Civilization creator makes World War I biplane game for iOS

By Michael Logarta

Published May 3, 2013 7:04pm

Sid Meier, renowned creator of the ridiculously addictive Civilization games, has designed a new game for the iOS that puts the player in the cockpits of World War I fighter planes.

Ace Patrol – set in 1910's war-torn Europe – is a turn-based strategy game that will focus on aerial combat, pitting you against enemy planes bent on destroying your base camp and allies. The player gets to build, upgrade, and promote a unit of Ace fighter pilots over a campaign spanning 120 missions. The game will also include a multiplayer mode through Game Center, according to Game Industry International and Eurogamer.

History aficionados will be happy to know that the game will feature over 30 historical World War I aircraft.

Sid Meier, who works at Firaxis Games, was behind the game’s conceptualization, design, and programming. After his stint with social games with the Facebook version of Civilization, he recently expressed his desire to tackle the mobile gaming explosion with a new IP.

“It’s a shorter development cycle but the amount of cool things we can do is very similar to what we can do on a PC,” said Meier. “We get to more game design and less of the other stuff.”

Firaxis and publisher 2K Games will be making Sid Meier's Ace Patrol available for free download on iOS devices this coming May 9.

Aside from Ace Patrol, Firaxis is also working on two other mobile games: Haunted Hollow, which was just recently released, and this summer’s XCOM: Enemy Unknown. — TJD, GMA News

Tags: sidmeier, gaming, apple, appleios, appleiphone