I like Civilizations better than Age of Empires, but AoE is okay. I like that there's building and diplomacy involved in Civ, not just battling. (AoE has some building, but it's definitely harder to play AoE without engaging in some warring.) You can win Civ by scoring more points, building the first spacecraft, or through the United Nations, among other methods. No war required. Civ has no magic, but I don't think AoE does either, does it?
BTW, in Civ, the "violence" is totally bloodless--like Risk or Stratego's boardgame variety of violence, where game pieces just disappear from play when "killed." I think that's pretty much how it is in AoE, too, but I haven't played it in a long while, so my memory could be faulty.
Civ has a good bit of history in it, too, including a fairly comprehensive and accurate "Civilopedia" where you can look up info about the wonders of the world and other such facts. Not that I would count it as school time if my DS played it, but at least it's something vaguely educational...
No typing words, though there a lot of reading involved. No spelling required either.
Last edited by Kriston; 03/06/08 09:33 AM. Reason: added the paragraph about the "bloodless" violence...
