--- product_id: 289258797 title: "Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games" price: "692 kr" currency: ISK in_stock: false reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.is/products/289258797-sid-meiers-memoir-a-life-in-computer-games store_origin: IS region: Iceland --- # Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games **Price:** 692 kr **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games - **How much does it cost?** 692 kr with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.is](https://www.desertcart.is/products/289258797-sid-meiers-memoir-a-life-in-computer-games) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description The life and career of the legendary developer celebrated as the "godfather of computer gaming" and creator of Civilization . Over his four-decade career, Sid Meier has produced some of the world's most popular video games, including Sid Meier's Civilization , which has sold more than 51 million units worldwide and accumulated more than one billion hours of play. Sid Meier's Memoir! is the story of an obsessive young computer enthusiast who helped launch a multibillion-dollar industry. Writing with warmth and ironic humor, Meier describes the genesis of his influential studio, MicroProse, founded in 1982 after a trip to a Las Vegas arcade, and recounts the development of landmark games, from vintage classics like Pirates! and Railroad Tycoon , to Civilization and beyond. Articulating his philosophy that a video game should be "a series of interesting decisions", Meier also shares his perspective on the history of the industry, the psychology of gamers, and fascinating insights into the creative process, including his rules of good game design. Review: Great Read for Aspiring Game Designers - I’ve played far too many hours of Civilization throughout my life. If you haven’t, or you’re not an aspiring game designer, then you may find large sections of Sid Meier’s Memoir! hard to appreciate. But I do love Sid Meier’s games and I do dabble in making games as a hobby. So, I really appreciated this memoir that takes you through Meier’s entire career as well as some of his rules of game design that have made him so successful. This book is not a deep dive. Each chapter, which generally covers a game or two, provides some insight about how a game was developed and why it worked (or did not work) for the player. But the chapters are short, and many of them concentrate on just one aspect of the game or Meier’s philosophy. The two things I found most interesting were the inspiration behind each game, and the gameplay rules that Meier learned over time. It’s not a tell-all, and it doesn’t cover much about the video game business. You won’t get a play-by-play about the development of Civilization VI. Meier says that he left much of the business side to his partners. Instead, this is a book about the creative process. Meier touches on enough of his personal life to give you a general outline of his life and some of the real-life hobbies that led to some of his best games. Again, most of the details are left out, but there’s enough there to be inspiring. The thing I found the most surprising in the entire book, is that despite his high position, Meier continued to be an active participant in the programming of his games (or at least the prototypes) late into his career. In short, Sid Meier’s Memoir! is limited in its scope. It’s mainly about game design and the creative process. But it does that well. You won’t quite feel like you’re in the trenches with the team making Civilization, but you will feel like you have a sense of where their head was at. The lessons about game design and the creative process that Meier provides are drawn from deep experience and most seem self-evidently true. The writing is clear and the insights are real. If you loved his games or you want to make games, you should read this book. Review: It's Sid Meier! If that means something to you, you will probably love it. - I grew up with Sid Meier's games and love them to this day. I also love reading about early video game development -- it was quite an interesting industry at the time and I find it fascinating to read about the various small shops that were responsible for some great early games. This is all to say, I am very squarely the target audience for this book, and I really enjoyed it. But, quite frankly, it wasn't a great book. The prose was fine, the insights were fine, the organization of the book was fine. It was a pretty good book about a topic that I am extremely interested in. If you are even modestly interested in Sid Meier or early game development, I think you'll find this a worthwhile read. If those topics don't appeal to you, then you should probably look elsewhere. This is not a great piece of literature. It's not Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. If you don't bring an interest for the topic, I don't think you'll find it as you read the book. ## Images ![Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91XqzEv9BUL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great Read for Aspiring Game Designers *by D***C on June 4, 2021* I’ve played far too many hours of Civilization throughout my life. If you haven’t, or you’re not an aspiring game designer, then you may find large sections of Sid Meier’s Memoir! hard to appreciate. But I do love Sid Meier’s games and I do dabble in making games as a hobby. So, I really appreciated this memoir that takes you through Meier’s entire career as well as some of his rules of game design that have made him so successful. This book is not a deep dive. Each chapter, which generally covers a game or two, provides some insight about how a game was developed and why it worked (or did not work) for the player. But the chapters are short, and many of them concentrate on just one aspect of the game or Meier’s philosophy. The two things I found most interesting were the inspiration behind each game, and the gameplay rules that Meier learned over time. It’s not a tell-all, and it doesn’t cover much about the video game business. You won’t get a play-by-play about the development of Civilization VI. Meier says that he left much of the business side to his partners. Instead, this is a book about the creative process. Meier touches on enough of his personal life to give you a general outline of his life and some of the real-life hobbies that led to some of his best games. Again, most of the details are left out, but there’s enough there to be inspiring. The thing I found the most surprising in the entire book, is that despite his high position, Meier continued to be an active participant in the programming of his games (or at least the prototypes) late into his career. In short, Sid Meier’s Memoir! is limited in its scope. It’s mainly about game design and the creative process. But it does that well. You won’t quite feel like you’re in the trenches with the team making Civilization, but you will feel like you have a sense of where their head was at. The lessons about game design and the creative process that Meier provides are drawn from deep experience and most seem self-evidently true. The writing is clear and the insights are real. If you loved his games or you want to make games, you should read this book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ It's Sid Meier! If that means something to you, you will probably love it. *by D***D on October 9, 2020* I grew up with Sid Meier's games and love them to this day. I also love reading about early video game development -- it was quite an interesting industry at the time and I find it fascinating to read about the various small shops that were responsible for some great early games. This is all to say, I am very squarely the target audience for this book, and I really enjoyed it. But, quite frankly, it wasn't a great book. The prose was fine, the insights were fine, the organization of the book was fine. It was a pretty good book about a topic that I am extremely interested in. If you are even modestly interested in Sid Meier or early game development, I think you'll find this a worthwhile read. If those topics don't appeal to you, then you should probably look elsewhere. This is not a great piece of literature. It's not Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. If you don't bring an interest for the topic, I don't think you'll find it as you read the book. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Enjoyable Read *by J***H on November 13, 2020* I really enjoyed getting a look inside Sid Meier's head and a first hand recap of his career. His positive outlook has a tendency to minimize the conflicts he encountered along the way, making this more of a warm story of a game designer looking for and finding inspiration than a thrilling climb to prominence in an industry. Given the events that unfold, a different person writing could easily have told the latter story, but that's not Sid Meier's style. I liked the humble telling of remarkable events, and especially the perceptive analysis along the way. Overall I found the book inspiring, and I enjoyed reading both his experiences as well as his insights on game design and life. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.is/products/289258797-sid-meiers-memoir-a-life-in-computer-games](https://www.desertcart.is/products/289258797-sid-meiers-memoir-a-life-in-computer-games) --- *Product available on Desertcart Iceland* *Store origin: IS* *Last updated: 2026-06-08*