I understand the desire for a lore-bending battle royale between Blizzard's various franchises. I also understand the desire for that all-star showdown to not take the form of a lane-pushing game. While Blizzard aren't about to create a 4X strategy, modders can certainly shoehorn their characters into an existing one. That's what has happened in Blizzard Allstars, which brings multiple of their factions into turn-based empire-'em-up Civilization 5: Gods & Kings.

The mod contains seven Blizzard factions, including Terran, Zerg, Protoss, Human, Elf, Orc and Undead, and contains races from StarCraft, Warcraft and Diablo. Each faction offers a different way to play, with individual tech trees, buildings, units and improvements.

More than a simple reskin, the mod completely changes certain systems. You'll find a new mana resource, which can be used to power spells, and a trait system to further improve and tailor individual heroes.

The full collection provides not just the main mod, but also a series of special reskinned buildings and a new soundtrack for the game. You can download the full thing from the Steam Workshop.

Thanks, Kotaku.

This is brilliant. Steam user Snakeeeater337 has created a mod for Sid Meier's Civilization V that makes Papers, Please's Arstotzka a playable nation in the game, with its own units, special traits, and even a new map.

Since Papers, Please never establishes the identify of the Big Brother-esque leader its Eastern Bloc-inspired nation, the mod's Arstotzka is led by "Glorious Leader." Its custom unit is the Border Guard, which has no maintenance cost and a 50 percent combat bonus in friendly territory. Outside friendly territory the Border Guard is weaker than a regular Rifleman unit. The custom building, appropriately, is a Border Checkpoint, which reduces the spy stealing rate by 33 percent and has no maintenance cost. You can also fill its specialist slots with Immigration Inspectors, who provide three gold each turn.

In addition, the mod also adds a map based off the one that appears on passports in Papers, Please, and ads Cobrastan as a City-State.

You'll need both Sid Meier's Civilization V and the Brave New World expansion to run the mod, which you can through Steam Workshop. Glory to Arstotzka!

Right now, the Humble Bundle has a pretty fantastic deal on some Sid Meier favourites. But for those just interested in Firaxis's most recent 4X strategy, the Civilization V: Complete Edition might be a more feature-rich bet.

No, not the Game of the Year Edition. That didn't feature either of the expansions. And no, not the Gold Edition. That didn't include the most recent Brave New World. This is the Complete Edition, offering the main game, both expansions, and all the DLC packs.

For list lovers, here's what you'll get:


Sid Meier s Civilization V
Sid Meier s Civilization V: Gods & Kings
Sid Meier s Civilization V: Brave New World
Civilization Pack: Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar II)
Civilization and Scenario Pack: Denmark The Vikings
Double Civilization and Scenario Pack: Spain and Inca
Cradle of Civilization Mediterranean map
Cradle of Civilization Americas map
Civilization and Scenario Pack: Polynesia
Civilization and Scenario Pack: Korea
Wonders of the Ancient World Scenario Pack
Cradle of Civilization Asia map
Cradle of Civilization Mesopotamia map
Scrambled Continents Map Pack
Scrambled Nations Map Pack
Conquest of the New World Deluxe Scenario


Puzzlingly, I don't see mention of the Explorer's Map Pack in that list, which is strange given the "Complete" of the title. The Conquest of the New World Deluxe Scenario seems new, though, but could be an upgraded version of the Spain and Inca pack's scenario.

Here's the link, although it will only work in the US, with the international release not due until Friday.

According to GameInformer, an XCOM: Complete Edition is also planned for a March 4th release. Firaxis haven't detailed what it will include, but we can probably take a guess based on the word "Complete".

Update: 2K have released a new video detailing the Conquest of the New World Deluxe Scenario.

Sid Meier. Sid Meier. Sid Meier. If you say Sid Meier three times, well, he won't pop out of your bathroom mirror. But at least you'll be prepared for seeing the name of one of PC gaming's developer grandmasters festooned across the newest offering from Humble Bundle which focuses on a selection of terrific turn-based strategy titles.

As before, plunking down as little or as much as you want gets you the bundle's bounty which includes Ace Patrol, its Pacific Skies expansion, Railroads!, and the Complete editions of Civilization III and IV. If you shell out the extra dough to climb above the average ($6.59 as of writing), you'll increase your Meier meter with Civilization V (check out some of its awesome mods) and its excellent Gods and Kings DLC. And if you're feeling extra generous or you just plain can't get enough of Civ then donating $15 or more throws in the high-scoring Brave New World pack as well.

Fair warning, though: Sid Meier games are crudely-disguised time machines. You'll think one hour has gone by when really it's been 10 hours and you could've sworn you've pressed that "End Turn" button more than once. If you're prepared to jump into the time rift, then the bundle is a great display of evolution of the Civilization franchise from the past decade and a chance for those who missed it to experience an excellent offering of PC strategy gaming. Head over to Humble Bundle's home to grab it.