<sod>  
 The scope of the game is huge - larger than most if not all other computer games. 
 When the game begins, the player controls one unit, a Settler, which can found new cities and also alter terrain and build improvements such as mines and roads and, later, railroads. 
The time at the beginning is [[4000 BC]], and, if you manage to last so long, the game forces you to retire in the year 2100 AD. 
 As time advances, new technologies are developed; these technologies are the primary way the game changes and grows. 
 Players choose from, at the beginning, advances such as [[Pottery]], the [[Wheel]], and the [[Alphabet]] to, at the close of the game, [[Nuclear weapons]] and aspects of [[Space exploration]]. 
 Players gain a large advantage if their civilization is the first to learn the secrets of flight, for example. 
 <eod> <sod> 
 The scope of the game is huge - larger than most if not all other computer games. 
 When the game begins, the player controls one unit, a Settler, which can found new cities and also alter terrain and build improvements such as mines and roads and, later, railroads. 
The time at the beginning is [[4000 BC]], and, if you manage to last so long, the game forces you to retire in the year 2050 AD. 
 As time advances, new technologies are developed; these technologies are the primary way the game changes and grows. 
 Players choose from, at the beginning, advances such as [[Pottery]], the [[Wheel]], and the [[Alphabet]] to, at the close of the game, [[Nuclear weapons]] and aspects of [[Space exploration]]. 
 Players gain a large advantage if their civilization is the first to learn the secrets of flight, for example. 
 <eod>