Meier: Civilization was not developed as an "educational game"

Sid Meier has revealed to Edge that when he went about creating the Civilization series, it was not his intention to make a game that was educational in nature.

Speaking to the site following his GDC keynote, Meier said that he wanted folks to come out of the game knowing more about the world and themselves a bit more, and be forced to into anything.

"We didn't intend to make an educational game or a game that taught people anything specific," he said. "But there's a joy of learning in just about everyone, especially when it's presented in a way in which you feel you're controlling the process.

"You're not being told to do something or forced to do something, you're doing it as part of your own initiative; learning becomes a fun part of the experience of playing the game. We tapped into the idea of learning and progress, that you would go through the game experience and come out the other end as a different person, knowing a little more about the world, and maybe knowing a little bit more about yourself.

"These are things that games do, not necessarily with a clear sense of purpose, but just the process of gaming allows you to explore new worlds, new places, and you are naturally going to learn things from that".

Civilization V is out this fall and Meier's Civilization Network for Facebook goes into Beta this June.

Thanks, GoNintendo.