Civilization for Facebook renamed "Civ World," entering alpha on Jan. 12

Your friends and family want you to help fertilize their crops?

Declare war.

Over at the brand new Civ World website, 2K's accepting sign-ups for the game's closed alpha test, which kicks off on January 12. Meanwhile, on the game's Facebook page, the man who puts the "Sid Meier" in "Sid Meier's Civilization" (hint: it's Sid Meier!) explained a bit more about how Civ's Facebook iteration works.

"Civ World games will have a well-defined beginning and end, each ending with a triumphant civilization and one person recognized as that game’s most prestigious player. Along the way, as you progress through the different eras of time, you'll have the chance to win era victories as well," he said.

"We want players to have both a final goal to work towards, as well as short-term objectives to achieve as they play. The trophies you unlock with your triumphs will carry over from game to game, and you can show them off in your throne room."

Sounds pretty interesting. And, as a bonus, its name doesn't end in "Ville." Now we just have to learn how to be - yuck - social.