Today I have an interview with Civilization V designer, Jon Shafer. Jon’s an experienced 4X strategy game player and creator, and I wanted to talk to him about the design issues these kinds of games tend to face. Here’s a few subjects we talk about:

Diplomacy systems

Lack of dynamics in the late (and often mid) game

How combat should be resolved, if it exists at all

Match length

Victory conditions

… just to name a few. Jon is currently working on the successfully Kickstarted At the Gates, which you can play an early access version of here.

Note: Jon’s audio is a little bit spotty in the first 10 minutes of the interview, but it clears up! Enjoy!

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed the show, please consider supporting my work at www.patreon.com/keithburgun. Special thanks to Jean-Marc Neilly, and a big thank you to all my patrons for making this show possible.