for nowt from November 21st. There’s only one catch, and that’s needing to link your 2K account on Steam or the Epic Games Store. Have a watch of the trailer below to see what ol’ leaf-ears has to offer your Romans.
]]>A whole bunch of classic Civilization leaders are coming back for Civilization 6’s upcoming Leader Pass, devs Firaxis have confirmed. You can expect 18 more leaders spread out over six DLC pack releases between November 21st and March 2023, 12 of whom are new leaders. Another six will be “new takes” on existing leaders from previous games in the Civ series. The Leader Pass’ existence was leaked by accident last week when promo art for the DLC appeared on the mobile version of the Civ website, before it was removed.
]]>Art posted to Civilization 6’s mobile site has revealed an as yet unannounced Leaders Pass DLC, which seems to include classic leaders from older games in the Civ series. Former US President Abraham Lincoln and Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II are clearly visible in the artwork. Alongside them are Ngola Nzinga of Ndongo, and someone wearing a ruff that I’m going to have to assume is either Queen Elizabeth I or Mary, Queen of Scots, because That Hair. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
]]>Sid Meier's Civilization 6 has a whole lot of extra content. Vikings, zombies, natural disasters and Australia are but a few new additions the strategy game has seen since its initial release in 2016, and today you can nab it all in a helpful and well-priced bundle. The Civilization 6 Anthology contains the base game as well all the DLC packs and expansions, which would normally be £143 bought individually. That's a lot of Civ 6 indeed.
]]>Sid Meier's Civilization 6 is not the sort of game I expected to add zombies, and yet developers Firaxis have announced just that. Last night, they dropped some details about the strategy game's next paid DLC, which arrives on March 25th. It's introducing a Zombie Defence mode where dead units can spawn as bitey corpses and infect your other troops. It's also bringing some slightly more normal stuff, like a new leader and civilisation in the Portugal Pack, as well as a couple more World Wonders.
]]>Civilization 6's barbarians have always been depicted as the brutish sort. Kill them before they kill you, and all that. This won't be the case for much longer, though. The strategy game's next update adds a Barbarian Clans mode, which will let players interact with the barbarians with more than just their swords - like raiding or hiring them. I mean, the new interactions are still mostly sword-related, but they don't all involve stabbing each other.
]]>Strategy games is an enormous genre in PC gaming, with real-time, turn-based, 4X and tactics games all flying the same flag to stake their claim as the one true best strategy game. Our list of the best strategy games on PC covers the lot of them. We like to take a broad view here at RPS, and every game listed below is something we firmly believe that you could love and play today. You'll find 30-year-old classics nestled right up against recent favourites here, so whether you're to the genre or want to dig deep for some hidden gems, we've got you covered. Here are our 50 best strategy games for 2023.
]]>Frankly, it's about time someone took the expansionist nations of Sid Meier's Civilization VI down a peg. This month's free update for the hegaxonal society generator adds the Pirates multiplayer scenario, daring you to wear in those sea legs by becoming the most feared fleet commander on the high seas. Plunder trade routes, inspire fear, flee the forces of burgeoning imperial powers... hang on, Sid, haven't we been here before?
]]>Gather 'round and take a seat, Steam have now kicked off their first Digital Tabletop Fest, an event of panels, announcements, and demos for games that "run across the lines between digital and physical games". From now until next Monday you can catch panels from the likes of developers adapting tabletop RPGs, building digital deck-builders, and other such table to screen fare.
]]>"Just one more turn." For all that the phrase is most commonly attributed to the Civilization franchise, I've never really experienced that feeling with the games. Whenever I've wanted to pack the game in and continue another day, I'm able to do so. If the phrase were instead "Just one more game," then that would much more accurately capture the influence Civilization VI in particular exerts over me. I've probably played through as many early-games in Civ VI as I've played turns in any single game of Civ. I'm utterly and eternally in love with those first few dozen turns.
]]>Sid Meier, that legendary game dev whose name sits before the names of Civilization games, had a lovely chat with our very own Nate Crowley this weekend, as part of PAX Online X EGX Digital. The pair talked all about some of the most notable parts of Meier's career - including, Railroad Tycoon, Pirates!, and Civilization - as well as chat about his upcoming book, Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life In Computer Games. And thanks to computers, you can watch their whole chat in full below.
]]>When one turn blends into the next and you've become a strategy zombie—no not the Red Death zombie mode—it's time to shake up your game. Firaxis Games are bringing another free update to Civilization VI that will help you put some surprise back in your 4x. A new Tech and Civics Shuffle Mode and other changes are coming at the end of August.
]]>The Civilisation series is a fascinating thing. Each new update takes the place of the older game on Steam’s top 100 most played games list and just sits there as other games come and go. I’ve never known a series to be quite so consistent like that. Like Jack Nicholson in The Shining. Sid Meier's Civilization VI is there right now. It’s always been there. And it always will be.
People play for life. They while away evenings raising empires, maybe even not knowing that there are tweaks for the UI, bigger maps, and more in-depth city planning waiting to be installed. For a game with the long, long tail of Civ, grabbing moments back with mods can be a huge boon, which is what a few do here - but this group of best mods includes some fabulous add ons too. Ask yourself: can I afford to miss out?
