Jon Shafer was 21 years old when he became lead designer of Civilization V. Now working at Paradox on an unannounced project and on his own historical strategy game At The Gates in his spare time, he says he’s learning from the likes of Spelunky along with the more obvious strategic influences. We spoke about how the second half of every Civ sucks, the part the series played in his life, the perils of boredom in strategy design, how much we love maps, and what the future holds for both Shafer and Paradox.

I began by asking how he ended up sitting at the Paradox Convention, in Stockholm, the city that has now been his home for two weeks: “It’s quite a long story, actually.”

That story begins in Denver, around 2003.

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Since you already know what the best Crusader Kings 2 mods are, I thought you should probably get the skinny on the best additions to Paradox s other grand strategy romp: Europa Universalis 4. It s got more than a few, too.

Tweaks, fantastical overhauls, graphics improvements modders have given the game plenty of love. And while some mods have fallen by the wayside, there s still a mountain of crackers to dig through. … [visit site to read more]

He was a boy.She was a girl.Can I make it anymore obvious?He wrote the weekly Steam charts.She read them.

What more can I say?

Other than that these are the ten Steam games with the most accumulated sales over the past week, obv. See ya later, boy.

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Oh goodness me, I’d forgotten that Europa Universalis 4 [official site] has an expansion out today too. Along with releasing Stellaris: Utopia, those busy bees have launched EU4: Mandate of Heaven. This tenth expansion for the historical grand strategy game focuses on China and Japan, expanding them with new unique systems. Have a peek: … [visit site to read more]

You must choose: history or sci-fi? No time to explain. Pick now. No do-overs. 3. 2. 1. Time’s up! Huh, that’s your decision? Interesting. You’ll have to stick with that. Okay, now there’s time to explain: Paradox have announced a release date of April 6th for the next Europa Universalis 4 [official site] expansion, Mandate of Heaven, which is also the release date for Stellaris’s Utopia expansion. What are you going to do, play them at separate times? Tch! So if you chose history, you can look forward to an expansion focused on China and Japan. … [visit site to read more]

Space is getting grander and more interesting thanks to the Utopia dlc for Stellaris, and Crusader Kings II is receiving a rabble of Monks and Mystics next week, but Europa Universalis IV [official site] hasn’t been left out. A tenth expansion is coming. It’s called Mandate Of Heaven and it adds an objective system based around semi-dynamic ages (from Discovery to Revolutions) to the world while introducing new mechanics for the Empire of China, daimyos and Shogunate of Japan, and Manchu. … [visit site to read more]

Video games always come with an expectation that the player will suspend disbelief to some extent. Genetically engineered super-soldier clones don t exist, radiation has never and will never work like that, and overweight Italian plumbers could never make that jump. In most cases, if we are unwilling or unable to suspend our disbelief, we may well struggle to enjoy the game and our questioning of the basics of its reality would probably make us insufferable to be around.

There are some games however, where the realities of our world are key to enjoying the game. These are the builders like City Skylines, simulators and sports games like Prison Architect and FIFA, and even crime games like Grand Theft Auto. One genre has a particular problem when it comes to maintaining a foot in the real world yet still creating a setting where one can have fun without becoming mired in morally questionable events and choices: historically based games. And among historical games, few subjects are as complex to represent as slavery. Many have tried, from Europa Universalis IV and Victoria II to Civilization and Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry, and in this article I’ll investigate the portrayal and use of slavery in these games and more to explore what they get right, what they get wrong, and how games could do better in future.

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From the forum threads full of arguments to the constant tweaking and occasional overhauls via patches balance has long been one of the pillars of strategy games. It means fairness, a level playing field, and in competition it means that victory comes purely from player skill. But balance, and the quest to reach it, can easily become the enemy of surprise and of the joy that comes from succeeding against the odds.

Balance s lofty position implies that nobody wants to be the underdog, that conquest is only satisfying if you have the exact same or at least equally effective advantages as your opponents. Sure, when actual money and trophies are involved, this sort of balance is necessary, but when you re playing for fun? When you re playing on your own? Give me the imbalanced every time.

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I have a terrible confession to make. While, on a weekly basis, I protest about the oft-unchanging nature of these charts, the truth is that a new entry makes me sigh. It means I have to laboriously type out new HTML rather than just copy the links from last week. This means terrible, unspeakable suffering in a week such as this, where there actually are quite a few ‘new’ games. … [visit site to read more]

A new Europa Universalis IV [official site] expansion, named Rights of Man, is out today. This means that people who pay 15 can play with expanded diplomatic options as a Great Power. As is the traditional Paradox grand strategy way, a big update has launched alongside this expansion with fixes and additions for all.

Look, if I sound half-hearted, it’s because I’m reading the notes for a Crusader Kings II patch Paradox also released today, and that has the lot: cats, fraudulent mystics, and cannibals finding human heads in their beds. EU4 is a let-down on the japery front.

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