[citation needed] A similar demo, Civilization Revolution Lite, was released for iOS that allows play until the Modern Era as Julius Caesar, Abraham Lincoln, or Genghis Khan.

[7] The main game of Civilization Revolution begins in 4000 BC, with a lone settler unit in the middle of a little-explored region.

Ultimately, each civilization competes for land and resources with the purpose of eventual military, technological, cultural, or economic domination.

Civilization Revolution features multiplayer options, including match making and ranked games for up to four players (in free-for-all, one-on-one, and two-on-two team battle modes), as well as leaderboards and support for voice and video chat.

Firaxis programmer Scott Lewis explained, "CivRev was originally an Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 project and was in development for over a year before the Wii/DS platforms were added.

The result was that the time and effort it would have taken to remake a game built for higher-end hardware from the ground up would simply have been too costly.

[19][20][21] GameSpot praised the gameplay and visual design of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions but found the multiplayer to be slow.

[25] Edge gave the PlayStation 3 version a score of eight out of ten in its July 2008 issue, saying, "While the streamlined and brisk approach that brushes over some of the minutiae of the previous games might cause some PC fans to baulk, Revolution has concentrated rather than diluted the Civ experience, creating an expression of the concept that's perfectly suited to its platform.

"[49] Three issues later, however, the magazine gave the DS version seven out of ten, saying, "In terms of distilling the core Civilization experience from PC to handheld, this is almost as victorious as the PC-to-console iterations.

"[51] Michael Lafferty gave the PlayStation 3 version 8.7 out of 10, saying that it "plays very well on the PS3 with intuitive controls, solid graphics, and streamlined game mechanics that ensure entertainment value.

"[52] Nick Valentino gave the Xbox 360 version 8.9 out of 10, calling it "a genuinely addictive simulator that will not fail to impress and please fans of the Civ series.

"[54] Darren Jones of Retro Gamer gave the DS version 70%, saying, "If you want a 'Civ Lite' to play on the bus - due to 'proper' Civ demanding too much time - this largely succeeds.

Drop your expectations accordingly, and you'll find a fun, fast-paced game, with built-in scenarios increasing longevity and balancing the simple gameplay.

"[55] George Jones of GamePro gave the PS3 version a score of 4.25 out of 5, saying, "Cerebral gamers and those with world-conquering ambitions should definitely give this one a try.