

If you’re already familiar with Civilization then you will feel right at home with Alpha Centauri as it acts as a kind of loose sequel to Civilization’s narrative and many of the mechanics and sensibilities come straight from the designers of that series.Īlpha Centauri’s biggest contribution and area of differentiation is the active involvement of the environment in player decision-making. Publisher: Electronic Arts, Aspyr Media, Loki Softwareįor something funkier and futuristic while still retaining the same planetary scale of Civilization’s gameplay, Firaxis’ own sci-fi 4X game Alpha Centauri will definitely scratch that itch.

Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauriĭeveloper: Firaxis Games, Westlake Interactive Oriental Empires is also worth checking out as it’s one of the few strategy games that steps away from the more commonly modeled Chinese Three Kingdoms period and instead looks at East Asian history more broadly.ĩ. The lack of a budget does hamper Oriental Empires’ UI and combat and can make the experience more frustrating than it needs to be, but luckily the game as a whole works and still retains the familiar dynamic and rhythm found in Civilization. Specifically, the construction, unit recruitment, and hands-off army command systems give players additional meaningful ways of interacting with their cities and armed forces.

Of course the choice of history and region does most of the heavy lifting in setting the game apart from Civilization, but there are a number of mechanics that are worth checking out. Oriental Empires does just that by setting the action squarely in East Asia, covering 3000 years of history starting in the Bronze Age and going all the way up to the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes all you need is an underrepresented setting and some creative systems to differentiate your game from the classic.
