Civilization
A turn-based strategy game about building an empire through history.
Where Civilization comes up7 episodes and tests
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testHow Game Designers Solved These 11 Problems
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testCan we Improve Tutorials for Complex Games?
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testThe Two Types of Random in Game Design
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testImproving Games for Those with Cognitive Disabilities | Designing for Disability
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testHow Games Use Feedback Loops
Gcreator of Game Maker's Toolkit testWhat Makes Good AI?Civilization stays approachable by adding decisions gradually, from where to settle the first city to dozens per turn, and by using familiar themes. Sid Meier halved the map less than a month before release to fix pacing. Streak correction after two lost 33% battles matches player intuition. Lesson: start with few systems, let complexity grow, and add natural pushback against snowballing.
- 1Turn oneOne decision: where to found city
- 2Add two choicesWhat to build, where to send unit
- 3Web grows each turnDozens of decisions per turn
- 4Player is investedRules understood before decisions pile up
From Bruce Shelley's "inverted pyramid of decision making"
What was said about Civilization
1The inverted pyramid of decision making
Civilization starts with one decision and adds more each turn. Turn one asks only where to found your first city. Then come two choices, what to build and where to send a unit, and the web grows to dozens of decisions per turn.
Bruce Shelley, who worked with Sid Meier on early Civilization, called this the "inverted pyramid of decision making." Because complexity grows from a single settler, the game can teach systems as you discover them, and by the time decisions pile up the player understands the rules and is invested.
A familiar history theme cuts what players must learn. Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley built on high school world history: Egyptians and warplanes are easier to grasp than Protoss and Vespene gas.
Mark Brown points to "the power of using stuff that the player likely already knows about." Complex games can lean on historical themes and familiar UI conventions so they feel intuitive without a tutorial.
Civilization V taught by starting lean and adding systems later. Mark Brown found Civilization V easy to learn because it had fewer systems; the expansions Gods & Kings and Brave New World then layered religion and espionage onto what he already knew.
He suggests an easy mode could be a stripped-back version with fewer systems rather than "the same game but with dumb AI," turning more on each playthrough. The game has to be designed that way from the start.
Advisors explain why to act, not just which button to press. Telling someone how to build is easy; explaining what to build, when and where is hard. Civilization's economic advisor fills that gap, for example warning that you have enough workers and should build something else.
Faster feedback that lets players see consequences is the other tool for teaching the why.
The hex grid makes the world map easier to read. Civilization V's hex grid is cited as making the world map easier to understand, including for players with cognitive disabilities.
2Halving the map a month before release
Cutting the map in half fixed the first game's pacing. Less than a month before release, Sid Meier halved the size of the Civilization map. The game felt snappier, with a sense of relentless forward progress.
The lesson is his rule for tuning: "double it, or cut it in half." Tweaks of 5 or 6 percent may never find the right value before time runs out, while a dramatic change shows quickly whether a lever matters, and you can step back if you overshoot.
3Keeping runaway empires in check
Rising costs and rivals push back against a snowballing empire. Conquering a nation can snowball your empire, but unhappy citizens and the increased cost of running a larger empire push back.
Other players or AI nations also gang up on the leader, which acts as a naturally occurring negative feedback loop.
4Odds and AI opponents tuned to player perception
Civilization bends its odds to match how players feel about chance. After a player loses two battles at 33% odds, Civilization makes the third succeed, correcting for how people misjudge probability.
Humans read odds through cognitive biases, so designers make game probability match "the broken probability in our heads." Civilization 4 designer Soren Johnson calls the two types of randomness pre-luck and post-luck.
Distinct leader personalities make the AI seem smarter. Each AI leader in Civilization's single-player modes has its own quirks, and developers have found distinct personalities make AI characters read as smarter.
The 100 Games That Taught Me Game Design
Its "inverted pyramid of decision making" starts with one choice, then two, then dozens per turn. Familiar themes like Egyptians and warplanes make it easier to grasp than Protoss and Vespene gas.
Civilization starts with one decision and adds more each turn. Turn one asks only where to found your first city. Then come two choices, what to build and where to send a unit, and the web grows to dozens of decisions per turn.
Bruce Shelley, who worked with Sid Meier on early Civilization, called this the "inverted pyramid of decision making." Because complexity grows from a single settler, the game can teach systems as you discover them, and by the time decisions pile up the player understands the rules and is invested.
A familiar history theme cuts what players must learn. Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley built on high school world history: Egyptians and warplanes are easier to grasp than Protoss and Vespene gas.
