II is my favorite of the series. I never was able to get into III or IV. I did get V a couple weeks ago and am having fun with it. I like the hexagonal grid and the removal of unit stacking. Makes waging war much more tactical since you need to make use of terrain and get benefits from flanking ect. So my vote would be for II or V.

And here is a hope II and Alpha Centuri make it to gog at some point.

I actually played a lot of Alpha Centauri before even trying the Civ series. It's still my favorite of the bunch. This lead me right to Civ2, which I still play to this day, as well as AC.

Civ3 was the pinnacle, before the inevitable dumbing down (sorry, "accessibility") happened.

Civ4 was still good, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I play this one when I don't want to think too much. It's "Casual Civ". It sees some play still, but it's not my go-to choice. Mind you, this is from someone who gets his kicks from games like War in the East and still plays weekend ASL tournaments.

Civ5 - - Still waiting for a sale, but I'm in no rush. I'll get it eventually for completion's sake.

The Anno / A.D. series is a nice alternative. Real-time, not turn-based, but worth a look.

I play alot more Civ4 than I do Civ3. But thats based purely on mods. I rarely play either of them unmodded. If I didn't play the mods I might slightly prefer 3 over 4. I'm not sure though. They each have their strengths and weaknesses. I just like them both.

I don't know your tastes so I can't say which would be better for you. If you like 4x TBS games, I think you'll like either of both. With Civ3 you can run with integrated graphics. Graphics card not required. Game looks good enough to me. Even better when adding terrain mods. Civ4 is a different story. With Civ4 you can have an over spec'd machine, but if your running a big mod and playing on large maps you will likely encounter the blasted MAF! Memory Allocation Failure. It sucks! I like big mods and huge maps. The MAF hobbles my game!

Speaking of the MAF. If you get Civ4 then you will really want to get the Beyond the Sword expansion. Some mechanics are improved and there are many bug fixes. Including some memory fixes which improved, but didn't totally fix the MAF issue. But BTS introduced new bugs while fixing old ones. So be sure to patch it. The last BTS patch also removes the CD check. So you don't have to put the CD in the drive each game.


If you choose Civ4. Check out the Fall From Heaven 2 mod! It's the mod I play the most. There are also a few mod-mods based on it. A mod I've just recently gotten into is History of Three Kingdoms. Based on the Three Kingdoms period of China (184 AD – 280 AD). Its very well done and makes good use of the Great General mechanic.... you get heros that level up ++. There are many many mods at CivFanatics. Playing mods is like getting playing entirely new games. The best mods for me are those that incorporate new game mechanics. Mods go much deeper than just adding new art. Check em out. And even though Civ5 is out, people are still making new Civ3 and Civ4 mods.

Civilization IV + Beyond the Sword. Best and more balanced in series. Go for it.

Civ 1 is the best, because for it's time it was two generations ahead of everything else and it started the series.

Civ 2 is also the best, because it had multi player and wonder videos and funny advisors and had everything that makes Civ great.

Civ 3 is certainly the best, because it contained so many nice features including lots of nice micromanagement and tons of modifications. I still play it today.

Civ 4 is undoubtly the best, because there never ever before was such a high degree of sophistication in the game. Promotions, great citizens, religion, ... you name it, Civ 4 had it.

Civ 5 will be the best, because it simply looks and feels the best and is easier to use than Civ 4 but with appropriate extensions will be as deep as Civ 4.

So, all in all all of Civ is really great, only Civ 1-3 nowadays look a little old fashioned with an awkward user interface - I really don't know how I managed to enjoy the playing experience then.

So, I would recommend you Civ 3 or Civ 2 if you are reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally into Civ, otherwise rather go to Civ 5.

P.S.:

Anyway, everybody knows, that Alpha Centauri (SMAX) was and will be the best Civ ever.

For me Civilization II is the best one of the series, even today. Civilization III is good but their lousy battles ruin most of the gaming experience.

Civ IV is a very safe bet. Complex, fun, tons of both official and unofficial content, infinitely moddable, very active community still. Some die-hard Civ IV players even dislike Civ 5 to the point of not playing it.

Personally though I think Civ 5 is great. Although it is noticeable that religion isn't a part of Civ 5 - I hope they introduce it in later DLCs or expansion packs. Nothing like forcing voodoo upon a monarchist state.

Civ 1-3 has mainly nostalgic value now due to the complexity of later releases. You should definitely play them too though, they're part of our cultural heritage as far as I'm concerned. To top it off they're all still very playable.

I'd say start from the beginning and work your way forward, maybe skipping #3 altogether. Prepare to spend a LOT of time playing #2. Of the first 3 (which is all I've played) #2 is definitely the best, followed very closely by #1.

forget the original

choose call to power.

if you are new to civilization i would suggest either civ 4 or 5 as these are easier to get to grips with if u like steam just wait for an invertible offer for the civ series

I don't know why everyone points to Civ 2, as I never liked it.

I only played Civ 1, and it's pure awesomeness, even after all those years (and it was my first original game I bought).

Maybe because I disliked Civ 2, I never tried 3 or 4.

But I'm really considering Civ 5, I really like how good it looks. The only problem for me is Steam, but recently I started to think I might be able to force myself to install it. I really want Civ 5 and I really don't want to miss Fallout NV, so there's not much I can do.

Wow, I certainly didn't epect so many replies in that short period of time. Thank you very much for input (and also the reasons why you think Civ X is best). This is part of the reason why I love these forums.

I would lve to get my hand on Civ II but I don't see me getting that too soon (gotta order a used copy). So I will start with Civ IV. Thanks for the link! Are there any other sites that feature such nice guides? Did anyone else play this BAT mod and can recommend it or another mod instead? Usually I tend to play the stock game first before I get into playing mods.

It's included in the chronicles collectors set, along with a whole lot of other things:

http://www.amazon.com/Sid-Meiers-Civilization-Chronicles-Pc/dp/B000IU1PQA

Sadly this is the only way of obtaining Civilization 1 and 2 legit these days.

If you are interested in Civ 1 DON'T BUY Civilization Chronicles.


I've recenlty bought it (for Civ 1), and it appears to be some crappy Windows remake. It's not close to original DOS version at all.

It is probably Civnet (Civilization for Network)? As I recall there should not be to many differences to the original Civ. Can you enlighten me about the differences?