How Civilization ruined my life

It's not civilization with a small c but Civilization the game, especially Civilization V that eats up my time and transforms me from a healthy, well adjusted person into a turn-obsessed glassy-eyed zombie staring at the screen for hours while I try to conquer the world.

My nasty obsession with Civilization - the first one with crappy blocky graphics that randomly froze in the middle of battles - began in high school. I would play several turns where I'd annihilate a rival civilization and then run to class to take my final exams.

Now I play Civilization V, which isn't a great game but as addicting perhaps as World of Warcraft. It can be very cathartic to drop the A-bomb on an annoying rival civilization if you've had a bad day at work. The downside? You've just blown 4 hours playing the game straight. Will this stop me from playing? Hell no! I still need to kick Napoleon's ass.

Creepy George Washington WANTS YOU!