Jul

20

Civilization on a budget

Filed Under History 

As a history teacher I’m always looking for ways to make the past seem more interesting. One of those ways is playing games, and for a course on Western Civilization one of the best games has been Civilization (whether versions I, II, III or IV).

Unfortunately commercial software comes with a price, and, as I always like to complain, school budgets are limited. That, of course, makes it difficult for a teacher to have all his students play the same game and compare results.

Well, it’s not perfect and it’s not as good as the commercial versions, but FreeCiv is a mighty good choice if your budget won’t allow buying the software. It is a bit clunky and the graphics aren’t as nice as the store bought version, but it seems to have similar game play (and, I think, identical commands) and feel and generally does what the commercial Civ does.

FreeCiv lacks the polish of the paid for version, but it also allows you to play online against other players in distant locations. I’ll admit I’m having trouble figuring out how to do that, but it looks interesting. I think it’d be fun to have a FreeCiv tournament involving multiple school over multiple provinces. There would be the fog of war yet also some chance for building ties between schools.

Comments

One Response to “Civilization on a budget”

  1. DoctorJ on July 20th, 2007 2:53 pm

    I just saw Civ II complete at Costco for $16, so head there now!

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