I've been working like crazy for TUAW here at GDC 2010 (and there's a lot more coverage yet to come), but I did take a little time for myself this afternoon and go see the demo that Firaxis is showing off here of this fall's Civilization V. The latest and greatest Civ is quite different from the past iterations. As you can see in the above photo, the squares have become hexes for the first time ever, units will no longer stack (I know!), and culture will grow only as you pay gold to grow it, one hex at a time. Even though I really only went to see this game because I'm such a huge fan, I did get to ask one question for you: when is this game coming out on the Mac?

The rep was noncommittal, as you might expect, but he did say that every single previous version of Civilization has eventually come to the Mac, and that Civ V would probably not be an exception. He didn't have a timeline, but given the recent arrivals in the world of Mac gaming, I'd guess that it'll be sooner rather than later. The game's not due out until fall on PC, but I'll keep an eye out for it. Here's hoping that Valve's big announcement will encourage other great game companies to hit our platform as early as they can.