]]>I wouldn't say I'm an expert on history, but surely Civilization VI is taking the mick here, no? As the first "community update" to run alongside Civ's new "New Frontier" pass, Firaxis are rolling battle royale spin-off mode Red Death into Season 2 with sneaky aliens and shambling zombies in a free patch next week - now narrated by the gravelly Yorkshire tones of Sean Bean
]]>The latest giveaway on the Epic Games Store is a doozy: Civilization VI, for free, for keepsies. I'm pretty sure some countries consider handing out free Civ to be an act of economic terrorism, for encouraging innumerable late nights and sick days in people who couldn't resist the siren call of just one more turn. The turn-based strategy game may be almost four years old but it still has a £50 price tag so damn, okay Epic. This right after GTA 5 too.
]]>Firaxis today kicked off a year of new DLC for Civilization VI, with the first of six packs coming as part of their New Frontier Pass. Seems a smattering new civs and modes will be the focus for the next while, rather than a big ol' expansion. The first of these adds two new civs, Maya and Gran Colombia, along with a few bits and pieces like a new 'Apocalypse' mode riddled with comet strikes, solar flares, and volcanic sacrifices.
Update: Jesus, now the base game is free on the Epic Games Store. Big day for Civ.
]]>Rome wasn't built in a day, nor was Civilization 6, I suppose. The strategic colonize 'em up is going to spend a year rolling out new paid (and some free) updates. Firaxis Games say "we want to bring you more content—more Civilization—but in a way that keeps the game fun." Apparently that's coming in the form of the New Frontier Pass, which will get you access to the six DLC packs coming to Civ 6. They'll be released every other month over the next year, beginning on May 21st.
]]>Gandhi is one of the most unique figure in history. His adherence to non-violence, his establishment of a full-fledged philosophy behind it and, above all, his success, are practically without precedent. Kings, empires and leaders can often blur into each other. The locations change, the dates are different and the numbers differ, but the essence remains the same. Gandhi was something completely different, and yet games try to represent him with the same pieces they use for everyone else - and so they always make him something far less than he was.
]]>GeForce Now's streaming catalogue is once again downsizing. Following Activision Blizzard and Bethesda Softworks' lead, 2K Games has requested that their games be removed from Nvidia's fancy new cloud gaming platform. Bye-bye, Bioshock and Borderlands. Seeya later, Sid Meier's Civilisation. It's the third time in less than a month a major publisher has pulled out of the service, leaving Nvidia's streaming offerings thinner by the week.
]]>Following the sci-fi 4X strategy of Endless Space and fantasy 4X of Endless Legend, the next strategy game from Amplitude Studios has an even stranger setting: human history. They've just announced Humankind, a 4X strategy game which I will crudely describe as "sounding like Amplitude's take on Civilization." By which I mean it's a turn-based 4X strategy game where galleons can be sailing around at the same time as submarines and all that. I've long wished for a contender to strut menacingly around Civ's turf and I'm doubly keen to see what Amplitude will do there. Here, watch the announcement trailer below.
]]>In Vectorpark’s Sandcastles, you build fantastic towers and watch the waves erase your work every 10 seconds. It’s a very direct metaphor for the global climate crisis that threatens to flood coastal cities and exacerbate natural disasters. Sandcastles confronts us with our totally predictable watery doom, but we also find fun and expression in our totally foreseeable destruction. When the planet dies, at least we’ll be entertained.
Before you commit to starving and drowning, you should probably understand how and why it’ll happen. To imagine this nightmarish hellworld, readers can flip through climate fiction novels (“cli-fi”) and movie-goers can watch a big unprofitable climate disaster blockbuster every few years. But us mouse-clickers, we obviously don’t read books or watch movies. Instead, we play with climate. Behold, the climate crisis game.
]]>Ah, 2010! Lady Gaga and Beyoncé were tearing up the dancefloor with Telephone, Inception was fuelling one million drunk 'philosophical' conversations, Jackass had gone 3D, and Civilization V had yet to reach that point in every Civ game's lifespan where it's declared superior to its successor. If you wish to party like it's 2010, you might enjoy a new Civilization VI mod made by actual Civ 6 art director Brian Busatti. It aims to make Civ 6's landscape, buildings, and units look more like Civ 5, less vibrant and more 'realistic'. Yeah, but like, what if we're still dreaming we're playing Civ - does the game ever stop or will "one more turn" keep going forever? Makes you think, maaan.
]]>It's a little harder to kill the planet in Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm today, but it'll kill you back twice as hard after today's major update. In today's Antarctic Late Summer update, Firaxis have heavily revised how fast climate change sets in, but greatly increased the damage it can do to the planet if you let it escalate too far. For those who want to see the world burn without having to spend any fossil fuels on it, there's also a world creation slider that lets you increase the frequency of disasters, just for funsies. You can see the full patch notes here, and a video summary below.
]]>2K Games have taken the curious and welcome step of explaining what data Civilization VI collects about you, your computer, and your play - and why. It's fairly common for games from big publishers to report back, but rare for publishers to say what it's doing and why. The license we have to agree to ostensibly gives them permission, after all. Most evidently don't think it's in their best interests to be open, which is unfortunate because it is in ours. Whether you're okay with how much data they collect, ah, that's up to you; at least now we can make a more-informed decision.
