Civ 5 leader traits11/5/2022 ![]() Most subjects are taught by first presenting a simplified view: First you learn that the American Civil War was a battle between the North and South about slavery, but later you learn that there were other deeply-rooted factors, including states’ rights, underlying the conflict. Unlike Casey, I don’t see Civilization’s concessions in complexity as a downside. While League of Legends and Call of Duty involve quite a bit of strategy and critical thinking, they clearly cannot approach the macromanagement demands of Civilization. Formulating a strategy that leverages these strengths to their fullest is the key to successful campaign. There is an interesting balance between picking a society which is strong early (A Hatshepsut-led Egypt begins with the Wheel and Agriculture already researched and has access to powerful War Chariots) versus one that is strong late (A Frederick-led Germany can eventually build Assembly Plants and Panzer Tanks that will power a dominant late-game military). Yes, Civilization is an intricately complex game system in which early decisions butterfly into substantial late game differences. And that right there is enough for me to classify this game as at least partially educational.” At worst, it is a game that tickles its players intellectually, inviting them to make decisions, see consequences, and mentally and philosophically engage with the topics therein. The game is complex and robust enough to provide measured consequences for decisions that do often seem reflective of human history.Īt best, this game teaches people in a simplified way some reasonable outcomes, both good and bad, for a variety of large-scale national decisions. That said, I think what makes this game great is that Sid Meier managed to not overly-simplify it. Players make decisions such as which economy best suits their landscape, how to balance industrial progress with environmental preservation, and the cost/benefit of engaging in wars with other nations.Įverything is necessarily dumbed down from real life, and the oversimplification of the ramifications of the decisions you make is the best counter-argument to the ‘Is this game educational?’ question. After all, this is a game that requires you to make macroscopic societal decisions that affect the makeup of your nation. However, it does prompt players to think intellectually in a way that puts it in a different category from games like League of Legends or Call of Duty. Civilization is probably not a game that's going to help students pass their next history/social science test. “I think it comes down to how we define ‘educational’ in the gaming context. He is an English teacher at Huntington Beach High School in California, a former Senior Director at Kaplan, and most importantly a hardcore Civilization player who, as I can attest to as his college roommate, spent many long nights engaged in fierce battles for continental conquest. To get a better perspective, I asked Casey Harelson. ![]() But is the game educational? If so, what does one “learn” by playing it? This might seem like a lot, but this barely scratches the surface of the depth the game has to offer. I love Civilization as much as the next guy and have invested approximately 50 to 60 hours into various incarnations of the game (mostly Civ III and Civ IV). Revel in the glory of Civilization's Grammy winning theme song, Baba Yetu. Whenever I would speak to my colleagues about educational games, they would invariably reference one game as a shining paragon of excellence: Civilization. ![]() Before joining EdSurge, I worked for four years as a commercial game designer. ![]()
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