Not Far Beyond Earth

The Civilization: Beyond Earth demo is both good and bad. Bad, because a game of Civilization really can't be adequately explored in the 100(?)-turn limit the demo imposes. Good, because those turns do reinforce the point that, yes, this is Civilization V in space.

Which is also a little bad, in the sense that many of Beyond Earth's "new" features are really just Civ 5 features in a thin disguise. Resource management seems to be largely identical. Culture rewards are slightly enhanced but basically the same. Combat, exploration, espionage, and trade routes all seem the same too. The biggest differences between Beyond Earth and the Civilization V: Brave New World feature set are that there are no religions in space (wasn't one of my favorite features anyway), and that the barbarian-like aliens are super fucking tough. Honestly, I am a little worried about early-game viability, given that hostile alien lifeforms are so threatening to exploration and expansion.

But that might be giving them too much credit. Ultimately, I was able to play enough of Beyond Earth to confirm that I should enjoy it in the same way I've enjoyed Civ 5.

Progress: Finished the demo; founded a second city, started a spy agency, deflected some alien attacks.