Sid Meier and the Meaning of “Civilization”
Sid Meier and the Meaning of “Civilization”
Sid Meier and the Meaning of “Civilization”
By Neima Jahromi
September 22, 2021
Summary
Sid Meier is famous for creating the video game Civilization.
Meier released Civilization thirty years ago this month, after developing it with Bruce Shelley, a veteran board-game designer.
In 1990, Meier's earlier collaboration with Shelley resulted in Sid Meier's Railroad Tycoon, a construction simulator that spawned a slew of copycats.
We're now on Sid Meier's Civilization VI. His name is still on the box.
Meier had started working with Shelley, the board-game designer, who gently nit-picked Meier's sprawling world-building.
Soon after Meier and Shelley circulated their prototype of Civilization, other MicroProse developers began playing the game and hammering on Meier's door.
When Sid Meier began tinkering with a new game, thirty years ago, his hope was that players would see themselves in his version of our planet.
Reference
Jahromi, N. (2021, September 22). Sid Meier and the meaning of "Civilization". Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/sid-meier-and-the-meaning-of-civilization