I have an 11 year old (6th grade) nephew who is mature for his age. He loves history and geography and I thought this might be a great game for him (I have fond memories of the original Civ). Is he old enough to play and understand this game or do I need to wait a year or two?
Hey!
I saw this message yesterday and didn't respond coz I thought that someone who was a little more equipped to do so i.e. one of the more senior members of the forum, would answer you and perhaps more comprehensively than I. As they haven't I'll have to do!
I've had this game a little over a year and when I got it first it was a little overwhelming as I had never played civ before. However with the excellent strategy guides on this forum I quickly got up to speed. That being said Im 24!
I dont think your nephew is too young at 11 years old though especially if he is mature for his age. In terms of the single player game there is lots to do. 16 different civilizations, 4 different ways to win for each (Economic, domination, cultural and scientific) There are also 5 graduated levels of difficulty for him to advance through.
In single player there are also senarios for shorter games and downloadable content which can really expand the game play.
The only thing I would say is that the games can be quite long but the single player allows you to save and provides a save spot for each civ so you are sick of the Japanese for example save them for another day and start on the Zulus!
The reservation I would have would be concerning Multiplayer online play, it can be brutal! People sometimes take the game too seriously and can be sore losers which isn't pretty but there are a wealth of nice, fair players note thought that they often very, very good so it can be disheartening to play sometimes!
If it was me I would get it for him. I recently had to buy a second copy of the game (as I wore the first one out!) and it only cost 20 Euro so it's not a massive investment if he doesn't like it. Of course thats relative but you could sell it on if needed, I might need a third!
It's definately a worthwhile game to play, it requires you to think out strategy and plan how you will expand your civilization. You have to think outside the box and for a young person it's a great way to develop independent and original thought.
If he has a natural interest in history and geography he will benefit from the civ specific bonuses; Japanese getting food from water due to their history of fishing, Romans having half cost roads as they were once great road builders, these are things he can infer from the game. You also get to name your cities and landmarks such as rivers and the names are famous landmarks of the civ you are playing.
If haven't convinced you I'll leave you with this nugget, one of the best players on here (shout out to Morte!!!) is 15 and has been invaluable in terms of the strategys he has written for new players.
If you do buy it encourage him to visit this site to view the Strategy Archive to help him out (or you could print them out for him in advance) and that will really help him get into it without overwhelming him. He should focus on one civ for a little while so the bonuses will be the same i.e each game will be constant and then he can explore more as his skill improves. If he ever has a problem this is usually a very friendly and helpful site.
Last edited by KillingDeathz; 12-11-2009 at 05:31 AM.
Your comments were extremely helpful.
His parents don't let him online (currently), so that is not a fear at all.
The 5 levels of difficulty and ability to save in single player will help. He already uses forums for help in several other games, so I am confident he will be able to get any type of help he needs in that regard.
Thanks for the reply.
No problem!!
If you do get it for him I hope he enjoys it.
Well, there is nothing in the game which would be innoproriate for a child so it's really down to weather or not he or she would understand how to play and at that age, I would say they would. Have a go fo the game yourself if you need to find out more. ^_^
Just get him Starcraft
I played Civ 1 when I was 10(and it was a brand new game), I wasn't exactly playing it well, but I was playing it enough to enjoy it. Put it to you this way, I started playing Civ then, 19 years later I'm still playing it.
I think it would be good for him. The tutorial is pretty good and it comes up automatically on the easiest difficulty.
The top 2 civ rev players are 14 and 15...
I kinda giggle that he isn't allowed online, and he is 11. I'm 13, I've been allowed to play 'M' games since I was six, same with going online. I'm not trying to tell you, or his parents how to raise him though. This is an excellent game, get it for him. I enjoyed it (for awhile), but since I'm usually a more 'hardcore' gamer, I moved on. For him, he would totally enjoy it though.
It is because of Civ that i became intrested in history. i started with Civ Rev and began to casuly browse through the Civliopedia for hours. Then i got a pc that worked and immediatly downloaded Civ 4,thats right i downloaded it from STEAM. and i have been playing it ever since. This game inspired me to learn who our past and current world leaders are, to learn how the summarians fell, and how egypt became the worlds B for 2000 years. i would recommend this game to any one no matter how old you are
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