Shacknews: Best Strategy Game of 2025 - Sid Meier's Civilization 7

[Spoonwood]

But you are. Jurassic Evolution 3 was a game up for the same award at Shacknews. You're expressing negative, even critical surprise at another community arriving at a conclusion you evidently don't think they should have.

If you don't care, or you're not passing judgement . . . what are you even doing? Why does it matter that Shacknews thinks Civ VII is deserving?

No, I'm not giving a personal endorsement. I'm interpreting what appears as popular opinion via the Steam reviews.

 

[Spoonwood]

I'm always amazed at people who don't play Civ 7, have no plans to play Civ 7... yet keep coming to the Civ 7 forum.

It'd be like me, a bald man, loitering in the shampoo aisle.

If you're referring to me, well you don't find me coming to the civ 7 forum consistently in other threads.

 

[Evolena]

No, I'm not giving a personal endorsement. I'm interpreting what appears as popular opinion via the Steam reviews.

There are many popular opinions in the Steam reviews.

 

[stealth_nsk]

Is that true? Early warfare is interesting because of the scarcity of resources. When you have fewer units, how you use them matters a lot more. By midgame expansion is a lot less interesting as the outcome has pretty much already been settled. So I find the opposite is true, early conflicts are far more fun, and from mid game turning things into a city builder is more fun. And mid/late game conflicts are just too much micromanagement.

I mean mid-game warfare is more interesting than mid-game peaceful play. Early game is surely more interesting in that aspect too.

And legacy paths do interact meaningfully with age rewards. I think you have to turn them off to see how much they warp gameplay.

Yeah, I know.

 

[Leucarum]

I mean mid-game warfare is more interesting than mid-game peaceful play. Early game is surely more interesting in that aspect too.

I dunno, I find mid-game peaceful play still has more consequential decisions than war does. But if you feel differently that explains our diverging opinions on exploration.

 

[Gorbles]

No, I'm not giving a personal endorsement. I'm interpreting what appears as popular opinion via the Steam reviews.

Positive opinions comprise the technical majority, so that can't be correct.

 

[Spoonwood]

Positive opinions comprise the technical majority, so that can't be correct.

The percentage of positive reviews on each of the other three games is higher than for civ VII. Easily.

 

[Doratov]

The percentage of positive reviews on each of the other three games is higher than for civ VII. Easily.

So, let's check the imdb page of The Greatest Show on Earth - it say 6.5, but it won Best Picture Oscar for that year. Checking other nominees, there's High Noon with 7.9 and much more votes. So what should the Academy do, to rectify this error? Surely the creators and their descendants must return the award, right?

 

[GIO888]

I don't play Civ VII.

I'd like to say "yet" as a player since Civ I, and keep tabs on the forums in the forlorn hope eventually Civ VII will be something recognisable as a Civilization game.

Oh, I'm not bald......

 

[Gorbles]

The percentage of positive reviews on each of the other three games is higher than for civ VII. Easily.

And? I'm struggling to understand why you're stating Steam user reviews like this. It's evident you believe something about them, but you've decided to frame it as some kind of neutral, objective declaration. As such, your point, whatever it is, seems to be being lost.

I don't want to put words in your mouth, is the problem. But I'm kinda left guessing.

 

[Boris Gudenuf]

I'm sorry, but everybody appears to be comparing Apples to Cucumbers here. As far as I can tell from an internet search, Steam is an entirely separate entity from Shacknews, so why should any kind of projection on the one platform have anything to do with the other? Both give their opinions, either derived from 'polls' of sales and opinions of possible gamers (I don't know that Steam actually verifies where the data for their statistics comes from, which is always a problem with 'online polls' on any subject) or from their authors, but in either case the results are merely the published OPINIONS on the subject.

Frankly, I had never heard of Shacknews before this Opinion came out, but looking at their website, it looks to me like they have a 'best' opinion on every conceivable or inconceivable category of game on any electronic platform. On the other hand, they appear to have been giving their opinions and people have found them useful enough to keep them in business for over 25 years, take that however you want.

But please, don't try to convince me that opinions derived from two different idiosyncratic sources have to match in any way - that's a waste of your time and mine.

 

[Leucarum]

I'm sorry, but everybody appears to be comparing Apples to Cucumbers here.

The worst fruit versus the worst vegetable?*... For me that ended up being a pretty strange metaphor.

