Pocket Gamer likes to imagine a young Sid Meier, before he became a mega famous video game designer, sat in the bath with his toy ducks and submarines trying to come up with a new game concept. How about a fantasy game with orcs and goblins? Too clichéd. Or what about a futuristic strategy title based broadly on Star Trek? Nah, been done before.
"No," he probably said to himself, "what I'll do is encompass the entire span of human history, from the dawn of humanity to the colonisation of space, include politics, diplomacy, technology trees, combat, empire building, strategy and the ability to win the game under various conditions. Yes, that should keep me busy for the next few months."
And so it was: Sid Meier pretty much invented the most ambitious video game ever conceived.
