There are few game series’ that are more of a guaranteed time-sink than Sid Meier’s Civilization and that’s going back… pretty much as far as the game’s first outing. Our one saving grace has been that we’ve been forced to leave it at home so we can go out and do real-world things from time to time. Yeah, that’s changed. Civilization VI has just been announced for the Nintendo Switch, meaning that our mantra will soon be “just a few more turns” during lunch. Which is a bit like going out for the mythical ‘one drink’.
Civilization VI, for the uninitiated, is a turn-based game where players attempt to create a civilisation that surpasses the competition’s. You can use military might, diplomacy, technology, or cultural feats to achieve this goal but it’s easier said than done. There’s also the added fact that it’s a lot easier to start playing a round of Civ than it is to stop playing one.
Civilization VI will be launching for Switch with all of the updates that were previously released on other platforms — along with four packs that add extra content: The Vikings Scenario Pack, the Poland Civilization and Scenario Pack, the Australia Civilization and Scenario Pack, and the Persia and Macedon Civilization and Scenario Pack. Want to be a viking or follow in the footsteps of Alexander of Macedonia (that’s Alexander the Great to you)? That is an option. So is four-player co-op (which is fairly safe) or competitive (expect to lose friends) play over a local wireless connection.
The usually PC-centric (a Mac is a PC too, damnit) title has been out since 2016, and a mobile edition already exists for iOS but we’re more likely to play it on Nintendo’s Switch than on an iPad — Apple’s slates just aren’t considered gaming machines at Stuff Towers.
Expect Sid Meier’s Civlization VI to launch on 16 November — just in time to utterly torch in-office productivity everywhere that Switch consoles are being hidden beneath desks. Not that we were planning on doing that. At all. Honestly. No, you don’t have to check and make sure.