Master of Civilization

For less than the $25 WoW Sparklelord pony, you could spend a bit of cash this weekend and get all of the following, rent-free:

Civilization IV Complete

Civilization III

Master of Orion 1&2

Master of Magic

Value is a… flexible thing, but for me and my house, I find more value in these games than anything Blizzard has to offer.  Apples to oranges, perhaps, but when it’s a question of how I spend my money, this is the sort of deal that I look for.  The value/cost equations make me happy.

…and if you’ve never played Master of Magic, you’re running out of excuses.  If nothing else, call it research.  I hear the Cub Scouts appreciate that sort of thing.  You might also appreciate what Stardock is trying to do with Elemental, a spiritual successor to the MoM magic that has lied fallow for years.

Happy Mothers’ Day weekend!

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Old School Review: Master of Magic

Pursuant to my comment over here, and following Zubon’s idea, I wanted to take a nostalgic look at Master of Magic, and with any luck, discern some game design principles that might be useful for designers today.

Ah, the MicroProse days.  Master of Orion was one of the first games I spent a lot of time in.  (The other being Star Control 2, another brilliant game that I’ll write about another time.)  Later, XCom: Terror from the Deep was fantastic (difficult and frustrating at times, but the core concept and gameplay were excellent).

At its heart, Master of Magic is a 4X game, an expansive strategy game based on the 4 “X”s: — eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate.  It borrows themes from Magic: The Gathering and gameplay mechanics from Master of Orion, throwing in a fair bit of Civilization and shades of D&D.  In other words, it uses time-honored gameplay and fantasy world elements.  There were no earth shatteringly new concepts in MOM, but the game pulled elements together into a very enjoyable whole.

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