Pic relevant. I’ve tried playing the new Civ games several times, and quickly end up quitting because I find them too overwhelming and find it hard to want to deal with the learning curve.
It occurred to me that part of the problem might be that I was jumping into a very old franchise that has been getting increasingly complicated over the years. Had a hunch I would have better luck with the original, so I went onto one of those play-dos-in-your-browser sites, dove in, and sure enough I am hooked!
Do I know what I’m doing? Not really, but stuff is happening and my civilization is growing, and it’s a good time.
I played more Civ 1 than any of the later games. Civ 2 is also great as is 4 (3 is decent, but I wasn’t nearly as enthralled with it). Every game in the series since has had aspects to it that I disliked enough to keep me from continuing to play and I heard enough bad comments about 7 to not both buying it.
I made the mistake of buying 7. “It’s Civ, how bad can it be?” I literally forgot it existed until reading your comment. When I want to play Civ I pull out 6.
ALWAYS play one generation behind with Civ because they don’t actually finish the last game until the new one comes out. Civ 7 will probably be fine, in like a year and a half.
Honestly, one could probably just keep playing Civ 5 without missing much unless there is a specific mechanic in Civ 6 that you enjoy. If you just use it to play risk (i.e. military victories only) Civ IV is probably the best version.
Thoughts on Alpha Centauri*?
While I loved the premise and lore, I felt a bit overwhelmed.
*The game, but if you wanna share thoughts on the star system, I’m all ears (not literally).
Alpha Centaui is a masterpiece and I feel it is better than any actual Civ game.