]]>Oh hello! John is away in San Francisco gobbling up gum left on the underside of chairs at the Game Developers Conference, so I'm filling in for our regular rundown of last week's top-selling games on Steam. As is customary for weeks where I need to take over, the charts are full of the surprises he grumbles they never have. What can I say, John - video games must make more of an effort for me. And for goodness' sake, leave that gum. I don't care if Sid Meier himself stuck it there.
]]>The game you like isn't as good as the game I like. When you like the game you like, you are made to look a fool!
Find out why in this week's Steam Charts.
]]>Ghengis Khan keeps sending me charity donations. The Aztecs are increasingly angrily demanding that I give them an Edgar Allen Poe novel. A volcano just erupted over Dutch Disneyland. The World Congress is trying to stop climate change by running a gameshow.
I used to fret that Civilization VI wasn't memorable. With the Gathering Storm expansion, for better or worse, it's unforgettable.
]]>Conquer ‘em up turn-based strategy game Civilization VI adds a flood of new content today with the Gathering Storm expansion – including literal floods. Climate change is here, it's bringing natural disasters, and it’s probably your fault for getting too greedy with the factories while trying to outpace Pericles.
Luckily, new diplomatic solutions are also arriving, so everyone will agree to work together and save the planet. Right?
]]>It's easy to forget that human civilisation has only been around for a tiny fraction of Earth's history, and that mother nature is a stone cold killer. Our planet and how we affect it is the focus of Gathering Storm, the second major expansion for Sid Meier's Civilization 6. There are natural disasters capable of levelling entire kingdoms, and the constant, looming threat of man-made destruction if the environment gets too damaged through humanity's reckless ascent. The new expansion launches on February 14th. Check out the announcement trailer below.
]]>A patch for Civilization VI last night removed Red Shell, a controversial piece of software that track ads for the game which players might have viewed. Considering that a common event in any game of Civ is once-friendly faces turning sour after they discover you've been spying on them, you'd think publishers 2K might have just... not. But they did. Red Shell has risen to prominence in recent months for all the wrong reasons, discovered in games from Vermintide 2 to Conan Exiles by players who were none too happy to find it. Many developers have removed Red Shell from their games or pledged to, and here's Civ doing its part.
]]>I’ve been playing Civilization long enough to remember building gaudy palaces that combined Arabic minarets with Ionic columns, and the sight of pixel-drawn Stalin grimacing at me with his retinue of Asiatic advisers. But after 20-something years and untold in-game millennia, I’ve finally begun to feel its insatiable fantasy of empire-building subside. Luckily, total overhaul mods exist.
]]>A good spring clean is cathartic after the long and dark winter, and Firaxis will surely feel better after releasing the Spring 2018 Update for Civilization VI later today. Along with improving joint wars, tweaking balance, fixing bug, and making the AI slightly less of a big silly, it adds some new Historic Moments for a fresh breath of springtime air in the Rise And Fall expansion. These include such world-changing moments as the building of the first seaside resort, the founding of the first national park, and the completion of the first totally rad tricked-out water park with a pool, aquarium, Ferris wheel, and all that. Ah, to be stuck indoors on a beautiful day like this...
]]>“Sid [Meier] didn’t know he was inventing a genre back in ’91 - if he had he might have been a lot more careful. He was just making it up as he went along.”
That’s how genres begin. By mistake. Somebody creates a set of rules and systems for the needs of a particular game, and then either people adopt and adapt those rules. Soren Johnson, creator of Offworld Trading Company and lead designer of Civilization IV, is working on a new game called Ten Crowns and after spending almost an hour talking with him at GDC, I get the impression he’s going to be very careful indeed. Not cautious, because I expect some bold reinvention of 4X strategy fundamentals, but careful in his treatment of a genre that we both agree needs to escape its own past.
]]>Civilization VI: Rise and Fall wants to solve a problem. That problem is perpetual growth, and it plagues many 4X games. Whether your aim is world conquest or cultural hegemony, victory in Civilization and many of its cohorts depends on domination. However peacefully you try to play, you're often straight-jacketed into a utilitarian-psychotic view where all resources and people are just raw material to be assimilated, Borg-like, until the whole map is monochrome.
But as the early excitement of exploration and expansion ebbs to late game stagnation, the fun runs out. Historically, stagnating empires tend to fragment and collapse. But in Civilization VI, like many games, you're the star of the show – and there's nowhere to go but up.
]]>Civilization is at its worst when you're winning. Success breeds complacency as you click the end turn button and acknowledge the news of great accomplishments with the practiced apathy of a regent signing papers on behalf of an infant king. There is an inevitability about your empire's march through history and it's easy to feel like a passive pawn.
Rise and Fall, the first major expansion for Civ VI, attempts to address this by introducing global crises, dark ages and citizen loyalty. It gets about half of the job spot on; the fall is much better than the rise.
