Civilization: Beyond Earth's space setting let designers think outside the hex (interview)

David McDonough and Will Miller would like you to know that they ripped parts of Civilization: Beyond Earth from other games.

“We play a lot of games here. We didn’t invent a lot of the things in Beyond Earth,” Miller said. The pair are the lead designers on Firaxis’ latest game, which takes the acclaimed 4X strategy Civilization series (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) into space on PC Oct. 24. “We don’t ever design in a vacuum, and it’s cool we don’t have to.”