“From the first stirrings of life beneath water… to the great beasts of the Stone Age… to man taking his first upright steps, you have come far. Now begins your greatest quest: from this early cradle of civilization on towards the stars.” -Ancient Era Opening of Civilization VI

Civilization VI is a turn-based strategy video game that was originally created by the legendary game designer Sid Meier. This game allows one to build an empire to stand the test of time. One plays as one of the rulers of the world to help establish and lead a civilization from the Ancient Era to the Information Era. Players can do whatever they want as a ruler of the world: conquer other civilizations, start cultural war or spread a religion. One can meet other great leaders in world history and decide to become their ally or enemy. 

Want to be a God of War? Expand your territory by choosing a great location with enough resources and possibilities of future growth. Develop military power by putting energy on active research in technology to unlock more powerful armies that one can own. Conquer all the other countries’ land to rule the world. But be careful: one needs to be strong enough to accept the anger of all the other civilizations.

Want to be a Collector of Wonders? Build all the amazing wonders that you want, such as  the Great Wall, Eiffel Tower and Stonehenge. One can own them at the same time. Create a legend of culture by being the leading culture for every civilization. But be careful, the time one spends on these wonders may give the enemy time to develop military power. Find possibilities on culture but remain alert for other aggressive leaders. Also, the barbarians will create a headache. 

The game is available in multiple languages and platforms. One can also get it from the app store for Apple devices. But, the experience will be better if one purchases it from Steam, a video game digital distribution service platform using your computer. The price will be around $30 depending on the pack bundle.

From another perspective, it’s a great way to learn history. Meet all the great leaders of the world by actually becoming them. Develop your own way of diplomacy to know the difficulty of politics. Experience how the spy can actually make a huge difference. Under the pandemic, all the travel plans are forced to be cancelled. If one wants to figure out another way of “visiting” all different places of the world, Civilization VI may be a great choice.

Just a year ago, we had to learn what it was like to be stuck at home, embracing our daily family walks in the sunshine, and now college students have embraced the nice weather more than ever.