Sid Meier's Memoir!: A Life in Computer Games
, subject: A memoir of building MicroProse and Civilization, and of the design principles behind Sid Meier's games.
A game-design memoir David calls fantastic: Sid Meier on interesting decisions, iteration, ownership, and building Civilization against conventional wisdom.
About the book
Published by W. W. Norton in 2020 and written with Jennifer Lee Noonan, the memoir traces the experiments, partnerships, setbacks, and design choices behind Meier's career. It also explains his view of games as a series of interesting decisions and his rules for making them.
Why read it
Best if you want a creator's memoir connecting game design, product iteration, complementary partnerships, ownership, and software economics
Key themes
- Interesting decisions
- Iteration over breakthroughs
- Complementary partners
Evidence and original sources
David calls the book, which came from a listener recommendation, an absolutely fantastic read.
- Sid Meier (Computer game designer) — David introduces Sid Meier's memoir as the book this episode is built around.
- Claude Hopkins (Scientific Advertising) — David gives a substantive adjacent discussion of Sid Meier's recently covered autobiography.
- Steven Spielberg: A Biography — David identifies the main lesson of Sid Meier's autobiography as the profitability of questioning conventional wisdom, illustrated by Civilization's success.
- Michael Bloomberg — David says he loves Sid Meier's book and that it teaches how to build a highly leveraged business.
Unofficial listener-built companion, not affiliated with or endorsed by David Senra or Founders Podcast.