Similar Games

[Mesodius]

I was wondering of anyone could recommend some games which are similar to the Civilization and Colonization series for those times when I get the Civ blahs. I like turn based 4x games, but these are getting harder to find in the wake of the RTS explosion. I like games with a historical lean. Cheers.

 

[Drakan]

I recommend you Sid Meir's Alpha Centaury (AKA SMAC) which, to many of us, is the apex of x4 games. Play as well with it's x-pack, Alien Crossfire (SMACX). It's from 1997 IIRC. It's price in ebay is steep, reaching for both easily 100 USD.

I also recommend you Total War: Rome which blends nicely RTS and TBS. Well worth a try! It's from 2004. Empire Total War will be coming out this February and promises some great gaming. It will be the fifth iteration in the TW franchise.

You also have Galactic Civilizations II (2006) and Call to Power II (it's from '98 IIRC).

 

[Maniacal]

Call to Power was released in 1999, CtP2 was released in late 2000 and Apolyton has a vastly improved expansion they have made from the Source Code.

I recommend that you try Europa Universailles III, Victoria, Hearts of Iron II.

 

[Phlegmak]

Freeciv .

 

[Mesodius]

SMAC is great . Most of the other games mentioned seem to be RTS, but perhaps I will try one of those. I was looking them up and Europa Universalis 3 seems like the sort of epic historical game I'm looking for even though it seems to also be RTS, and it's pretty cheap on Ebay s maybe I'll give that a go. It seems to pause which means I can maybe get away with playing at work.

I just don't like games where the most important skill in the game is how fast you can click the mouse (Warcraft, etc). I like to have time to plot and devise strategies, engage in diplomacy, etc. Does Europa Universalis 3 pretty much fit this bill?

 

[Maniacal]

EUIII, HoI2 and Victoria are practically turn based because you need to pause them so much, and EUIII fits that bill. I agree, Starcraft etc are annoying as hell to play. THe Total War Series is a good RTS that doesn't rely on fastclickfesting with a TBS world map (battles are RTS), although mods help and the diplomacy is not that great even with mods but still a good series.

For EUIII I recommend buying Europa Universailles Complete, as the two expansions add a LOT. Try the EUIII demo off Paradox's website, it gives a good view into the game.

 

[Mesodius]

Thanks much, I'll give it (and maybe others) a try. I've recently come into a lot of free time I didn;t have before, so trying new games is a must.