Firaxis Games is going to give you a chance to practice your empire-building skills before Civilization V's release. They're preparing a demo for public release.

"The demo will be released in September, before the full game is released," says a new post on the official Civ V website. "More details about what will be available in the demo, as well as the exact release date are coming soon, so stay tuned!"

Civilization V's release is currently pegged at September 21st for North America and the 24th for Europe.