I mentioned in my last post that when traveling with my laptop, I like to carry a small travel mouse. Now a mouse can be especially useful for playing games. I don’t know about you, but I don’t often have enough time on my hands to play a gams. But on the odd occasion when I am at a loose end, and the motivation to do something constructive is low, I do like to have a go at something a bit more challenging than Solitaire or Minefield.

So what is the best game for the gaming “Road Warrior”? Of course as I only have a laptop that is beginning to show its age and not being equipped with a blazing fast desktop complete with the latest video card, I will obviously not be playing the very latest first person shooter. I think the answer is probably quite personal as it will depend a little on what you want from your game. In my case I look for something that has engaging game play, requires me to think a bit, thats not too repetitive while at the same time providing a bit of action. Also as I only play now and again the game must either be short or easy to save and come back to later.

So what game is the right horse for my particular laptop? Well in my view it is Civilization IV, which will just about run on my most recent laptop. (On older laptops I still run Civilization III, which doesn’t require nearly as much graphics power). I think the beauty of “Civ” is that it gives you nearly everything on my wish list, and while you wouldn’t call it an action game there is always enough trouble with the neighbours to keep things interesting. If there is a drawback it is that the games do tend to be very long, often around 24 hours game time, which in elapsed or real time for me can be anything up to a year! Just watch it though it can be addictive and can become trapped in “just one more go” mode and before you realize it hours have passed!

So what in your opinion is the best laptop game?