]]>The beating of a million drums The fire of a million guns The mother of a million sons Sid Meier's Civilization®
The looping march through history continues today with the launch of Civilization VI: Rise And Fall, the first full expansion for 2016's turn-based 4X strategy sequel. Rise And Fall rolls with the ebb and flow of history, with different Great Ages bringing new challenges and bonuses, alliances that grow stronger over time, era goals, 'emergency' pacts uniting civs against powerful opponents, and more. And obvs it also adds new civilisations, units, wonders, and so on.
]]>I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down. That's what I'll be singing when I play Civilization VI's upcoming Rise and Fall expansion. There are loads of new features but the unifying theme is, as the title suggests, success, failure and recovery. That means dark ages that come with hardships but also bring about the possibility of a renaissance into a heroic age. All of that, and much more, is explained in the brand new video below.
]]>In Civilization, civilization is a competition. Land and resources are limited, and even those nations that don't expand through military might are attempting to climb to the top of the league table in other ways. Geography, technology, culture, religion, diplomacy – they're all, to some extent, weapons to be deployed, or at least arenas where an advantage can be gained. Culture and history are the clothes that Civ wears but it's not really about building an empire or a nation, it's about sharpening a knife.
The upcoming Rise and Fall expansion for Civ VI introduces several new playable nations, but the introduction of one civ has led to criticism from an unexpected source. Yesterday, Milton Tootoosis, an elected headman-councillor of the Poundmaker Cree Nation, spoke to CBC News about the inclusion of the Saskatchewan First Nation. He acknowledged excitement about the news and noted that historical chief, Poundmaker, is to be portrayed as working to build “a bridge between settlers and First Nations”. But he also voiced a fundamental concern about the portrayal: “It perpetuates this myth that First Nations had similar values that the colonial culture has, and that is one of conquering other peoples and accessing their land.” It's a concern that cuts to the heart of what Civilization has always been and - I hope - to what it could become.
]]>We've already seen which games sold best on Steam last year, but a perhaps more meaningful insight into movin' and a-shakin' in PC-land is the games that people feel warmest and snuggliest about. To that end, Valve have announced the winners of the 2017 Steam Awards, a fully community-voted affair which names the most-loved games across categories including best post-launch support, most player agency, exceeding pre-release expectations and most head-messing-with. Vintage cartoon-themed reflex-tester Cuphead leads the charge with two gongs, but ol' Plunkbat and The Witcher series also do rather well - as do a host of other games from 2017's great and good.
Full winners and runners-up below, with links to our previous coverage of each game if you're so-minded. Plus: I reveal which game I'd have gone for in each category.
]]>Another year over, a new one just begun, which means, impossibly, even more games. But what about last year? Which were the games that most people were buying and, more importantly, playing? As is now something of a tradition, Valve have let slip a big ol' breakdown of the most successful titles released on Steam over the past twelve months.
Below is the full, hundred-strong roster, complete with links to our coverage if you want to find out more about any of the games, or simply to marvel at how much seemed to happen in the space of 52 short weeks.
]]>Today, Firaxis has been shining a spotlight on Korea, one of the new civs coming to Civilization 6 with the launch of the Rise and Fall expansion, due out in February. Korea’s led by Queen Seondeok, who by all accounts was a pretty great ruler, heralding a renaissance in the historical kingdom of Silla. She did have to contend with dumb blokes who were scared of women rulers, however. Take a look at the ‘first look’ video below.
]]>The tail-end of Steam's Autumnal sale sees a few old favourites lingering with the usual suspects in the charts this week. The discounts that got them here are all gone now, but it's only a couple of weeks now before everything goes completely bonkers for the Winter Sale, and you can expect to see all the same names deeply discounted once more.
]]>What do you mean there's a whole month of 2017 left? Well, the disembodied mouths of the RPS podcast, the Electronic Wireless Show, are tired of waiting. This week the team look at some of the most exciting upcoming games of 2018. Adam is looking forward to smashing big robots with other, bigger robots in Battletech. Matt wants to make trousers from dinosaur skin in Monster Hunter World. And Brendan forgot all about how much he's excited by surreal isometric detective game No Truce With The Furies.
We've also got some chat about Viking strategy game Northgard and yet more love for FTL follow-up Into The Breach. Plus, our Patch Adam quiz is back!
]]>Civilization VI is getting its first expansion on February 8th 2018 and it sounds like it might be shake things up significantly. Going by the name Rise and Fall, it applies changes across the whole span of history and rather than introducing one big new system, it seems to focus on the actual rhythm and flow of the game.
There are new rules for Great Ages, city loyalty, governors, emergencies, and loads of additions in the form of civs, leaders, buildings, wonders and government policies, but it's the overall sense that Firaxis are adding a sprinkling of grand strategy to the series that has me most excited.
]]>In a week in which Assassin's Creed Origins has managed to break the charts to such a degree that it somehow not only appears three times, but also stopped Feedly from being able to display the rest of the games in the correct order, we also see a few other new entries. But absolutely no new names.
]]>Today's the big day in Civland, or the world as it's commonly known. The highlight: Civilization VI has launched its big Fall 2017 Update, which chiefly expands religious combat and makes AI opponents a little smarter. Also out today is new DLC for Civ VI adding Indonesia and the Khmer Empire.
Or if you believe that everything old is better and we should shun the new: 1) Civilization III is free for the next two days; 2) But Civ's whole 'inevitable march of progress' sort of thing seems contrary to your ethos?
