I have the vanilla Civ V game (Mac) that I have only just started playing. What would you all recommend as essential expansions? Don’t recommend Civ VI, it’s not currently in my budget.
I also have IV, is V better or worse, generally?
Well, there are only two Civ V expansions (I say “only” because Civ IV had three.), Gods and Kings and Brave New World. If you can only get one of them, I’d recommend Brave New World for the changes to trade and culture, which makes it a really solid game.
Civ V is different from Civ IV. I won’t say it was better; it definitely wasn’t worse. The unstacking of units, along with the change to a hexagonal board, made a huge change in the play of the game.
I logged about the same amount of time on each, I think. I found each equally compelling.
IIRC Brave new world includes much of the gameplay features of Gods and Kings, so get that one if you’re looking to save money.
Only reason to get both is if you want the civs attached to Gods and Kings.
But definitely pick up at least that DLC, turns Vanilla Civ V from ok to excellent.
I would just buy the Civ V complete edition for $12.50 since both Brave New World and Gods & Kings add so much. Plus you’d get the extra cultures, maps, scenarios, etc with it.
Edit: Activating the Complete Edition will just add all the DLC to your existing Steam copy.
Thanks Jophiel, the individual expansions on Steam were about $50 Australian each. 16.00 AUD for everything is a significant improvement!
Glad to be able to help 
It’s often worth it to shop around a little outside Steam to try and find the best price for games. DLGamer, Green Man Gaming, GamersGate, Humble Store, Bundlestars, etc might have the Steam key you want for less.
There’s also Is There Any Deal which will tell you the lowest current price on Steam (or Uplay, Origin) games. Though that wouldn’t have told you to buy Civ V: Complete unless you already knew to look.
Yeah, I don’t play games that often on my computer. I have Steam obviously, and I have a fair number of games available on it, but didn’t know you could purchase keys elsewhere to use with Steam.