42 AI civilizations are fighting it out inside Civ 5

You would think 42 AI civilizations fighting for world domination would be hard to ignore, and yet it's been going on for almost a week and I'm only just now posting about it. Fortunately for all humankind, those AI nations are trapped inside the game Civilization V.

The game is brought to us courtesy of Reddit's r/Civ community—specifically the user "TPangolin", who has organised what they're calling the Battle Royale. An excerpt:

"Speaking of failed states, the Polish war machine looks to be more than happy to grind what is left of the Nazis into the ground whenever possible. Hence why they've focused such a large force to force Neuss into an Anschluss with the greater Polish Empire."

The battle is being catalogued via photo diary. Currently there are five parts, taking us through to turn 142. You can find the first part here, and follow the rest over at the Battle Royale's official event thread. Alternatively, you can follow along via TPangolin's Twitch channel. If you'd like to see the list of mods being used, you'll find a Steam Workshop collection right here.

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.