Civilization+V


 * Game Overview**

//Civilization V// is a turn-based strategy game that spans the timeframe from about 4000 BCE to near future space exploration. As the game opens, you find yourself the leader of a budding civilization: one small city with access to limited resources. As the game progresses, you slowly build up a population of specialized “worker,” “combat,” and “settler” units that are used to build improvements on your city, explore the game map, and establish new, satellite cities. However, you quickly learn that your civilization is not alone on the game map. You must compete against other players or the computer for control over territory and resources.

The ultimate goal of the game—at least to the best of my knowledge, given my limited experience playing—is global domination, either through diplomacy or military conquering. As each turn cycle progresses, the game moves through time, and the players struggle to develop new and better technologies and resources. These advances in technologies give you both an advantage over the other players (assuming you gain them first) and progress your civilization through historical “eras” (e.g. you are first promoted to the “classical era,” then the “medieval era,” and so forth). Though all civilizations must progress through this same pattern, each player can choose their own route to success based on their preferences and situation.


 * Screenshots**







**Learning**

Prior to //Civilization V//, I had not played any of its precursors nor any similar games, so the experience proved quite educational. Fundamentally, I would classify this game as a game of discovery. When the game opens, you can see only a small portion of the map, and you must probe out and discover the rest of the world. Similarly, the most successful strategies for surviving the game must also be derived through testing and discovery.

As a player, you are left with innumerable options of actions to take, places to explore, and technologies to research, but for the most part, there is no overt guidance on which course to take. There is nothing telling you to be militaristic or diplomatic. You are simply left to experiment and discover which course works best for you. In truth, a player would probably need to expend much more than the two or so hours I have yet invested in the game to actually develop any level of proficiency. Nonetheless, I was quickly able to learn what kinds of decisions would be best for reaching my goals; I learned when to focus my time and resources on building new units and when to focus on building structures; I learned how and when to conduct trades, build roads, and form diplomatic ties; I learned when to attack another city and when not to. In short, the game embodies Gee’s principles of probing, hypothesizing, and reflecting to gradually build a player-derived strategy to successfully move through the game.

**Teaching**

The game does, of course, offer many helpful hints to first time players. The game has a built in function called “civilopedia” that pops up whenever new features of the game are encountered. This “civilopedia” is nearly the only form of direct teaching that the game includes. It explains how and what to use different resources and units for, how the basic gameplay and controls work, and even provides helpful strategy tips when you are about to make overtly poor decisions (e.g. the game will caution you against attacking another city with insufficient or inappropriate forces). The game also provides suggestions on where to build certain types of resources and which technologies might be the most beneficial to study.

Other teaching forms built into the game include periodic feedback and rewards. Cultivation of resources are necessary for success, so the building of structures that provide those resources (gold, food, lumber, stone, etc.) come with their own reward. At the same time, however, you must cultivate happiness and culture within your population in order to progress. This is accomplished through overall successful gameplay as well as attaining the kinds of resources that your citizens are “demanding” (a somewhat more subtle means for the game to suggest what kinds of resources to acquire). When you maintain a high level of happiness for long enough, the game gives small perks. For example, your civilization may enter a “golden age” during which it becomes more prosperous. Additionally, the game periodically displays rankings of your standing in comparison to other players on a number of criteria (happiness, most resources, largest military, etc.). Through these qualities, the game helps guide the decisions made and communicates important features of gameplay.

**Outside Resources**

There is a great quantity of online forums and wikis devoted to the playing of this game. By in large, these sites seem geared towards giving basic information about the gameplay, particularly delineating differences between it and its precursors. Additionally, many of these sites are intended to provide strategy and gameplay tips, outlining frequently asked questions and giving advice on commonly encountered dilemmas. Further, though I have had no cause or opportunity to explore these options, many of these sites discuss a number of expansions that have been developed for the game, adding new civilizations, maps, and technologies. Ultimately, the online resources that players have developed for this game are intended to assist in the skill acquisition of novice players and to share insights between experienced players. Indeed, there are even multiple online videos available that provide strategy tips or even show multiple hours of gameplay. There is a broad online community associated with this game (unsurprisingly, given that the game can be played online), and that community seems largely devoted to helping its members succeed.

**Overall Reflection**

I chose to focus this review on //Civilization V// because, as a social studies teacher, I had heard that this game and its precursors can be strong tools for teaching historical content and building student interest. Though it should be noted that I only progressed through the early stages of the game, to some extent I found both of these claims to be true. The game does introduce many historical themes and cultural influences in an engaging format that may well build knowledge and interest. However, the manner in which historical information is presented might also lead to some confusion among players.

For instance, the game could severely damage a player’s understanding of the overall narrative timeline of history. The game has a large number of civilizations that you can play, including but not limited to those titled Persia, Ottoman, Japan, and Arabia (I was randomly assigned as a Japanese Daimyo). All the other potential civilizations then become your opponents. However, all start out at the same time, with the same approximate technologies, and must progress through the same stages of development. In short, players encounter the Persian and the Ottoman empires at the same time though they occupied much of the same territory over a thousand years apart, and players see the cities of Kyoto and Edinburgh go through their “medieval era” at approximately the same time, though the game follows a much more Eurocentric timeline than could ever be applied to Japan. Further, the game suggests that all represented civilizations progressed through the same stages (notably following 19th century historical periodizing) in the same order, at the same time, and in the same way. Though the game does present many accuracies in culture and events, the game is far too simplified to constitute legitimate history learning.

Nonetheless, I consider the game a strong contender for the teaching of many of the critical thinking and civic skills needed for success within the social studies. The game’s strong reliance on strategy and social interaction builds heavy cause and effect associations with player decisions. Further, the game would likely promote affective gains as players build competence and confidence in their critical thinking and decision making abilities. Overall, //Civilization V// is a long, highly involved game that I have had far too little experience with to critique fully, but I see ample potential within it as a teaching and learning tool.