]]>Bundle Stars is offering up some rather nice discounts on a big batch of 2K Games' finest wares this week, with up to 80% off some selected titles from the XCOM, Borderlands, Civilization and Bioshock series, among others.
]]>The next big free update to Sid Meier's Civilization VI [official site] will overhaul and expand the strategy game's religion system, bringing new beliefs, new pantheons, and new units as well as a reworking of religious combat. AI improvements are coming too, including making computer opponents less useless at sea. Our Adam's Civ 6 review was mighty fond of the game but it has certainly benefitted from the big updates over the past year. More are welcome.
]]>At first glance, it's a canvas of green or yellow rather than the blue planet it will eventually become in the estimation of generations to come. Eventually, if progress isn't halted, it'll become nothing more than a dot.
In between that early vibrant canvas and the final departure, Earth is going to get a whole lot more cluttered though, and a whole lot uglier. I recently returned to Civilization VI [official site] and quickly realised that I had no desire to build or settle. All I wanted was to explore the untouched world.
]]>Summer is certainly upon us, and Civilization VI [official site] is celebrating this joyous season by encouraging you to stay indoors for just one more turn. Civ 6 launched its 'Summer 2017 Update' last night, packed full of balance changes, AI improvements, and bug fixes. As requested, it also added a 'Restart' button to regenerate a map and start over, and the ability to save game setup configurations for future games is in too.
If you want to pay money, a new DLC pack is out, adding the Nubian civilisation led by the queen Amanitore. The base game is on sale now and all.
]]>RPS Suggests is where we put forward our own ideas for new games, or changes to old games, or anything else. Think of it like backseat driving for the games industry.
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a strategy game possessed of turns, tiles, and pretensions of grandeur, must be in want of an espionage system. It is a truth less often acknowledged, that said espionage systems universally suck. In this edition of RPS Suggests, I’d like to humbly describe how to completely fix this forever.
]]>When Sid Meier’s Civilization VI [official site] came out last October, it represented a novel take on the series, boasting two parallel tech trees and an innovative city system that broke the previous games’ monolithic metropoli into distributed districts, with attendant tile-space-management gameplay. Nine months on, I spoke to lead designer Ed Beach about the finer points of the game’s design, what needs work, and Firaxis’ approach to designing expansions and DLC.
]]>Big, slow, sweeping strategy games expose their rules in a way no other game does. Call of Duty doesn’t have floating numbers above enemy heads, telling you their movement speed, for example. But in most 4X and grand strategy games, there is no attempt to hide exactly how everything works: the stats, their interactions, are all laid out and plain to see. Yet these games are utterly dependent on their ability to evoke a sense of place, scale, and history – they have to be much more than just a fancy chessboard, they have to feel alive, or they’re just not much fun. How can these games survive and thrive under such conflicting pressures? I spoke to three of the world’s top strategy game designers, from Firaxis, Paradox and Amplitude, to find out.
]]>The Steam summer sale is in full blaze. For a while it even blazed so hot that the servers went on fire and all the price stickers peeled off the games. Either that or the store just got swamped with cheapskates looking for the best bargains. Cheapskates like you! Well, don’t worry. We’ve rounded up some recommendations - both general tips and some newly added staff choices.
Here are the things you should consider owning in your endless consumeristic lust for a happiness which always seems beyond reach. You're welcome.
]]>Jon Shafer was 21 years old when he became lead designer of Civilization V. Now working at Paradox on an unannounced project and on his own historical strategy game At The Gates in his spare time, he says he's learning from the likes of Spelunky along with the more obvious strategic influences. We spoke about how the second half of every Civ sucks, the part the series played in his life, the perils of boredom in strategy design, how much we love maps, and what the future holds for both Shafer and Paradox.
I began by asking how he ended up sitting at the Paradox Convention, in Stockholm, the city that has now been his home for two weeks: "It's quite a long story, actually."
That story begins in Denver, around 2003.
]]>The 'Digital Deluxe Edition' of Civilization 6 [official site] is to receive some extra little DLC packs for free, publishers 2K announced today, which is jolly surprising given that the game has been out for six months. 2K say that it wasn't good enough value, so they're making it better. And yup, folks who've already bought the Digital Deluxe Edition will get 'em too. Digital Deluxe Editions of games tend to strike me as cheeky ways to exploit fandom, offering trinkets and baubles in exchange for an extra £10 or £20, so it's weird to see a publisher actually care about whether one is good value or not.
]]>The march of progress is slow in civilisation and hey, Civilization can take time too. Civilization 6 [official site] developers Firaxis today launched the 4X strategy game's Spring Update, bring changes and fixes that may not be mega-huge but are certainly welcome. Warmonger penalties are reworked so your people are no longer forever cursed with the mark of Cain just for twatting your neighbour with a ruler, for starters, and the AI is fixed-up a little too. The patch is a 1GB download now percolating through the pipes so fire up Steam and let's have a look.
]]>If you've been living off the grid and wiping your bum with nettles in the hope that Civilization will one day have a 'try before you buy' policy, today is your lucky day. The latest in the venerable strategy series, Civilization VI [official site], now has a demo.
