Apparently a leaked image suggests that the next game in the Civ franchise is getting announced soon. I haven’t really dug into an official Civ since three I think but maybe this is where I jump in? I recently read Sid Mier’s auto biography and it has made me want to play one again.
The internet hivemind seems to think Civ-IV is the all-time best. And it is very good. I think I got into Civ during Civ-III and loved it and Civ-IV hooked me.
I think Civ-V is the best as long as you have ALL the DLC that goes with it (which I think is how it is sold now).
I was not a fan of Civ-VI but I know many love it (and it is not bad either). To me, the gameplay got simplified and the graphics more cartoonish to allow for cross-platform play (XBox and Playstation).
In the end, they are all pretty good. Civ-III and earlier might be feeling a bit old. Civ-IV is a little dated. Civ-V and Civ-VI feel modern even now.
Missed the edit window:
To the OP, if you liked Civ before I wholeheartedly recommend revisiting the franchise. Whichever you choose they are all fun (I think). Civ was the first game that introduced me to “one more turn” and then I realize it is 5a and I have been up all night.
Good stuff. (noting that not everyone likes this genre)
I spent the most time with Civ II. That one had the advantage that it could be modded by anyone with access to Notepad and Windows Paint.
I hope they go a more in the Civ IV direction, I loved all Civs… until CIV VI.
I could name a lot of reason (the idiotic “agendas” of the leaders, were Roman emperor gets angry with you for not being expansionist (one would think they would love to have not-imperialistic neighbours))
But the truth is that the game just didn’t “get” me, like the others, I went back to playing Civ V and IV.
(And for the love of god make it a bit more difficult, I played CIV VI in Emperor difficulty on my second playthorugh and won, I STILL haven’t been able to defeat CIV IV in Emperor to this day)
I’ve played all the Civ versions from I to V.
They were all good (it’s an excellent basic idea. 
)
I thought Civ III was pretty good but am very content playing Civ V (as mentioned above it’s best with all the extensions.)
My only experience was with civ 6, but I never managed to get through the tutorial. I tried three different times, first spending 30 minutes, then 45 minutes, then over an hour before I finally gave up. If you could save during the tutorial I would have gotten through it, but having to restart it each time and still not finishing it after an hour gave it a real never-ending feel.
Seems like the only news today is that it exists and everyone can learn more in August.
This is why I’ll wait a few years to buy any Civ VII. It will not be complete when they “release” it.
Indeed. Civ-V was ok(ish) on release and light-years better a few years later after all the bug fixes and DLC.
Civ-VI to me has never done that. Mediocre compared to the rest and never managed to do better. The evils of making it for consoles at the same time I think.
I’m not sure what it was, but playing it just never felt compelling.
I really dislike the district system.
I agree.
I am not sure if it was just an attempt to do something different but it felt like a dumbing down of the game. I do not think Civ benefits from dumbing down to attract more players.
Its charm is its depth of play.
This thread reminded me that I had Civ V sitting in my Steam library. I last played it in 2013 for about 30 minutes and promptly forgot about it so I’m downloading it now. I played the original Civilization as well as some of the sequels, but it’s been so long they all kind of blend together in my mind now. I do remember it being one of those games where “one more turn” turned into “is it morning already?”
Now what about a Sid Meier’s Pirates game?
I played the hell out of the first one, but for some reason never played Civ II. I got back into the series with III, and played IV for years as well. I still fire it up from time to time.
When Civ V was to be released, and I read all of the various lists of changes and new features, I was left with the impression that the game was being seriously dumbed down. I remember thinking the ONLY good idea was moving to a hex-based map. The fact that Steam would be required to play it sealed the deal for me. When Civ VI was coming down the pike, the first thing I looked up was if Steam would be required. One I confirmed that, I didn’t bother reading anything else about the game.
I might be interested in coming back, but I’m going to assume that Steam will still be required. I guess I’ll have to wait and see.
Please, please, please play it with ALL DLC there is.
The base game and the all the DLC game are really different. The all DLC is so, so much better IMO.
And, FWIW, I absolutely loved Sid Meier’s “Pirates”. I got really good at it too.
I am not sure why you are opposed to Steam.
These days I am hard pressed to think of a PC game you can get without using Steam or Epic or Ubisoft or Origin or Battle.net or GOG.
You are stuck with one of them and Steam is still the best of them IMO.
I miss the days of physical copies and reading the manual on the way home and extras like a printed map but those days are loooong gone sadly.
I got to play Civ III way back when while house / cat sitting for a friend. I’ve wanted it for myself every since, but couldn’t justified the time needed then (full time college and job). I have the Nintendo Switch edition of Civ VI on a wish list, but reading this thread, maybe I’ll change that to Civ V on the PC or wait for VII.
I played that SO much on our Commodore 64, probably logging more hours on it than any other game, including the grind-a-thon Dragon Warrior. I enjoyed the “Live the Life!” remake, which made some much-needed improvements. All the recent pirate games have seemed lackluster in comparison even after decades. I’m honestly shocked there hasn’t been a sequel.
Pretty much the MO of most games these days. If you buy it on release, you’re a beta tester.
I have enjoyed the games since Civ 2 though that and Alpha Centauri were the ones I played the most. After that I would play enough games to get a feel for the setup and perhaps beat it at Prince or King but not higher. My main problem is that it simply gets too grindy towards the end even on a small map. I suppose I could stop once I have reached a strong position but I don’t find that particularly satisfying. And as I get older, the endless click-click-click becomes physically painful after a certain point. My biggest wish for 7 would be smart ways of reducing the grind towards the end especially when it comes to large-scale combat.
I don’t get the sense that the games have become significantly less complex over the series. They have taken away some of the old game mechanics but also added new and interesting ones like the districts in 6. Realistically if you just keep all the old mechanics and keep adding new ones the game will become hopelessly complicated especially for new players.
Yeah looking back CIV 2 was the one I played the most. The CIV adjacent games I played the hell out of were Alpha Centauri, and Masters of Orion and Magic.