Sid Meier reflects on 25 years of Civilization

Meier holds forth with fans at a Firaxicon fan gathering in 2014.

Sid Meier is not very good at Civilization.

The creator and namesake of the long-running Sid Meier's Civilization series—which just saw the launch of its sixth numbered release last week—freely admits that he's only "OK" at his own creation. It's a shortcoming that Meier, in a set of recent interviews with Ars Technica, chalked up to a fundamental difference in playstyles.

"To be good [at Civilization] you have to try to find or exploit the weaknesses in the game," Meier said. "I'm not generally doing that. I'm trying to play the way you're supposed to play and get into the role. 'What would I do if I was the king of this civilization?' That's the fun for me."