Well those are kind of "what if" games too no ? Because if you must play the true History, you play once and basta.

Well, maybe a couple to update yourself, just like an History book. They are just more attached to mechanics that depicts reality, and are less upside down, hence they unfold in shorter periods. Civ is special (and fascinating) in that it describes the entire History of humankind. IMO that's that that prevents it to be like the games you mention. And also, the "pushing units" philosophy, to make it clear that you have one unit, you have to move it to explore / settle / make wars. Civ is very simple to understand. Even in the 4X genre there are far more complex games to apprehend. Old World is too complex for me for example. I find its interface horrible. You have to search for data. Civ is designed to have the fewest data possible, and all displayed more or less clearly on the screen, if only to open a new screen dedicated to a specific, clear and simple area of the gameplay immediately understandable.