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Description

I've never been much of a gamer.

Oh, sure, I've played games, including several different video games over the years. But I never really got "serious" about it, waiting in line outside some shop to get the latest version of the biggest games. While I've heard their names, I've never played Tour of Duty, Mario Kart, Grand Theft Auto, Skyrim, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, or even Donkey Kong. Hell, the last time I owned a game console was when my folks bought me and my brother an ActiVision way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

As a result, for my friend 's #gameoverartjam , I had a really tough time coming up with an idea. Oh sure I understood the concept, but let's just say it was like trying to write a story in a foreign language. Or trying to cook a meal with ingredients I'd never seen before.

And yet.

For decades now there has been one game that kept me coming back for more. I can't say I've played every version of it, but those that I have went on to claim countless hours of my life.

I'm speaking of Sid Meier's Civilization franchise.

I'm a history buff. Unlike many fellow nerds whose favourite form of fiction is fantasy or SF, for me, my most beloved reads have always been historical fiction. Big weighty tomes that weave fictional characters and stories into real-life places, events, and people. Often across several generations. So of course the one game that has managed to appeal to me over the years has been the one that lets you step into the shoes of Caesar or Napoleon or Elizabeth and "build a civilization to stand the test of time". (I'm also a bit of an anal-retentive micro-manager, so again, a perfect game for me.)

It started with the heavily-pixilated and clunky-but-classic first version (the one where Ghandi went psycho in the modern era). I then got into Civ II for years, so much so I think I burned myself out for a while and completely skipped Civ III. Then someone recommended Civ IV to me shortly after it came out and damn it but I got addicted again. That game turns 15 this year but I still play it every now and then. I alternate between playing it and Civ V; they're like pizzas with different toppings, each enjoyable variations of the same wonderful dish.

(I haven't tried Civ VI yet, probably because it was released just after I started creating digital art and around the same time my commissions started taking off. The last thing I needed was a new addiction taking my time and energy away from my new, fun, lucrative hobby.)

So here is Duster playing the role of the modern era spy from Civilization IV. For such tiny figures, the game developers managed to imbue them with a lot of personality, such as this slinky little cat-suited minx. One more turn indeed.

Description

I've never been much of a gamer.

Oh, sure, I've played games, including several different video games over the years. But I never really got "serious" about it, waiting in line outside some shop to get the latest version of the biggest games. While I've heard their names, I've never played Tour of Duty, Mario Kart, Grand Theft Auto, Skyrim, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, or even Donkey Kong. Hell, the last time I owned a game console was when my folks bought me and my brother an ActiVision way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

As a result, for my friend 's #gameoverartjam , I had a really tough time coming up with an idea. Oh sure I understood the concept, but let's just say it was like trying to write a story in a foreign language. Or trying to cook a meal with ingredients I'd never seen before.

And yet.

For decades now there has been one game that kept me coming back for more. I can't say I've played every version of it, but those that I have went on to claim countless hours of my life.

I'm speaking of Sid Meier's Civilization franchise.

I'm a history buff. Unlike many fellow nerds whose favourite form of fiction is fantasy or SF, for me, my most beloved reads have always been historical fiction. Big weighty tomes that weave fictional characters and stories into real-life places, events, and people. Often across several generations. So of course the one game that has managed to appeal to me over the years has been the one that lets you step into the shoes of Caesar or Napoleon or Elizabeth and "build a civilization to stand the test of time". (I'm also a bit of an anal-retentive micro-manager, so again, a perfect game for me.)

It started with the heavily-pixilated and clunky-but-classic first version (the one where Ghandi went psycho in the modern era). I then got into Civ II for years, so much so I think I burned myself out for a while and completely skipped Civ III. Then someone recommended Civ IV to me shortly after it came out and damn it but I got addicted again. That game turns 15 this year but I still play it every now and then. I alternate between playing it and Civ V; they're like pizzas with different toppings, each enjoyable variations of the same wonderful dish.

(I haven't tried Civ VI yet, probably because it was released just after I started creating digital art and around the same time my commissions started taking off. The last thing I needed was a new addiction taking my time and energy away from my new, fun, lucrative hobby.)

So here is Duster playing the role of the modern era spy from Civilization IV. For such tiny figures, the game developers managed to imbue them with a lot of personality, such as this slinky little cat-suited minx. One more turn indeed.