Playing as mob-run Las Vegas in Civilization V

The great civilization of Las Vegas didn't make it out of the Medieval Era, when it was sacked by Assyria. We built some casinos and we had some fun, but I guess the world just wasn't ready for high stakes Pai Gow Poker. Hell, we'd only just invented currency.

I played this brief, poorly-executed game of Civilization V to try out Octoski's Las Vegas, a mod which adds a single-city Las Vegas civilization run by infamous mafia man Bugsy Siegel. Vegas can't build Wonders, but just like the real Las Vegas, it can build replicas of other people's Wonders and stuff them with slot machines and buffets. Each 'Casino Wonder' provides a Great Work slot, +2 Happiness, +1 Culture, and +1 Gold. The rules deviate a bit from real world casinos, which provide -10 Happiness to visitors and +All of Their Gold to MGM Resorts International and Caesars Entertainment Corporation. But it's a game, so, you know.

Vegas also gets a unique unit, the Mobster, which can sell goods in City States. There's also the Capo—short for Caporegime, if you're wondering—who replaces the Great General and can install puppet governments in City States.

I had fun focusing all of my effort on building casinos, as the bonuses are great. You very quickly wind up with a rich, happy as hell civ which—especially if you take the Patronage social policy tree—can woo City States like crazy.

Seeing as I was just messing around, though, I botched the whole thing in a search for authenticity. After starting the game, I wandered around for five or six turns (and this was on the Quick gameplay speed) trying to find some desert tiles to settle on, eventually giving up and plopping Vegas down on some plains at the foot of a mountain. And as the rest of the world built armies, I sat around accruing gold and gifting it to City States. I'm a generous mobster.

So, when Assyria rolled up with siege weapons, there wasn't much I could do. But I look forward to playing a serious game, especially to try out the Mobster unit, and to see just how wealthy and cheerful I can become. A Cultural victory seems the obvious choice, and that's not one I've ever tried working toward, so Vegas might motivate me to finally go for it.