Introduction to Longturn

Longturn is not so much a different variety of multiplayer Civilization game as much as a different playstyle. Basically, the only official difference between LongTurn and any other game of Civilization is that one game turn lasts one day (more or less). So, not 30 seconds or 2 minutes or "whatever the players agree" but an exact amount of time that remains constant throughout the game. This means that the server is running constantly and all players connect to it during the day - when they get the time - make their moves and adjustments, and then log off to continue with their lives.

This, however, has drastic consequences for the flow of the game and the overall gaming experience.

Firstly, when you wish to play a standard game of Civ with other people, one of the main obstacles is getting everybody together at the same time. If you are playing it on the internet, most of the time there will be someone ready to play, but not too many people at once. LongTurn games, on the other hand, have been known to gather many tens of players. Needless to say, a game with so many players offers unlimited possibilities when it comes to diplomacy, war, peace, alliances, cooperation and hostile behaviour.

This also makes a Longturn game a major social event and the closest a Civilization game can get to Massive Mutiplayer ;)

Secondly, if you are a working adult, a large obstacle is finding the time to play. Even the shortest game of Civ requires a time investment and nobody can do it in breaks between other things. If you don't have at least half an hour of 100% concentrated attention at your disposal, it doesn't make sense even to start. LongTurn, on the other hand, can be played relatively casually and, if you can't spare a large block of time, it can be played in small chunks throughout the day. Also, once you're done moving, you're done moving, the new turn doesn't start until the clock says so. So, basically, if you want to avoid "just one more turn" syndrome, this is the variant you want to play.

Thirdly, unlike the short and fast games usually played on FreeCiv servers arount the net, you have a lot of time at your disposal to think through your every move, investigate every line of research and analyse everything you weren't able to analyse if you were playing a fast game.

Fourthly, and for some this is the most important aspect of LongTurn, diplomacy is a blast! You can make alliances, negotiate detailed deals, squabble about individual tiles, twist arms, weasle out of agreements in a way you were never able to if you were playing fast multiplayer or just ordinary single-player games. And you have all the time in the world to negotiate, persuade and find the right words to do so.