I go through phases where I'll play strategy games like Master of Orion II or Civilization for awhile. (Janine might call them binges.)
Recently I reloaded Civilization IV. I was looking forward to play a game this evening. I arrived at home from work about six. Janine and our oldest were off at an orchestra practice.
I walk in the door and my thirteen year old daughter is explaining Civilization to the nine-year-old. Baby Bop is sitting quieting watching, fascinated by the maps and people on the screen.
Civilization does a good job of teaching many principles. Players learn to balance conflicting demands and goals. They learn some historical context. It is not a replacement for a serious study of history, but it can help reinforce some lessons from history. And it is a lot of fun.
Bummer. I guess I'll have to wait a bit until they either tire or, more likely, when they go to bed. I don't want to interrupt the education the younger children are getting.
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Technorati tags: Education, Master, Orion, Civilization
3 comments:
Henry... for *years* I've gotten the impression (from the content of your posts and interest in things like astronomy and reddit) that we would be fast friends if we had the chance to meet. I'm not surprised that Civ IV is big in your house... as it is in mine.
But what really got me was that you brought up Master of Orion II. That was a great game! I remember moving as much data over to floppy disks as possible to find room on my 210MB hard drive to install the game.
If you don't already have the expansion packs for Civ IV, I'd recommend you get them... Beyond the Sword especially takes the game to another level.
My wife is a fan of FreeCol [smile].
~Luke
Scott, thanks for the suggestion on the expansion pack. I kind of binged on Civ over the Christmas break, and then have gone cold turkey. Maybe this summer I'll schedule some time and check out the expansion packs.
Luke, thanks for the suggestion. I have a friend who loved the original Colonization, but I never got around to checking it out. I played FreeCiv, but hadn't realized there was a FreeCol.
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