On Two Decades of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (opens in new tab)

It's interesting to examine Alpha Centauri's political perspectives in light of the fact that it was released in 1999. The triumph of "the old world's liberal order" seemed so permanent that public intellectuals were writing paeans to "the end of history," yet here was a game premised on the ultimate breakdown and fragmentation of that order.

Coincidentally, I last played this game about a week ago. The article does a better job of describing it than I could, but I will say that it's a deep game worth playing many times over. You'll keep learning quirks and tricks and optimizations for years.

This doesn't even get into the expansion, which I find odd. Sure there's aliens, but what about the Free Drones, or the Data Angels? It feels like there's a clear analogy to some of the discussion going on today (re: Google) where the morality of the DA might matter. Or, if you want to go environmentalist about it, the Pirates. The article talks about altering the sea levels, and there's a faction who actually prefers the ocean to land.

It is pretty telling to me what the devs thought that the Spartans canonically lose in their vendetta against the Gaians after the mind worms are controlled. And the Fundies can't catch up before that 10 year research prohibition bites them hard.