Players who download the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI demo will be able to play as China, led by Qin Shi Huang and take their first steps building a new civilization for up to 60 turns in to the game. For those completely new to the Civilization series the demo also includes the tutorial from the full game to introduce and guide beginners to the world of Civilization.
That's just about enough time to get to grips with some of the new features, though not enough time to really unpack your capital city and to see all the districts spilling onto the map.
]]>Australian will join Sid Meier's globedwar for the first time in new DLC for Civilization 6 [official site], 2K have announced. WW2-era Prime Minister John Curtin will rise from the grave to lead them. Continuing the theme, 2K have also announced that the 'Australian Summer' update is "coming soon" to add neat-o features like official mod tools with Steam Workshop support and the option to play as teams in multiplayer.
]]>Video games always come with an expectation that the player will suspend disbelief to some extent. Genetically engineered super-soldier clones don’t exist, radiation has never and will never work like that, and overweight Italian plumbers could never make that jump. In most cases, if we are unwilling or unable to suspend our disbelief, we may well struggle to enjoy the game and our questioning of the basics of its ‘reality’ would probably make us insufferable to be around.
There are some games however, where the realities of our world are key to enjoying the game. These are the builders like City Skylines, simulators and sports games like Prison Architect and FIFA, and even crime games like Grand Theft Auto. One genre has a particular problem when it comes to maintaining a foot in the real world yet still creating a setting where one can have fun without becoming mired in morally questionable events and choices: historically based games. And among historical games, few subjects are as complex to represent as slavery. Many have tried, from Europa Universalis IV and Victoria II to Civilization and Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry, and in this article I'll investigate the portrayal and use of slavery in these games and more to explore what they get right, what they get wrong, and how games could do better in future.
]]>It's the weekly Steam charts! These are the games which sold best on Steam last week. This week, it's the first true chart of 2017, as the last one covered the arse-end of 2016. All change, all change.
I'm even going to do this one upside-down. New year, new rules! And I don't want to spoil the surprise right away.
]]>Recompile your kernel, grep your vim, and prepare yourself for The Year Of The Linux Desktop For Really Real This Time: Civilization 6 [official site] is coming to Linux. Porting house Aspyr Media announced yesterday that they're turning the latest Civ penguinoid, as they have several Civs before it. They've already brought Civ 6 to Mac. Unlike The Old Days, Aspyr's ports tend to come free for folks who already own the game on other OSs, so hooray huzzah for l33t Linux d00dz.
]]>Merry Civmas, everyone! Sidta Claus has arrived with bulging Sid Meier's Sack full of Sid Meier's Presents for Sid Meier's Civilization 6 [official site], giving all of Sid Meier's Players a big update with Sid Meier's Fixes and Sid Meier's Tweaks, while Sid Meier's Flush Sid Meier's Players can Sid Meier's Buy new Sid Meier's DLC. The most exciting of the two new DLC packs adds Poland as a playable civilization, ruled by Jadwiga, while the other adds viking-y scenarios. But first, the foundations: let's rap about AI improvements.
]]>It's the most wonderful time of the year. It's THE mosssssssst wonderful tiiiiiiiiiiiime ahaahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah I wish I had a machinegun ho ho ho ahahaha, get stuffed 2016.
]]>Alec is away this week, following the Vengaboys around on tour. Or, if they're not currently touring, just visiting places they've been, taking photos and placing them inside his scrapbook alongside some brief reflections. That means it falls to me to tell you which ten games were the best selling on Steam in the past week, and there are some pleasant games inside.
]]>At the beginning of every year, the RPS crew begin work on a team-building crafting project, which we recreate wonders of our world: 2016 was the year of the matchstick Blackpool Tower. Welcome to day nine of The RPS Advent Calendar, which highlights our favourite games of the year, daily. Behind today’s door is...
The year's best 4X game: don't settle for less, it's Sid Meier's Civilization 6
]]>Had a week off. (No, not a holiday, no such thing when there's a three-year-old in the house). Bit of a break from writing about games. Though I'd rebuild and resupply a little, come back fighting fit, ready for anything GAMESWORLD might throw at me next.
Anything but this.
]]>I've played a million beginnings and around a thousand endings, or at least that's how it feels. Imagine having seen the first act of Romeo and Juliet a hundred times but never having seen how it ends. That's my experience with all manner of games, from big story-driven RPGs to some of my favourite strategy epics. I've founded so many starter cities that have never birthed a civilization and met so many characters whose fate I don't know. And this isn't a case of starting a game and then abandoning it; these are the games that I play again and again, sinking days and weeks into them, restarting but never finishing.
Diablo III is the latest.
]]>Aside from starting a new tradition of unusually-named Steam Awards, Valve have also pulled out their worn and adored bargain bucket and have begun to fill it with games you’ll enthusiastically buy and probably never play. Yes, it's their Autumn Sale. In the streets, the apocalyptic jockeying for TVs and blenders has started. The moon has turned blood red. And I looked and behold a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was Black Friday, and sales followed with him.
]]>Well, this really isn't the chart I'd expected to see at this point of the year. We're in peak Silly Season, and yet last week's 10 best-selling games on Steam form a broadly unexpected bunch.
Which is exactly what I like to see.
