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Mighty Clever Gamers MightyClever
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ABOUT Mighty Clever Gamers

I can think about games...on Steam!

Thinking is key. Games are cool. Writing is sweet. Why not write about what we think about games? And discuss them. Oh, and play them while thinking, but not writing, probably. You get the idea.

Two kinds of thinking about games come to mind: thinking strategy, tactics, teamwork. Good stuff. Then there's thinking about games as, fascinating systems, as engrossing worlds, wondrous artifacts and yes, (he's going to say it) as art. The future of games, the potential of games, the joy of games. Good food for thought.

If you are among those who list Civilization IV at or near the top of your all time list well, you're a fit. If you are tripping on Sword and Sworcery, you're in. If the sites below are beloved ones, or pique your interest, we welcome you! If you like to think about games and can be rad without purveying bile, unending snarkiness, bigotry or the like, well you are a Mighty Clever Gamer. Whether you join or not? That's your move.

Other interesting things for your Google search line or hearty approval (in no particular order): Brettspielwelt, Jason Rohrer, Games for Change, "Mapping the Brainy Sphere," Reiner Knizia, Blake's AI, Train, Rules of Play (the book) http://theunreliablenarrator.net/ (okay, that's unrelated, but it's great), The Orange Box, The Fugitive Blooms, Paradox (in theory), so much more, none of which comes to mind right now...


This takes the holy cow award for what the...?! mother of god, YES!
The Brainy Gamer Podcast is a good thing.[www.brainygamer.com]
Best Strategy Podcast on the web. Only strategy podcast on the web? Still rocks.[flashofsteel.com]
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Known Issues 15 Mar, 2019 @ 10:09pm 
Greatest mighty clever game of all time? Dominions 4 & 5. Okay, so that's two games, but more or less just one.
Known Issues 7 Mar, 2015 @ 11:37am 
The Civ Series’ Designers & What They’ve Done for Us Lately

So let's take a look back through the annals of the great Sid Meier's Civ series and see who the designers were and what they are up to right now. First thing to note is the interesting curse or blessing where in the designers who get the big chair as lead designer of a given Civ game make their rendition and then promptly leave the company. True of three of them anyway. Let's wind it back from Civ V:
Known Issues 7 Mar, 2015 @ 11:37am 
Civ V - John Shafer - 2010
This guy designed a beloved mod of of Civ III in high school, then became a beta tester and coder/designer for Civ IV expansion: Warlords and Beyond the Sword (what some, okay I, see as the pinnacle of the Civ series.) When he got the chance to design Civ V (he was only, like, 24) he brought hexes, killing the stack of doom probably forever. We also minor civs and...a bunch of other stuff.
Known Issues 7 Mar, 2015 @ 11:36am 

The big knock against the glossy Civ V with the approachable interface and gameplay was that the AI simply couldn't fight a war without the stack of doom of old. Couldn't play the theoretically cool tactical war game that the Panzer-Core-inspired hex map seemed to offer. The expansion Brave New World, however may have obviated the problem somewhat, by making all kinds of other victory conditions interesting, and with it bringing an interesting late game to the franchise (a first, one could easily argue). As I celebrate in my June 2 post, the expansion generally made cultural, espionage and diplo features, not just an adjunct to the inevitable military contest that you were a lock to win (or lose) 25% of the way through your many hour game, but real victory conditions that changed the way you approached the game.
Known Issues 7 Mar, 2015 @ 11:35am 
The other thing to say about Civ V is that it brought real differentiation to at least some of the civs. Though the constant schilling of downloadable civs and other content a la Paradox games bummed me right out. Still, it's a big deal that tourism and cultural features make these kinds of games really real and bring a more global political vibe to the series that previously remained a longed for potential of the series.

So where is John Shafer now? His first move was to go to Stardock, the kingdom of Brad Wardell. Wardell likes Meier's talent. (More on this in the Soren section.) That partnership was short lived, however and about a year ago he started a little 3-4 person company called Conifer, and kicked up a Kickstarter to make a game called At the Gates.
Known Issues 7 Mar, 2015 @ 11:30am 
The game to anticipate : At the Gates is a turn based 4X 'survival' game, presently well overdue of it’s 2014 kickstarter delivery date. It brings to the 4X turned based strategy genre some big new ideas: it has seasons and perhaps more interesting efforts at econ. You play as a barbarian tribe during the fall of the Roman Empire and can decide to battle or ally with the creaking empire. As a nomadic tribe, winter weather can starve you and keep you on the move. Other new stuff are tribal or family alliances that link to skill trees. The game is now playable in early access and is meant to arrive late 2015. You can check it out at the link below. Jon likes to talk, and especially write about design, back to his mod and forum days. There is plenty to read, a two hour intro...and he has a podcast about design. I think he is better to read (read scan) than to listen to. A monotone, has he. Earnest chap. I’m rooting for him. http://www.atthegatesgame.com/
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