*Clearly the absolute truth and not a personal opinion.

 

[Smegger213]

Oh boy. Shacknews must really set the bar so low if they think Civ 7 is the best strategy game of 2025.
Its a pathetic joke surely?

 

[Spoonwood]

And? I'm struggling to understand why you're stating Steam user reviews like this. It's evident you believe something about them, but you've decided to frame it as some kind of neutral, objective declaration. As such, your point, whatever it is, seems to be being lost.

I don't want to put words in your mouth, is the problem. But I'm kinda left guessing.

I think there exist other strategy games that people who have played them, and civ VII, would in the majority claim as better than civ VII.

Also, that the percentage of positive reviews for a game with a "best of ..." category seems especially low.

 

[Spoonwood]

So, let's check the imdb page of The Greatest Show on Earth - it say 6.5, but it won Best Picture Oscar for that year. Checking other nominees, there's High Noon with 7.9 and much more votes. So what should the Academy do, to rectify this error? Surely the creators and their descendants must return the award, right?

Maybe. I don't know. I don't know how good of an assessment of movie goers opinion that site is.

But, like for a "best of ..." award, I would expect it to make sense in light of popular opinion. I feel suspicious that civ VII as the best strategy game of 2025 is consistent with popular opinion about what the best strategy game of 2026 has been, based on the relatively low percentage of positive reviews for civ VII throughout 2025 and in the last 30 days on Steam.

 

[EpicWestern]

So what should the Academy do, to rectify this error? Surely the creators and their descendants must return the award, right?

Probably should issue an apology and hand the award over in that particular case.

 

[disjointaccount]

I'm not familiar with Shacknews but something that's potentially worth keeping in mind is that "best strategy game" suggests they're evaluating Civ on the basis of its strategic gameplay, against other games under the umbrella of "strategy game" on the same metrics. While civ-switching is offputting to a lot of people because of how it interferes with more roleplay-esque playstyles, from a purely strategic standpoint I can't see an argument for it being anything other than fantastic, because the various combos of leader + civ abilities (and mementos) bring so much more depth to the game at the most fundamental level.

 

[Gorbles]

I think there exist other strategy games that people who have played them, and civ VII, would in the majority claim as better than civ VII.

Also, that the percentage of positive reviews for a game with a "best of ..." category seems especially low.

But the award isn't the award for "what the majority of Steam players prefer". So I have to ask once more: why does it matter that Shacknews has a different opinion?

 

[stealth_nsk]

But the award isn't the award for "what the majority of Steam players prefer". So I have to ask once more: why does it matter that Shacknews has a different opinion?

The way you formulated this, Civ7 would actually win, because in absolute numbers there are more positive reviews for Civ7 than for any other strategy game released in 2025. So, the majority of Steam players actually prefer it.

 

[IntelligentDisk]

Alright before you come to a firm judgement... do you have any idea of what the reviews on Steam aggregate to for other strategy games released this year in comparison to civ VII?

Let's see... Commandos Origins on Steam has

Very Positive 88% for 78 user reviews in the last 30 days

Mostly Positive 77% for 1,458 user reviews.

Final Fantasy Tactics, the 2025 release has

Very Positive - 91% of the 381 reviews in the last 30 days are positive.

Very Positive - 92% of the 3406 reviews are positive.

Jurassic World Evolution 3 has

Very Positive - 93% of the 1,195 reviews in the last 30 days are positive.

Very Positive - 93% of the 4,042 reviews are positive.

Well, according to the Steam users, it appears that all of those games end up better than civ VII. Easily. The aggregate review numbers aren't close. I haven't played any of them. I'm not making a personal judgment. However, the statistics suggest that those who voted at ShackNews stand... no SIT... at odds with the Steam reviewers. Is there some other site one should check to see what popular opinion on this matter of "best strategy game of 2025" looks like? Because it looks like those into strategy games in the majority would not agree with ShackNews, from those Steam statistics. And that those other strategy games aren't as bad as you suggested Boris.

They might be reviewed better but Civ VII has better player retention than 2 of them. VII also has better player retention than Endless Legend II (82% positive), Anno 117 (70% positive) and is only 1.3% worse than Europa Universalis V (76% positive). This is despite being more expensive and much worse reviewed on Steam. My takeaway from this is if you like Civ VII, you like it more than the people who positively reviewed some of these other much better reviewed games.