]]>Let's get the important thing out of the way first: YES, YOU CAN NOW RENAME YOUR CITIES. Thank whichever god is at the head of your current pantheon for that.
There are loads of things that I'd like to see changed in Civilization 6 [official site], even though I think it's a fantastic game, and a new patch looks like it addresses at least some of my quibbles, including clearer tracking of amenities. The full changelist is here, and I've picked out some highlights below.
]]>Civilization 6 [official site] is a wonder in singleplayer, though we do have some complaints: the AI still struggles at times and diplomacy isn't quite the revolution we'd hoped for. The perfect way to sidestep would be to play with nonartificial intelligences, who can conduct diplomacy using swear words and cruel deceptions. We sent our cultural ambassador Robert Zak onto the internet to test out Civ 6 multiplayer in all its forms. Here is his report.
]]>We're nearly at the end of silly season: most of the big releases are out now, with only Watch No Underscore Dogs Two really still to go. It's been a messy one for a lot of the big companies, by all accounts. Let's see how it shook out during Dishonored 2 launch week.
]]>I'm a positive person. In life, I tend to find a bright side even if I'm lost in the dark, and I look for the best in people even if they're concealing their best incredibly well. As a games critic, I tend to think of myself as harsh though, because analysing the best qualities of a thing often means finding all the fine points that fail to work along the way. Despite that, looking back at my reviews over the last couple of years, I can't help but notice that I appear to like games. Quite a lot actually. I am almost always positive about the games I play and I figure it's worth explaining why that is.
]]>Last week, like drinking mulled wine on a chilly November evening, I found great comfort in a Steam top ten that seemed to reflect the wide, weird and wonderful nature of modern PC gaming. After months of recurrent names, it was a bright new dawn of variety. Anything is possible.
I am a fool.
]]>An altogether healthier chart than we've had over the last few weeks, even if the usual ghosts continue to haunt it. That was a spooky halloween reference. It's probably still Halloween in Tazmania or something. Even if it's not, there's definitely a hungover guy in a vomit-smeared David S. Pumpkins costume shambling down a street somewhere.
]]>I've been playing a lot of Civilization 6 recently and I love it dearly. It's not perfect though. Nothing is, of course, but Civ 6 also suffers because it's a strategy game so it has all kinds of problems with its AI. When I first started writing a critique of what does and doesn't work when it comes to the AI, I rather lazily typed out something like that previous sentence: “has there ever been a strategy game with AI that is praiseworthy rather than passable?” There's a part of me that has become an apologist for clumsy AI routines in strategy games.
Here are a few artificial intelligences that need the fewest apologies.
]]>I have played Civilization [official site] games as long as there have been Civilization games. I have always enjoyed them. I have always hated winning them.
]]>Though Adam was the first to settle in the brave new world of Civilization 6 [official site], Alec and Pip have since spent the weekend establishing their own outposts in Sidland. The three of them now form an uneasy alliance to discuss the strengths and failings of the game.
Grievances are aired at length about its new Diplomacy system, jumbled UI and opaque nature, while its vibrant look and elaborate nature are praised. And has learning to play Civ become like learning to play Dota? Let us parley.
]]>Now that I'm past the first 100 turns political offers seem to be turning up with greater frequency. I hate negotiating with AI civilizations so I have decided to appoint former Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson as my diplomatic advisor. I cannot afford actual Alex Ferguson so I am, instead, opening his book, A Year In The Life: The Manager's Diary, at random and reading until relevant advice presents itself.
]]>As I predicted, so it shall soon come to pass. The same game in no less than four slots in the Steam chart (comprising, as always, those games which sold best over the past week). Out, damn top-spot hoggers.
]]>Alice O'Connor, we would have words. In fairness, Civilization VI [official site] did have a smooth launch - it's only post-launch that things have gone ever so slightly wrong. It may not even be the game's fault as such. The problem is that good old Windows has decided that Civ VI is a threat to something other than getting to bed at a sensible hour, and for many people this is preventing the game from loading.
There is a fix, fortunately, but I'll only share it with you if you pay me 184 gold per turn and give me all your Tea and Uranium.
]]>I come to you with knowledge that may help you in your quest to conquer worlds yet to be generated, and will also make the process much more appealing. All of the hours I've spent with Civilization 6 [official site] so far have taught me a thing or two, and I've filled the gaps in my learning by searching the internet for fixes and quality of life tweaks to address some of my complaints. Below, you'll find help on managing districts, armies, amenities and the rest, as well as tips on some of the smaller things, like map rotation (yes, it's possible!) and other camera controls.
]]>If you played Civilization VI [official site] over the weekend, you likely noticed that, technically, the game basically runs fine. It's fine. A few folks have reported minor bugs - which largely have workarounds - but no, it seems most people are playing Civ VI without problem. That's fine for you, I'm sure, but what about me? What about the video game news writers? I've been checking every morning for patches, devastating bug reports, and apologies from publishers 2K, apologies that they've muffed it up like their recent BioShock Remastered and Mafia III launches but... no. Okay then. Great. Good. Lovely. And what do you propose I write this morning, you jackasses?
