RockPaperShotgun: The Rally Point: Why Alpha Centauri kind of helped when I had a breakdown

By | October 20, 2023
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RockPaperShotgun has released a new article called “The Rally Point: Why Alpha Centauri kind of helped when I had a breakdown“.
The title implies a very personal story from the author, but at the end it is actually purely about Alpha Centauri. The author praises the factions, the story, and the underlying AI, which made the game so very sympathetic.

An excerpt:

Most unusually, even today, is how helpful allies can be. Truly aligned friends will actively aid you. I’ve had several games where my armies defended allied colonies while their leaders showered me with free technology without prompting, or I bankrolled an industrial power as they bombed our enemies. It encourages less gamey thinking.

Read the full article here.

New indie game release: Hexarchy, a deck building civ-like game

By | October 19, 2023
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Another very interesting indie game has been released: Hexarchy. This 4X game goes to a smaller scale than the typical civ game, and mixes in a deck building element to expand your empire with techs, units, etc, instead of the normal expansion by building. The general idea should certainly attractive to civ fans, and the shorter games allow an easy game in between.

For the release there is a 20% discount, you can buy it for 15.60€ instead of 19.50€, and a free demo is available as well. And we also have a thread for the game, of course.

On Sale: Pax Nova, a planetary sci-fi 4X

By | October 19, 2023
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A game which mostly has been flown under the radar is now on sale: Pax Nova. This game seems to be a mixture of Civilization, with a bit of SMAC and a bit of Master of Orion. You explore space, and colonize different planets in a typical 4X manner. The game is right now on sale, with a 80% discount for 4.90€. We would love to hear some first-hand experiences with this game in our thread here, please let us know how this plays!

Ara: History Untold, Dev Diary – Ep. 07 – Cities & Nations

By | October 18, 2023
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Today, the developers of Ara: History Untold have released a dev diary about how cities and nations work in Ara. They talk about the AI of the animals, how to keep your citizens happy, and how the cities improve over time.

Discuss Ara: History Untold with us here.

Play the new Civ4 “Game Of The Month” #258

By | October 18, 2023
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And we also get a mid-month Civ4 GOTM! As in the Civ5 GOTM you play Washington, but here on a standard size terra map on Monarch level. You start alone in the new world, but you are surrounded by raging barbarians. You have until November 15 to conquer the old world!

For more information please check this thread.

Millennia: Developer Diary – Nations

By | October 17, 2023
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We got another developer diary from the new Paradox game Millennia!
This time the diary is about the internal and external politics of your nation. It describes how you manage vassals, how minor nations (similar to city states) work in Millenia, and gives some details about governments too.

For all details please check our thread.

Play the new Civ6 “Game Of The Month” #169

By | October 17, 2023
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For the Civ6 GOTM we go back to one of history’s most famous leaders: You will be playing Cleopatra (Ptolemaic) on a standard sized wet and hot wetlands map on Immortal level. You need to win via a science victory, but also prevent all other civs from achieving another victory. Disaster intensity is set to 3, so you will for sure not only getting a heated up planet, but even more problems!

You have until November 15 to prevent climate change. For more information please see this thread.

The Value Foundation streams Old World, Tuesday Oct 17, 9 PM CEST

By | October 16, 2023
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The Value Foundation, a foundation dealing with history, video games, and education, has last year streamed Civ2, has this academic year started with Civ6, and will now also stream “Old World” with the new “Pharaoh Of The Nile” expansion.
Their stream will be on Tuesday 9 PM CEST, and you’ll be able to watch it on Twitch here. And obviously you can discuss this stream also with us, join us here.