Sid Meier's Memoir!

Hands down the best memoir I've ever read. Sid Meier is a household name in video games, and I always thought of him as this amorphous persona that may or may not have been actually involved in creating games like Civilization. But he is real, and down-to-earth, and optimistic, and absolutely hilarious as he tells story after story about each game he has lovingly (or not) worked on since the 1970s.

I was only three pages into the memoir and I already had three quotes highlighted on my kindle. (There should be an achievement for something like that.) My husband got very little sleep because I kept poking him and saying, "Oh my gosh, listen to this!" and reading him excerpts. When this book comes out I'll be buying a copy and leaving it on his nightstand, pointedly demonstrating that he should read it too.

If you love video games, this will probably be the best book you read this year. If you don't love video games, you will love his insights into "making interesting decisions" and "finding the fun." And if you think you know all there is to know about Civilization, you'll still be surprised by some information about "nuclear Gandhi!"

What an absolutely remarkable memoir. If you game, you've heard of Sid Meier. In fact, you may have heard of him even if you don't.
I was so enthralled with this book. It was amazing to hear how one of the world's most well known video game developers has developed his long history of games. He gives advice that would honestly work in any sort of creative career. Along with talking about his own life, it was interesting to see how gaming developed as a whole. He speaks of the beginnings of conferences like E3 and companies growing and changing throughout the years, although through the perspective of his own games.
I also found the achievements found throughout the book hilarious. Making the reading like a game itself. I highly recommend this book for any fellow gamers out there.

Wow, I was not expecting to love this memoir as much as I did. I went in with reasonably positive expectations, and came away knowing that this is a memoir I'll definitely reread many times—it's just that good.

With charming wit and good-natured humour, Sid Meier—a name famous to any gamer—shares a chronological stream of anecdotes of his years making games. It's impossible to ignore how much he clearly loves the industry and his work, and that positivity made this memoir a joy to read.

Throughout the book, Meier shares a ton of his creative philosophies, e.g., his diverse sources of inspiration; his approach of not getting bogged down with the possibility of mistakes, but to simply constantly experiment with everything in iterations until he narrows in on the right idea; his humble, self-aware take on his popularity and the impermanent nature of it; his ambition to always find the fun not just in reference to games, but in life in general. I found myself highlighting passage after passage of his thoughts, wanting to revisit them in the future. His insights can apply to anyone in any creative industry, not just game design.

Besides that, Meier is also candid about his failures in this book, whether it be his struggles to make certain concepts work, or the negative aspects of the gaming industry he had to brush up against, yet there remains this unwavering optimism and wholesomeness to his approach.

Plus, one thing that absolutely shocked me is that the well-known Nuclear Gandhi overflow bug is a complete lie made up by some anonymous Internet user editing TVTropes. It was never an error! It was intentional! Mindblown. Never trust the Internet!

I'd highly recommend this book not just to anyone interested in Sid Meier and his games, but also anyone in need of inspiration. Meier's creative philosophies might just help you figure out a few things you've been stuck on—and if not, you've still read a very entertaining memoir. Win-win!