Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive.  To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.  For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

On Wednesday I noted that Dr. Girlfriend surprised me with the Founders Edition of Civilization VII.  The Founders edition granted users early access to the game starting Thursday, 6 February 2025.

I installed the game early that morning so that I could dive right into it after work.  I was slated to have a long evening of lessons, but my last student had to cancel, so I found myself that much closer to gaming goodness.  It was around 6:30 PM EST that I finally got to sit down and dig into the game.

Five hours later, I sleepily but reluctantly stepped away from the game.  It is good—really good.  It has some flaws, and feels a bit unfinished—but so does every Civ title at launch.  In some ways, it is very different from any other civilization installment.  But it still retains that addictive essence at the heart of every Civ game:  the need for “just… one… more… turn.”

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.