NOTE: This is The Column, a regular feature on Apolyton where anyone can write about anything to do with Civilization or the gaming industry as a whole. If you feel like writing, please visit the article submission page.

PREVIOUS ARTICLES

183# CIV2'S HEGELIAN TECH TREE Civ2 is not just another game, and LotM shows it's historical side 182# FEAR AND LOATHING IN BACH'S CATHEDRAL Bugs visits a world of wonders 181# CHARACTERS / GRAPHICS 2 articles, 1 subject: civ3... 180# ULTIMATE MODS: MAKING GAMES OBSOLETE Mods and first person shooters... 179# THE JOYS AND FRUSTRATING ELEMENTS OF THE CIV SERIES A full analysis of the bad and the good of all civ games! COLUMN ARCHIVE

Games, games, games. I have a bookshelf of games spilling over onto the carpet. A few I bought at full price turned out to be turkeys, some I've had or still are having good value from, but it's the ones I've yet to get into, ones that got rave reviews and yet...maybe I'm just slow on the uptake sometimes but I've looked at them and fiddled with them but something hasn't clicked yet. Even more annoying, I bought them at full price and now alot of them are on budget. Well, I tell myself, the advantage was I had them all those months before they dropped in price except its no advantage if you haven't played them in the meantime.

Anyway, here's a list of some of them off the bat. Join in with your own list or give me some clues as to what I'm missing with these ones.

Sid Meier's Gettysburg! Supposed to be really good. I've read the manual, and won a game on easy level by a fluke, I'm not sure how, I think you could proabably win any scenario at that level. It's not a conventional game by any means but it had Sid's name on it so...did anyone actually get into it properly? I'm still scratch my head (figuratively speaking) when I think of it.

Gangsters A combination of turn-based and real-time strategy. Great. Sounds good to me. Except, I played several turns but never really felt on top of it, like I really knew what I was doing. The interface is confusing. And how long before you start having fun?

The Operation Art of War Vol. I. Rave reviews. The best wargame ever etc. Tried playing it. Just couldn't understand it. There's already a thread on this further down explaining where to learn about it etc so don't repeat that info. here. Just thought I'd mention it for completion. Tried reading the manual but my brain hurt.

Also, in this vain I have several other war turn-based games that I still don't feel I've had value for money from including Eastern Front II which was absurdly expensive, the Close Combat Trilogy which fortunately I got relatively cheap at a second-hand store plus the Steel Panthers Arsenal (again relatively cheap so I don't feel so bad). Maybe it's not my genre. Expensive way to find out.

Europa Universalis I actually had to order this from overseas since there was no main distributor here (in New Zealand). Sounded an exciting game and I played it for a while but it's yet to properly click with me, doesn't yet grab me.

I believe some of the above games have yet to have their day with me. Some have steep learning curves but once you get to the top of that curve, the fun can begin. That happened to me with a game called Capitalism. I went through the tutorial, I read the manual, then tried to play a game. I looked at the screen and all I could think was "Duh?". So, it remained on the shelf for a year and then one day I went to have another look at it and "Eureka!", I understood it. I ended up reading the manual 3 times to comprehend it but it was fun to read in the end because I was hungry to find out more about it.

Speaking of manuals, I went through a phase for about a year where my spare time wasn't so much spent in playing games, but reading the manuals. Ironically, most of those manuals were for games I ended up hardly ever playing. The theory of some of these games was interesting, especially TBS war games, but didn't help in practical application. When actually trying to play them, my mind just went blank.

There are many other games I've bought but have never played with any depth that I could tell you about, not so much because I haven't understood them, but I've had other more interesting choices.

For instance I bought SimCity 3000 and later Simcity 3000 Unlimited both at full price just because I had to have them and yet I've never played a full game through, I've only ever really fiddled with it, I found it too boring to be honest. I'd bought the 2000 version in earlier days and hadn't really played that either - how dumb am I? But, of course, I read the manual from cover to cover.

Then there's Links 98 followed by Links 99 plus the add-on courses. I probably spent all-up about 500 bucks on it and do you know, I don't think I've ever played a full round. I've played maybe half a round and a few holes from time to time and that's it! Go figure! To add insult to my own injury, I also bought JN4 and 6, TW99, and PGA Golf 2000. Only the latter have I had a serious go at 'cos I genuinely like it, the others I can't be bothered with much. I read all the manuals however.

But this is not an article called Money I have blown so let me just justify myself by saying that those games are there if I ever feel the urge for them (which may be never), and a few I've ended up selling just to get them off my shelf and get a bit of return on anyway. And some I'll probably end up waiting 'till the sequel like EU2, buy it at full price, and still end up not being able to really get into it.And I'm tempted to buy TOAW II now it's cheaper even though I still haven't understood the first one.

Just think - a hundred bucks (standard price here) on a game that you hardly ever play, money that could've fed that starving family you see across the street (well, not anymore, I think they died) but if only that hundred bucks had been on a game I had enjoyed and really got into and really got full value from then that family may've died happy, knowing they hadn't died in vain. Oh, the waste, the waste of it all! :lol:

---------
About the author: "I enjoy TV, computer games, books and am currently in the throes of changing my career from computer programmer to scriptwriter"

Comment on this article!

The opinions expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect those of Apolyton CS or GameStats. They are just the personal opinions of the writer.