CivWorld

Review

Common Sense Media says

Facebook empire-building social sim encourages teamwork.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

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Kids say

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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that CivWorld is an adaptation of Sid Meier's groundbreaking Civilization series for the Facebook social network. By joining a civilization, players can interact with strangers through built-in chat boards that are self-policed by the community (there is no built-in language filter). The game is free to play, but players can purchase premium currency to speed up play. Civilizations can wage war on each other, but conflict plays a relatively small part in the overall experience, and there is no graphic violence. Kids need to be age 13 to join Facebook, and thus that is the age set for this game.

  • Positive messages4
    CivWorld is a well-balanced strategy game in which warfare plays an important though not integral part. Players join a civilization and work towards increasing its global prestige by producing soldiers, gold, scientific research, artists, and other assets.
  • Positive role models2
    Characters in the game are skewed white and male, although some diversity is reflected in the choice of civilizations to join (which include the Arabian Empire, Aztec Coalition, and African League). There is also a variety of art and cultural milestones featured from around the world.
  • Ease of play0
    Jumping into the game is fairly easy, but mastering the finer points of strategy (such resource management, deploying troops in battle, and taking advantage of various bonuses) will take time.
  • Violence2
    Civilizations can invade each other. Players can purchase military units that include spear-wielding foot soldiers up to tanks and guns. Soldiers are represented as cards on a battlefield, and combat is heavily stylized. No damage or blood is actually shown.
  • Sex0
    Kids may be exposed to inappropriate language, including sexual references, from other players in chat. There is currently no language filter, but players will be able to report offending players. We did not encounter any inappropriate sexual references during our evaluation.
  • Language1
    Kids may be exposed to inappropriate language from other players in chat. There is currently no language filter, but players will be able to report offending players. We did not encounter any inappropriate language during our evaluation.
  • Consumerism2
    Players can purchase premium game currency with real money in order to speed up the game and purchase extra resources immediately rather than waiting for them to replenish. The game is not overly pushy about encouraging the player to shell out real-world cash, post excessive status updates, or invite friends into the game.
  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking0
    Not applicable.
  • Privacy & safety2
    Unlike some other Facebook games, there is no temptation to add strangers as friends; however, players will be able to interact with strangers and chat with them through public in-game message boards. Players can see each other's profile picture, first name, and last initial.
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What's it about?

In CIVWORLD, each player presides over a nation that they must grow by building structures and giving citizens different jobs (Farmers, Builders, Artists, Merchants, Scientists) to harvest different resources. Players can remain independent or join a civilization -- such as the Roman Empire, British Commonwealth, or American Territories -- to pool resources with other players in an effort to make their civilization the dominant global power. Players contribute to the civilization in a number of ways, including conducting scientific research to discovering new technologies, raising troops to send to war, building Great Wonders to earn bonuses, and buying and selling goods at the market to earn money.

Is it any good?

 

CivWorld is a polished game that retains much of the flavor and complexity of the original Civilization computer games while adding social features that encourage true teamwork rather than simply spamming Facebook friends' walls for items. Through in-game chat boards, players in a civilization can coordinate each nation's contributions in such a way as to maximize the civilization's overall prosperity. There are multiple goals to pursue on many different levels, and achievements are displayed on online leaderboards. There might be some privacy concerns since players are able to interact with people outside their circle of Facebook friends, but so far the community seems to be mature and capable of policing itself.

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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about which civilization they chose to join, using the game as a jumping off point to research more about that civilization's history and culture. Did you enjoy learning about history through games?

  • Families can also talk about how teamwork plays an important part in the game. In what ways do different members of the civilization cooperate to achieve common goals?

This review was written by Erin Bell
Kid, 15 years old
July 8, 2011
AGE
10
 
WHAT THE HECK?!
5 Stars?! This game was terrible! C'mon Common Sense your better than this.
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Helped me decide (10) | Had useful details (7) | Read my mind (12)
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This review was written by Erin Bell
Platforms:Facebook
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Simulation
Developer:2K Games
Release date:July 7, 2011
Price:Free & Microtransactions
ESRB rating:NR
This review was written by Erin Bell

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.
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