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.


Civ 2 is my favorite, plus it has a large collection of fan-made scenarios that cover almost every single sci-fi franchise with some fantasy mods as well, plus lots of historical scenarios that are fun to play.
There’s even a mod that lets you play mafiosi in a SC2K-like NY:
It is also a time capsule in who we were twenty odds years ago.
Any pointers on how I can play Civ 2? I have a physical copy I inherited from my dad when he passed but I haven’t found it on Steam or GOG and don’t even know where to begin to try and get the physical copy to work.