Best Civ to introduce someone to Civ 5

[Evie94]

so, for my dads recent 41st birthday, i got him Civ 5 Gold Edition. he's an experienced player but never won beyond level 3 in Civ 4, so he should be fine on level 4 in Civ 5 once he really gets into it.

my problem is that i want him to derive as much enjoyment from it as possible and doing that means getting him to play as more than the russians. he's playing on level 2 right now and, predictably breezing through it (though he's gonna get some shock in the happiness department when he moves up ) but i was trying to come up with a Civ that will really get him to utilise all the games mechanics and understand how to get the maximum utility out of his uniques, with Russia being fairly passive in that regard.

any ideas?

 

[Vintage Port]

Maya are a fun and enjoyable Civ. Lots of options for victory and the unique building is overpowered and will help kick off the early science.

For a new player it can be fun seeing Great people pop on a regular basis, considering they probably don't understand the idea/benefit of working specialist spots and managing their great people.

Mayans can work with either tradition but also work very well with liberty so it is flexible for a new player starting out, learning about the policy trees.

 

[Vintage Port]

I would also point them to this link to read up on the Civs and see what interests them.

It doesn't have a lot of detail and they will have to further read up on each unique unit or building but at least it is a start.

http://www.civfanatics.com/civ5/civilizations

 

[budweiser]

France & Rome.

 

[Browd]

I agree with the Maya suggestion. Well rounded, very forgiving, fun civ and he'll end up exploring all elements of the game.

 

[Drakarska]

France & Rome.

France I agree with, but Rome? kind of curious as to why you would recommend them as a start up. Also agree with Mayans, as I started my 13yr old with them for his 1st game awhile back.

 

[tpsreport]

What type of victory condition does he prefer?

Honestly I prefer China over the more popular civs. The +2 gold from the Paper Maker so early in the game is just incomparable, with the ability to build it a few techs in.

The great general bonus is great for both defense and offense. You can be a bit behind others in terms of tech and still play a good military game from the extra +15% bonus to units.

And their crossbowman with the ability to fire twice lets them level up really, really fast and get +1 range, making them pretty overpowered if you stick 'em on top of a hill. No other unit can offer that type of destruction until artillery in the Industrial era.

I do have to admit. Playing Maya is pretty fun. However I've never been fan of early war so I haven't utilized their unique unit much, even on Immortal and Deity when civs DoW barely 20-25 turns in (I'm a fan of using my luxury to bribe them to DoW on each other until I build enough units and farm a great general from city state combat exp) Their +2 science bonus on Pyramids gives you a big tech boost early in the game.


All in all though. <3 Wu Zetian

 

[IkM]

Mayans or Babylon. also if he likes trade Arabia is the best.

 

[budweiser]

France I agree with, but Rome? kind of curious as to why you would recommend them as a start up. Also agree with Mayans, as I started my 13yr old with them for his 1st game awhile back.

Because Legions.

 

[s0nny80y]

Babylon = Early archer plus walls to deploy grunts instead of garrisons promote early conquest. And while all of that happens GS points build up faster with Nebuchadnezzar.

 

[droberts97470]

Someone told me to try Spain and get the natural wonder 8 pt bonus for faith. It's fun if you can find a wonder near you.

 

[Browd]

Spain with doubled One with Nature is great fun, but provides a pretty skewed game experience.

 

[GWashington]

Good ones to start off with are the Maya for the pyramid, great with science, or China for the paper maker helping the economics. Spain is also good since you can have a pretty big and good military, and also get big bonuses from natural wonders (best when you are first to discover it).

 

[Koiranputki]

Spain is a good one if you want a lot of early positive feedback. The key, though, is being the first to find....and close by too, one of the good wonders...one with some food attached. It's a long shot to expect to get the GBR or Eldorado but I have had both of those a few times.... Just remember that Spain can be incredibly easy at the Emperor level....but not always... In one memorable game I was the first to find three wonders all close by....

Another good, relatively easy one, is Mongolia....although the AI can't deploy the Keshiks worth a darn, a human player should be able to romp across the map without losing a single Keshik unit at the Emperor level....well, maybe the occasional "sacrifice" to get the edge in a tight spot.... The Mongol AI seem to be inclined to leave their Keshiks sitting around to be picked off by the human's Crossbows....

 

[tnick777]

Your dad is so young... then again you must be too then...

But to answer your question the best dose for everything is actually probably Ethiopia... You get religion, culture, military, and some science.

 

[phaethon16]

I think the Byzantines might be good, because you have to go for religion, but once you get one you can get more bonuses to spread out the number of game mechanics you use. Their units are nice for both attack and defense, so you're military is stable early on wjen you're getting on your feet, and the religion thing does leave you open to any kind of victory. Ethiopia is a good choice too though.

 

[revco]

I'm nowhere near an expert....only play on king, but I find Rome and Arabia good to win with.
Rome because you can build roads and forts with your legions, and have your workers focus on improvements and you get cheaper buildings in every city outside your cap.
Arabia for the double luxuries and all the gold that gives, added to the 25% extra gold from trade routes. Double oil useful later too.
China for the cho-ku-no and paper maker too.

 

[Hieschen]

Your dad is the same age than I am, so I think he will not play a too domination oriented a game and has to juggle between family/job and other commitments, so he will probably not be the overlord of micromanaging the cities nor have the time to explore this to its full extend. If that is the case he should try

Maya >> first choice, everything is possible with them, he will see early science hit it, it will avoid him falling too much behind even if he gets muddled in the science tree
Korea >> good defensive units and if he will not micromanage cities to death, the specialists assigned by default will still produce some science
Inca >> great with the possibility to get lot of growth out of the hills, hills help for defence
Arabia >> get him the hint of the bazaar, he will never have happiness problems as long as he keeps it below 7-8 cities and he may still trade

I see the merit of other civs as posted, but Spain is difficult to play, you have to get lucky when you roll for start and then expand aggressively towards the natural wonder if you find a decent one.
Rome is all about conquest, ok if he likes to play domination games, but most of the people my age seem to play more pacifist games
Ethiopia is fun, but if he gets a desert start (very possible), he will have to beeline petra and build it to actually enjoy the game, which might be difficult

Pat

 

[BSPollux]

Persia

The UU is solid and the UB will solve any midgame happyness problems and work great with its UA. Its an easy Civ and very well rounded.

 

[FstrthnU]

I actually think the Russians can be good because the double military strategic resources means they don't have to worry about resource supply as much (and the +1 Production per strategic resource helps too). Kreposts allow fast expansion too.