10 Video Games That Revolutionized Genres

Back when games offered just one way of winning, by defeating your opponent, Sid Meier had the idea of giving the player a choice. What if you ruled a whole civilization and could out-science or out-culture the rival nations? He went with that idea and in 1990 created the first game in the Civilization series, which introduced the "peaceful victory" mechanic alongside the traditional "conquer everything" one.

The game itself had a new type of gameplay straight out of board games. The process consisted of exploring, expanding, exploiting, and exterminating (the 4X) and translated onto the screen perfectly. The mechanics gave the game almost infinite playability, subsequently giving birth to the catchphrase "One more turn". This gameplay formula later successfully found its way into games like Masters Of Orion or Galactic Civilizations.

In Civilization, much like in its later installments, you became the ruler of one of 14 nations with the task to lead your people from ancient times to AD 2100. Along the way, you could have achieved the victory by conquering everyone, by winning the Space Race and sending your ship to Alpha Centauri, or by simply surviving through the ages. In later installments, a cultural victory and a diplomatic one were added giving the player true freedom of choice. Civilization is on its sixth game and still feels good. It really stood the test of time.