Civ V: Gods & Kings Diary – Playing Against My Style

Pacal goes against everything I am looking for in a Civilization V leader. Normally I would not choose to play the Mayan civilization, but the session I have in mind for this Gamer Diary is one where I will go against my usual play style and see where the game takes me.

I tend to aim for a technology-based victory or for a cultural one in every 4X game I have ever played, ever since the days of the second Civilization (the first I played) and even in the various mods I have tried for Civilization IV I have usually been peaceful and tech oriented.

Pacal gets a Great Person when the long cycle of the Mayan calendar ends and also gets access to the Pyramid, which produces Faith as well as Science (yes, I couldn’t abandon a tech edge altogether).

I plan to focus on money and on war early on, as long as I get suitable neighbors, and try to put culture acquisitions and tech improvements at the back of my priorities queue.

My first civilization meeting is with Asoka, who seems pretty warlike himself, and I also get Lisbon as a neighbor, which I might try and conquer.

I meet another three civilizations in quick succession and then discover that I have a small problem with my Happiness as soon as I settle my second city.

The variable has been introduced in Civilization V in order to curb rapid expansion during the early game and in this particular game it seems to be working very well, forcing me to use the Tradition area of the Culture tree to get a little bit more happiness in my capital, which will probably allow me to create another city soon.

Finally, I have to kill one Atlatlist as he gets cut off on a peninsula and I have no chance of getting an open border treaty with Queen Dido.