Video Games: Civilization IV

The other night I wiped out the American's with Iroquis, using my superior riflemen and tanks to wipe out their musketeers and cannons. There is something beautiful in crushing the Spanish with the Aztecs or Egypt with the Malinese. There's also something eerie and fun about conquering the world as Russia or Germany. There's something ironic about converting your nation to Buddhism and then going on a nuclear rampage that leaves the world desolate and uninhabitable.

And its extremely addictive to do so, to discover all the beautiful perversions of the world's history that can be created. I've already spent immense amounts of time clicking at the computer, squashing cities and annihilating the wolves and bears that now populate the landscape. You never stop saying, "well I'll quite just after I build the Taj Mahal." There's always something to keep you playing just another turn, infinite excuses to shut down that part of your brain that manages your time and tells you that you need to sleep whether it be waiting to get that crucial technology or building some of the units and wonders you get from that technology or using those units or wonders to obliterate one of your opponents.

Recommend: If you like games that you play until you realize it is light outside.