]]>Unlike Adam, I've not been lucky enough to spend the last month soaking in a deep Civilization VI [official site] bath, so I leave it to him to give you the complete picture. I've spent a big chunk of today with Firaxis' latest historical turn-based strategy epic though, and already it's filled me up with things to say about it. I'm genuinely surprised by how different it feels. There are reasons why I'm massively charmed by it, and there are reasons why it's been frustrating me.
]]>Adam banging on about Civilization VI [official site] – even coming into work chat while ill to bang on about Civ VI (GO TO BED YOU FOOL!) – has persuaded me that this might be the time for the return of the Mighty Pip Empire.
]]>The question I've been trying to answer, as I spent a final few hours with Civilization VI [official site] before writing this review, is simple: is it the best game in the series, or the best game in the series bar Civ IV? After more than a hundred hours of play, I still can't say for sure. The fourth game has had ten years to work its way into my mind and it has endured, Civ VI is still young.
What I can say is that it's a radical redesign, true to the spirit of the series but finding new ideas in its elevation of the map from backdrop and resource-container to new plane of strategic and tactical importance. Few 4X games emphasise the importance of geography to this degree. In Civ VI, the land makes a mark on you, just as you make your mark on the land.
]]>Sid Meier's Civilization 6 is almost upon us, and reviews are going up across the internet. Ours will be along later - you can read Adam's impressions based on a week with the game in the meantime - but you might also want to know when it's going to unlock in your timezone. When can you finally lay your hands upon the sexy hexes once more? Find out below.
]]>This is the third part of a Civilization VI [official site] diary, running from the beginning of recorded history to the atomic age and victory (?). Part one is here, part two is here.
There's something special about taking a first trip over-seas. Whether you're a child or teenager taking a vacation away from your homeland for the first time, or the leader of a nation sending explorers out into the wider world, it's a magical time.
We are Japan. Having established a now-peaceful dominance over our neighbours, we craved new lands to occupy. The discovery of cartography gave even our smallest seafaring vessels the knowledge to navigate their way across deep waters and soon we were carving up the fog of war that lay between the world's two great landmasses. What we found when we reached the other side changed everything.
]]>I have a terrible confession to make. While, on a weekly basis, I protest about the oft-unchanging nature of these charts, the truth is that a new entry makes me sigh. It means I have to laboriously type out new HTML rather than just copy the links from last week. This means terrible, unspeakable suffering in a week such as this, where there actually are quite a few 'new' games.
]]>I'll admit that my first thought upon seeing that there was a Civilization VI [official site] launch trailer was to get that Brentalfloss version of Baba Yetu which adds parody lyrics stuck in my head so I watched that first. Civ VI's actual trailer is far more SRSBSNS. It's all about cinematics showing the key achievements you can use as markers of progress in the game and dramatisations of some of the conflict:
]]>As it was prophesied, soon it will come to pass. The Steam Charts approach their endgame: where all sales and all pre-order shenanigans converge to ensure that just one game occupies all top ten placements. Soon, there shall be unity. Terrible, terrible unity.
]]>This is the second part of a Civilization VI diary, running from the beginning of recorded history to the atomic age and victory (?). Part one is here.
"He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty Great Prophet."
No, scratch that. Wrong Python movie.
“Spanish persons, today the blood of many a brave samurai shall be avenged! In the name of Horace, we shall not stop our fight till every one of you lies dead, and the Holy Grail returns to those who Horace Himself has chosen!”
This entry of my Civilization VI [official site] diary is about my quest for the Holy Grail.
]]>In this first part of a Civilization VI [official site] diary series, which will follow my glorious nation from its birth to eventual victory (or abject failure), we trace Japan's steps from the ancient to the classical era. Along the way, I'll be explaining the rules of this new entry in the series as well as telling the story of my people.
Rome is bristling with spears and its leader, Trajan, is not very happy. Not very happy at all. It's 1160 BC and I've already sworn off wonders, stabbed my only friend in the back, and found myself caught between faiths. Let's rewind almost three thousand years though, to the founding of Kyoto and a time of great promise. Let's go back to the start.
]]>I had all the characteristics of a blogger — frayed jeans, opinions, laptop, tea — but my depersonalisation was so intense, had gone so deep, that my normal ability to compile charts had been eradicated, the victim of a slow, purposeful erasure. I was simply imitating top ten articles, a rough resemblance of a best-sellers list, with only a dim corner of my mind functioning.
And yet.
]]>A month ahead of its release, I’ve spent a week with Civilization VI [official site]. The build of the game is near-complete, though only ten of the twenty civs are playable and there are some limits on startup settings. When I heard that I’d be able to play so much of the game so long before release, I hoped that was evidence of 2K’s confidence in what they had to show.
Whether that’s true or not, they should be brimming with confidence. Civ VI is excellent.
]]>I'm trying to think who it could be. I don't really have enemies any more, or not knowingly so. Some forgotten bully from school who never left our hometown and is still obsessed with tormenting me? A fellow journalist whose article I might have drunkenly tweeted something rude about in 2009? Someone I unfollowed or unfriended because they were tiresome or awful? You Know, Those Guys? Or: all of them, working together. Pooling their life savings to buy as many copies of a certain game as they can. Make no mistake: someone's out to get me. It's the only possible explanation.
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