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Might, Culture, and Archaeology in Sid Meier’s Civilization

2021; American Schools of Oriental Research; Volume: 84; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1086/713340

2325-5404

Shannon Martino,

Digital Games and Media

Sid Meier’s Civilization is a game that millions of people around the world play and for many it is often their first introduction to the history and culture of previous civilizations. While it has been criticized in the past for its cultural biases in presentation, today’s version VI has been lauded for making necessary changes to promote a more diverse acknowledgement of advances. This diversity is reflected in a wider array of cultural wonders and achievements as well as relics and artifacts that can be spotted and unearthed by archaeologists. At the same time, the game’s designers have made choices in the play of the game that continue to reflect cultural biases and biases against nonaggressive play. This paper will examine the judgments inherent in a game designed to duplicate real-world relationships between civilizations in the omnipresent battle of wills between military and cultural supremacy.