I have been on a quest for some time to find new games that bridge the gap between the old school titles of yesteryear (which typically were rather complex and took an enormous amount of time to play) and the new school of games that have been coming out over the last five or six years. Many gamers that grew up with the old Avalon Hill, SPI, TSR, etc., eventually had to abandon the hobby for a time due to life pressing down on their schedules and social lives; now with the German invasion of games on steady march many gamers have found a new outlet on their hobby that fits their schedules and the tastes of many non-gamers that have been brought into the fold by the German aesthetic.
     One title that is often lamented as unworkable in this new school of gaming is the old Avalon Hill CIVILIZATION and its expansion ADVANCED CIVILIZATION. Many a gamer has fond memories of this truly epic game detailing the development and rise of ancient civilizations to its height in essentially the Hellenistic era. It had wide appeal for a variety of reasons. It had elements of wargames, logistics, diplomacy, trading and bluffing. Players were given an open-ended system that allowed them to play as they liked and didn't require warfare as the only answer to winning the game. Finally, the system was rather simple and easily teachable.
So why isn't this title being pulled off the shelf after a couple of games of SETTLERS OF CATAN? The major problem with the game nowadays is that it requires an enormous investment of time to play the game. At least five players should be assembled for the game and they need to expect that the session or sessions will last at least eight hours and very possibly more. Eight hours is beyond the pale in this day of ninety-minutes-or-less titles that stack our gaming shelves. Even if one is passionate about playing the game it has become harder to find another four or five people with equal passion or schedules to pull off a session.
Below I'd like detail some games that I consider as bridge games between the old and new. I'd be hard pressed to claim any of them as truly Civ-lite as it may not be possible to find a game that could somehow compress all of the interesting mechanics of CIVILIZATION down into a compact format. What follows however are games that I've found either fit within the theme of CIVILIZATION and thus give at least a warm afterglow of fond memories, or the games have in some way mechanical features of similar to CIVILIZATION and thus one in a manner can live vicariously through these shorter titles.
     VINCI (Descartes Editeur) - When VINCI was released there was a great deal of excitement that this would indeed be the Civ-lite game everyone was hoping for; however it has more of a similarity to BRITANNIA and HISTORY OF THE WORLD than to CIVILIZATION. Nonetheless thematically the game works for those looking for a Civ-fix. The setting is Europe and players represent an endless stream of migrating peoples, each with a unique set of cultural features that define their civilization. Players run over each other's civilizations, grabbing land that is hopefully the most suitable for the generation of victory points. The interesting element to the game is that each civilization is defined by two civilization chits, each with unique advantages and powers that will hopefully sustain the territory for many turns. 
     EMPIRES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD (Warfrog) - This is another title which upon its release some quietly whispered "Is this the Civ-lite game I have been waiting for?" Soon enough the answer was found to be "No" since while it has a number of interesting and clever mechanisms it is essentially a Germanified light war game. However the thematic flavor and the interesting mechanics should pique the interest of some CIVILIZATION players. The conflict of the game is broken up into various avenues. Players can attempt your basic conquest through arms but equally important are diplomats and merchants in terms of generating victory points for the end game. Further, the game is built around limiting the choices a player can make within a turn and so a degree of planning and timing is essential for players to be successful. A note should be made that the rules do have some ambiguities; however one can find game aids on the net now which will solve these problems.
     KAMPF UM ROM (Kulmann Geshichtsspiele) - This is actually two games in one both of which have a similarity to the system in VINCI, HISTORY OF THE WORLD and BRITANNIA. In both instances players play one or more European tribes (or the Romans) trying to expand and defend their territory. Tribes appear along a particular timeline and each have their own stats and values. Through the game there are opportunities to develop civilization advancements and to suffer from catastrophes. The first game is structured with a set system of going through 600 years of history starting in 375 AD in which players attempt to get the most victory points by accumulating various cultural advances. The second game is broken down into a number of historical scenarios dealing with the barbarian invasions and their cultural progress. While the details of the game are interesting and the game board is a beautiful rendition of Europe, keep in mind that the rules are not the clean well laid out rules you expect with your typical German game. A little work is required to understand the systems.

     HISTORY OF THE WORLD (Hasbro/Avalon Hill) - This isn't a new game and in fact is looked upon by many as an attempt by the old Avalon Hill to put out a sleeker CIVILIZATION-esque type of game. It however has recently been redone by Hasbro/Avalon Hill with a massive graphics upgrade and some refining of the rules. The scope of the game is vast, beginning roughly in 3000 AD and extending all the way to the outbreak of W.W.I in 1914. Play consists of seven epochs in which each player represents a prominent culture from a specific time in history. Players attempt to expand their territory as efficiently as possible, building monuments when allowed by the resources of the land and playing greater and lesser events to help their culture. Hasbro's new version is a great step up production wise with hundreds of little miniatures to represent each epoch rather than the cardboard chits from the original version. The rules likewise have been slightly tweaked to make for a more streamlined and quicker game.  Thematically this version provides a wonderful backdrop to the rise and fall of civilizations throughout history.
     ROADS AND BOATS (Splotter Spellen) - This title can in fact claim inspiration for CIVILIZATION.  CIVILIZATION the board game inspired CIVILIZATION the computer game (which were completely unrelated in mechanics) and the computer game inspired the makers of ROADS AND BOATS to come up with this title that deals with intricacies of logistics and planning. Players begin with a meager set of resources and transports (donkeys) and from these are able to eventually build up a score of different structures, transports and other infrastructure. To say that the game is rich in system detail is an understatement. Players are required to create an intricate network of production to ensure dominance in creating the civilization wonder for the end game. Conflict in the game, like in SETTLERS is not of attacking each other but of denying players access resources and structures through timing and blocking. A common observation about ROADS AND BOATS is that the play feels like a computer game with its detailed logistical building. If one is a fan of CIVILIZATION and the legacy it spawned within the computer world then this might be of interest to you.
     CITIES AND KNIGHTS (Mayfair) - SETTLERS and CIVILIZATION?  It's stretching it a bit but since SETTLERS is such a popular title in the new school of games, looking closely at what the SETTLERS system has to offer is profitable for someone who wants a Civ-fix. Basic SETTLERS of course has elements that could certainly appeal to a CIVILIZATION fan as the game is founded on building up an infrastructure to generate resources that can then be traded between players. The CITIES AND KNIGHTS expansion however adds a great deal more focus on developments that a player can create with those resources that go beyond simply adding to the economic infrastructure. Now players have to deal with barbarian invasions by constructing city walls and training knights. Commodities are now added to the game which allow for city advancements and the development cards have been greatly expanded and restructured to add more flavor to the game.
     URSUPPE (Doris and Frank) - A game about amoebas in the primordial soup is somehow related to CIVILIZATION? Thematically no but mechanically the game does have some interesting similarities. Players have to manage a hopefully growing colony of amoebas as they drift about in the soup. In a kind of reverse fashion from CIVILIZATION's population chits, players have to drift towards areas of the board that contain food (waste from other players amoebas). Along the way players are allowed to buy genetic mutations (read CIVILIZATION Advancements) which give your amoebas better efficiency, mobility, adaptability or offensive/defensive attributes.  All of this is draped in a rather procedural turn system that has a lot of the feel of how CIVILIZATION's turns are handled. Don't overlook the expansion which allows for up to six players and more importantly adds additional genetic mutation cards, thus opening up even further the varied strategies and tactics to winning the game.  Due to all of these similarities in mechanics I'd have to say that if anything came close to being Civ-lite then URSUPPE would be the game.

Neil Carr games in  Vermont.