Mark Brown points to "the power of using stuff that the player likely already knows about." Complex games can lean on historical themes and familiar UI conventions so they feel intuitive without a tutorial.
How Game Designers Solved These 11 Problems
Sid Meier fixed the pacing of the first game by halving the map less than a month before release. The game felt snappier with a sense of relentless forward progress.
Cutting the map in half fixed the first game's pacing. Less than a month before release, Sid Meier halved the size of the Civilization map. The game felt snappier, with a sense of relentless forward progress.
The lesson is his rule for tuning: "double it, or cut it in half." Tweaks of 5 or 6 percent may never find the right value before time runs out, while a dramatic change shows quickly whether a lever matters, and you can step back if you overshoot.
Can we Improve Tutorials for Complex Games?
Bruce Shelley's 'inverted pyramid of decision making' starts with one decision, where to settle, and grows to dozens per turn. Brown found Civ V easy to learn because it had fewer systems, and the expansions then added religion and espionage.
Civilization starts with one decision and adds more each turn. Turn one asks only where to found your first city. Then come two choices, what to build and where to send a unit, and the web grows to dozens of decisions per turn.
Bruce Shelley, who worked with Sid Meier on early Civilization, called this the "inverted pyramid of decision making." Because complexity grows from a single settler, the game can teach systems as you discover them, and by the time decisions pile up the player understands the rules and is invested.
A familiar history theme cuts what players must learn. Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley built on high school world history: Egyptians and warplanes are easier to grasp than Protoss and Vespene gas.
Mark Brown points to "the power of using stuff that the player likely already knows about." Complex games can lean on historical themes and familiar UI conventions so they feel intuitive without a tutorial.
Civilization V taught by starting lean and adding systems later. Mark Brown found Civilization V easy to learn because it had fewer systems; the expansions Gods & Kings and Brave New World then layered religion and espionage onto what he already knew.
He suggests an easy mode could be a stripped-back version with fewer systems rather than "the same game but with dumb AI," turning more on each playthrough. The game has to be designed that way from the start.
Advisors explain why to act, not just which button to press. Telling someone how to build is easy; explaining what to build, when and where is hard. Civilization's economic advisor fills that gap, for example warning that you have enough workers and should build something else.
Faster feedback that lets players see consequences is the other tool for teaching the why.
The Two Types of Random in Game Design
Makes the third of three 33% battles succeed after two losses, to correct for how players misjudge odds. Civilization 4 designer Soren Johnson calls the two randomness types pre-luck and post-luck.
Civilization bends its odds to match how players feel about chance. After a player loses two battles at 33% odds, Civilization makes the third succeed, correcting for how people misjudge probability.
Humans read odds through cognitive biases, so designers make game probability match "the broken probability in our heads." Civilization 4 designer Soren Johnson calls the two types of randomness pre-luck and post-luck.
Improving Games for Those with Cognitive Disabilities | Designing for Disability
Its hex grid makes the world map easier to read and understand.
The hex grid makes the world map easier to read. Civilization V's hex grid is cited as making the world map easier to understand, including for players with cognitive disabilities.
How Games Use Feedback Loops
Conquest can snowball an empire, but unhappy citizens and rising empire costs push back. In multiplayer, everyone gangs up on the leader as a natural negative loop.
Rising costs and rivals push back against a snowballing empire. Conquering a nation can snowball your empire, but unhappy citizens and the increased cost of running a larger empire push back.
Other players or AI nations also gang up on the leader, which acts as a naturally occurring negative feedback loop.
What Makes Good AI?
Single-player AI leaders each have unique quirks. Distinct personalities make AI characters seem smarter to players.
Distinct leader personalities make the AI seem smarter. Each AI leader in Civilization's single-player modes has its own quirks, and developers have found distinct personalities make AI characters read as smarter.
More in Games
GamesNintendo
A Zelda adventure where Princess Zelda copies objects and monsters as echoes to solve puzzles and fight.
GamesThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Nintendo's long-running action-adventure series about Link exploring Hyrule, solving puzzles and fighting Ganon.
GamesDead Space
A major video game publisher and the guest's employer.
G
29 sources · 94 tipsMind Over Magnet
A puzzle platformer where you escape a factory using a magnet and a magnetic field.
GamesFar Cry 2
An open world action game where you recruit and play any of London's citizens.
GamesGod of War
A combat-focused action adventure game from Santa Monica Studio with Norse mythology and light puzzles.
Mind Over Magnet
Mark Brown's first game, a puzzle game he made while learning Unity.
GamesDishonored
A first-person stealth action game from Arkane with supernatural powers and the Clockwork Mansion level.