‘This task is both more wonderful and dreadful than you could imagine’: After 638 days of drawing badly until Civ 7 is released, one dedicated YouTuber can finally put their skills to rest

A Civ 6 YouTuber who goes by Ursa Ryan has managed to keep up the impressive task of drawing badly (his words, not mine) every single day until Civilization 7 releases, and after 638 days, it’s finally over.

It all started just under two years ago when Ryan decided to post the first “drawing badly every day until Civ 7 is released”. This cheerful little drawing depicted Ryan ready to play a peaceful game of Civ 6 before being interrupted by an unescorted AI settler.

A few commenters pointed out how big of a task this will likely end up being. “The Zelda one ran for over 900 days,” one player said, while someone else just says: “Someday I’ll be able to look back and say I was there 3,000 years ago…” But despite all the doubtful comments Ryan seemed certain that this was something that he had to do.

“Thought it could be a fun way to practice scribbling as I have no artistic talent whatsoever,” Ursa Ryan says. “Plus if I don’t do it how can we ever be sure Civ 7 will, in fact, be released?” Please don’t make me do this for as long as theDuckPancake had to do with Breath of the Wild 2 (all credit to them for this amazing idea).”

After this first drawing Ryan stayed true to his word, posting a new piece every single day. There were meme templates, like Steam Vicky vs Empire Vicky on Day 72—Civ 6 commentary pieces like the penguin/human hybrids on Day 196—updates on just how long players were left waiting for anything to do with Civ 7, like Day 100 and 200—or some genuinely impressive artistic pieces like Day 300.

Day 250 of drawing badly every day until Civ 7 is released from r/civ

“People ask me all the time if my drawings have got better after 300 days of doing this,” Ryan says under his Day 300 post. “The answer is clear. NO. Luckily for me, docksecky is an absolute talent, and kindly did this one for me. Thanks again, and sorry that this silly tradition of mine takes attention away from people like you with actual talent!”

Day 300’s drawing may not be from Ursa Ryan, but I do think his drawings improved over the course of 638 days. I mean, just take a look at this drawing of Friedrich Baroque on Day 627. “It was inevitable skill has been developed and Ursa has evolved into a great artist,” one player says.

But all good things must sadly come to an end, even when it hinges on Civ 7 getting released. The last day of drawing badly wasn’t just a single picture, a meme, or some handy advice—instead, it detailed Ursa Ryan’s story and how he got to this point.

It all started after Ryan left his first job and, despite feeling a little lost, decided to start a YouTube channel. Although he didn’t have a desk or a PC, he was able to record Civ 6 videos on a laptop sat at the end of his bed on top of a set of drawers. “When Civ 6 launched, no one really watched my content, and that’s fair it was really, really bad,” Ursa Ryan says. “But that didn’t matter. It was an escape, something that made the days go by.” Back in October 2016 he had 42 subscribers, now he’s got 72,000.

But during the Covid lockdowns, his videos started to gain traction and attract more viewers, at which point he started to draw more. This earned him even more popularity and saw him get invited to charity events, and even fly out to Baltimore to play Civ 7. “People argue all the time ‘What is your favourite Civ game? 4? 5? Beyond Earth? Revolution? For me, it can only ever be Civ 6. Civ 6 was more than a game to me, it saved me and gave me so much, more than I can ever describe.

“To anyone thinking of doing this for Civ 8, be warned. This task is both more wonderful and dreadful than you could ever imagine. And Ursa, if you’re reading this in a few years time, thinking of doing it again…DON’T.”