#52: Sid Meier’s Civilization (Microprose, DOS, 1991)

We’re coming off a string of three games in a row that are, by any measure, absolute giants, to one that aims to encapsulate nothing less than the entire span of human history. We’ve dealt with some pretty lofty ambitions before now, but nothing remotely on this scale. How can it possibly work? How can a single game possibly reflect the complexities of life to the degree that would be required of such a creation? But then, what is a game, but a system of arbitrary rules by which all participants agree to abide, simply for the sake of maintaining the integrity of the game? What is a civilization, but a system of arbitrary rules by which all participants agree to abide, simply for the sake of maintaining the integrity of the civilization? As above, so below.

In other words, the ground level nitty-gritty stuff of keeping a country running is tacitly delegated to some pompous duke or other, who in turn delegates to a count, and so on down to the peasants plowing the fields, so that you, the king, can concentrate on the really important decisions, like which part of your palace should be renovated to best glorify your majestic ego. Of course the game of Civilization reduces 100,000 people to a number attached to a generic face. That’s just what happens when you have that kind of power.