CW: Mental Health, Depression, Anxiety;
As of the time of writing, I have 260 hours logged in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. The majority of my obsessive playing occurred during the winter and spring quarters of my third year at UChicago (after getting the game and some of its DLC in a Humble Bundle). This was a period where I was wrangling with my depression and increasing feelings of hopelessness, and I would often channel it into a game of Civ (best played while laying in bed all day, in the dark, alone). Games are often described in terms of escapist fantasies. This certainly isn’t the sole motivation which attracts people to the medium, but there is nonetheless a usage of games as a coping mechanism when in periods of poor mental health. And, for me, Civ served as a source of comfort in this period. Its design satisfied me and encouraged me to play more.
The “just one turn more” mentality definitely holds true in this iteration, and I have found myself staying up extra late many a night just in order to reach that next era or build one more wonder. There is an undeniable sense of constant progression in this game with otherwise feels slowly paced which keeps the game from dragging. If you keep playing, always something around the corner, just a few in-game years away, which can radically alter your course of play and allow for changes in your strategy (be it a new city or a new civic which unlocks some policy cards). This provides the game with its core hook – despite the little interaction on a turn-to-turn basis, what the player does shapes the rest of the game. And these changes are not just procedural, they’re visual. Wonders appear as their own tiles in VI, dominating the landscape around them and being sights of visual pleasure. You are able to watch your empire slowly expand to encompass a continent, which at one point felt large and mysterious. You see it dominated by industry, developed, and the source of conflict with other states.
There is something about this hook which is utterly satisfying and keeps me coming back. It doesn’t require that much of your active mental energy (once you understand the game’s core mechanics), but everything you do matters. And you see it in so many ways. It really is a game which lays its talons in you and refuses to let go (so much so that they added an in-game clock in the upper right corner of the HUD which, at 3 AM when I’m deliriously tired, I can hear yelling at me to turn the game off and go to sleep). It really is a game in which it is easy to get lost and absolutely absorbed for hours. I found personally that it has the qualities which address the anxieties and negative feelings which dominate my depressive periods. There is a sense of purpose – something on the horizon which is achievable. There is constant feedback on your play and rewards for progression. And there is guidance in what you ought to be doing without it feeling strong-armed, something which I certainly rarely encounter in real life.
And this intoxicating formula is endlessly repeatable, with numerous options for difficulty and map shape, as well as the opportunity to play dozens of civilizations. They feel distinct – with some styles of play being totally undoable with certain civs (such as Kongo and religion), but they all encourage you to think differently and explore other avenues which the game has to offer. In Civ VI, they feel like little distinct optimization mini-games, opening massive potential for bonus resources without being restrictive. Instead, it gently invites you to try something new, and pats you on the back you for the effort. It is encouraging, in a way. The possibility of getting an inspiration boost which increases your research speed gives you a tail to chase while still allowing you to feel as though you are forging your own path. The game is there to reward you for trying that, regardless of which one you take.
All of this, combined with it gorgeous, cartoony visual style, make the game the perfect time sink. Even more so than the previous iterations in the game which I have played (including about 100 hours in Civ 5 and its DLCs), the changes introduced only positively impact it and add to the level of immersion. The micromanagement is less all-consuming, the opportunities for advancement more clear, and the rewards more immediately visible and impactful than ever. These can clearly be used to cope for a lack of perceptible advancement in everyday life and a desire to see one’s decisions given positive feedback, with a sense of validation. A well-played game of Civ ends in nothing short of global domination by ones means or another. Though that’s oddly primal, it is the ultimate sort of satisfaction. The design of this game lends itself to repeated play, which in turn makes it easily used as a source of comfort. I want to keep coming back, and it has the depth of mechanics and constant rewarding feedback that will continue to make it feel satisfying to do so. By taking human history and compressing it into a 5,000 year spread to be played over the course of a few hours, Civ allows for large-scale progression to be visible quickly, and the payoff from the endless gameplay look is always rewarding. And sometimes, people just want to feel validated.
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