As of today what do you think is the BEST Civilization game to play?

[Marlowe65]

Maybe I should have put Alpha Centauri in there but in technically wasn't a "Civilization" game.

You really should have and it would have been interesting to see how many chose it (though I'm sure it would have been way behind Civs IV, V, or 6, but far ahead of Civ BE's 0 %) I probably still would have voted for Civ IV, but I bet I am not the only person who gets a smile on his face by just thinking the word SMAC. It's as much a a Civ game as BE (and a much better one despite the dated graphics)--Sid Meier's name is in the title, it's largely designed by the same team as Civ II, and the game design is quite recognizably Civilization. I think the Civ name is missing from the game only because the then newly created Firaxis did not have rights to the Civilization IP. I admit that I haven't really played this in a long time, but the GoG version (along with Alien Crossfire) is sitting on my desktop. One of these days...

 

[RealHuhn]

I loved CIV 4 but I think I'm enjoying CIV 6 a little more. And most likely, it will only get better.

CIV 5 was a good game but I never liked tall empires. Expansion should be exciting, instead you always had to ask the question: Is it really worth it to slow down my science/culture by settling this amazing 5th city location -_- It felt so anti-civ like

 

[lordhaw]

Civ 4 was fun back in the day. Civ 5 was boring by comparison until BNW but I still didn't play it much until fairly recently when I tried Vox Populii and some added Civs and was having a blast. But right now I'm having a lot of fun on Civ 6, most fun I've had since Civ 3 to be honest. Doesn't mean Civ 6 is better than earlier games or anything but I'm having lots of fun playing it and that's what is most important to me.

 

[kaspergm]

I loved CIV 4 but I think I'm enjoying CIV 6 a little more. And most likely, it will only get better.

CIV 5 was a good game but I never liked tall empires. Expansion should be exciting, instead you always had to ask the question: Is it really worth it to slow down my science/culture by settling this amazing 5th city location -_- It felt so anti-civ like

The thing about Civ5 was that with just a little bit of patching, you could easily remove most of the tall/wide problems that plagued the game. Changing (literally) something like ten numbers in the game files made a world of difference to the gaming experience. Once wide was made viable or even slightly stronger than tall, the game had meaning for me.

 

[grmagne]

The thing about Civ5 was that with just a little bit of patching, you could easily remove most of the tall/wide problems that plagued the game. Changing (literally) something like ten numbers in the game files made a world of difference to the gaming experience. Once wide was made viable or even slightly stronger than tall, the game had meaning for me.

I voted for Civ 5. With the Vox Populi mod, which I love, I find that all of the major balance issues and bugs have been removed and the game is quite amazing. I do think that Civ 6 will surpass 5 eventually, but not yet.

 

[Mr. Shadows]

Of course Civ V is still better, but with a little luck that will change after an expansion or two. I've been playing nothing but VI since it came out, and I've got high hopes for it, but it isn't quite there yet. I know V took a lot of criticism on release, but it did eventually bloom into a truly great game and there's no reason to think VI won't do the same. Of course, when you consider how many hours I have in V it doesn't have to be "better" it just has to be fresh, at least for now.

 

[Underseer]

Honestly? I have no idea. By the time I get used to a new version, the old version becomes a vague memory.

The infinite city sprawl thing was both fun and annoying in the older versions, but some of the things done to counter it have also been annoying.

I do like the hex grid and one unit per tile. The stacks of death were stupid and annoying.

 

[Chinese American]

Civ 4 may have the most depth and breadth strategically. But Civ 2 made you feel like a god.

 

[joncnunn]

Maybe I should have put Alpha Centauri in there but in technically wasn't a "Civilization" game.

SMAC added to the poll because Beyond Earth was already on it.

 

[TheGreatSleepyOne]

I'm going to get a lot of hate for this.
I voted for Beyond Earth because I have had the most fun multiplayer experiences with this game.
And Aliens > Barbarians.

 

[Helmling]

For me, I've never been able to go back. Whatever Civ IV's faults were at launch, I couldn't go back to Civ III. Same with V over IV. And now, I can't even imagine playing a game of V.

It's weird. I was still addicted to V, right up until they announced VI.