Along the way, you encounter rival civs and deal with them diplomatically or militarily, though you can get wiped out by rampaging barbarians or an overly hostile neighbor. Then you begin the long struggle to survive and thrive throughout history. You begin the game in the Stone Age with a single, primitive civilization. After all, the iconic turn-based strategy series is all about letting you write history your own way. Civilization has always been a game about big ideas.