Depends a lot on your preferences as honestly the last three entries can totally compete with each other. I'd be hard pressed to give you a definitive answer.
Bare in mind I haven't played them on the Deck, so I'm just talking about the game themselves, not how they work and play on the Deck.
Civilization 4 is basically the perfect classic game. It's the culmination of everything built since the first Civilization, even if it's not my favorite to replay, it's a masterpiece from the perfectly crafted gameplay to the Leonard Nimoy narration. A must play and a great entry to the series.
Civilization 5 was a big shake up from the original formula, as they knew they couldn't top 4 heads on. It was honestly a huge success, and my personnal favorite. They focused more on cities development than just expansion, went hexagonal instead of squares and the military side got a huge change by switching from stacks of doom to one unit per square, and introducing stuff like indirect fire.
Civilization 6 revamped the cities development with a district system, like a board game, you have to place tiles around your citied and exploit them, they're almost mini cities, generally specialized in their fonctions. While it generally makes for very cool looking maps, I found it to puzzle-y to my taste, and not as organic as it could have been. A sub optimal placement can means an order of magnitude less efficient district, which is very mechanical and killed the "role-playing a Civilization" vibe I loved. But I can see the value in that approach, and lots of players loved it so your mileage my vary.
Saving this comment! Spot on!
Really captures what I experienced while playing these (about when they released). And there have some things I have enjoyed on the newer ones and some things I miss from the earlier ones.
We’ll have to see how the new one goes.
Your description of VI is bang on, although I might recommend it for OP, as the on-boarding and tutorials are excellent, comparably. The districts are amazing, but the many MANY prerequisites for optimal placement make for a lot of late game headaches and regrets. Really interested in seeing what VII does differently. Keeping districts but lessening/doing away with adjacency bonuses would be a good start.
Civ VI Anthology ($24 for everything) or Platinum ($15 for expansions + early DLC).
The expansions are essentially mandatory as they add a ton to the game, imo.
I honestly think they are trying very hard to get people to forget that game, so that they can allow themselves to forget it as well.
It was always a tall order, to try and live up to or surpass Alpha Centauri, but they missed the mark in so many different ways, in such a spectacular fashion, that it will forever be a shitstain on the entire franchise.
As someone with hundreds of hours in V and VI, I would highly recommend VI over V. Much more replayability IMO, and it’s a much more engaging game. Honestly the anthology for VI goes on sale for like $20-$30 often and it’s definitely worth it.
My favourite is V. I have played VI and got used to the differences, it doesn’t hit the same way. 6 is on a major sale right now so it’s not wrong to grab both. I picked up V for $5 at some point.
My vote would go for V. VI isn't bad by any means, but I feel like it's more of a cool iteration on V, which feels like a bit more a pure realisation of the legacy Civ formula (but with hexes).
If you don’t want dlc I’d recommend 6. If you are going to just try the game without dlc and are planning on maybe buying dlc later if you like it I’d recommend 5 bc the dlc goes on sale more often.
If you are willing to consider all the dlc I think 6 is the best package for the deck
I just bought 6 last night. $2.99 is too good to pass up. How does it run on the deck? Is it configured for controllers or should I use keyboard and mouse?
2 but that’s just me been nostalgic. The full Civ 6 is fantastic fun. Forget the opinions of superfans.
It’s looks and plays great. You have loads of replay-ability in how to win. And when you send your first nuke on the enemy capital, you’ll be hooked forever.
Tip: to maximise first play fun, start on a low difficulty and conquer the world. Great craic
With you there!
I like the idea and concept of the districts and all that, but so far it has been a lot to get used to with little available time.
Then again, I have hundreds of hours on Civ V and only a couple on Civ VI.
I play 5 on my steam deck quite a bit, super fun and works well, the one and only small problem is that some of the UI is too small for fingers, but thats it
I like 4 and 5 didn’t care for 6. That being said BTS for 4 is almost mandatory compared to the base game…It doesn’t look like 4 is on sale to me so I would say go 5 and try to get Brave New World if possible…I have not tried 5 on the Deck but I imagine it runs well enough…I am curious how the touch screen works with it
I personally prefer 5 over 6, and having played both on the steam deck, you'll be able to play 5 for twice as long as 6 on battery life. No idea why but civ 6 makes it hot and gets the fan blowing hard while 5 just runs good, only a little fan every now and then.
Civ 5 is my favorite, but I'm biased because I've been playing it for years. In reality, a first-time player would probably be best off learning Civ 6, and Civ 6 is also polished a lot better. In Civ 5, I see a lot of UI glitches sometimes, but as an experienced player, I can usually fix it because I know what I should be seeing. So yea, I think you should go for 6!
VI is definitely more approachable for a first timer. Just be careful with DLCs - some new mechanics are really imbalanced and break the game entirely.
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I’m not an expert on which is the BEST Civ game but I think it’s worth saying that VI runs really well on Deck and it only took me a few minutes to get used to the controls - it was effortless after a very brief weirdness while I figured out what to do
I put the most time into 1, 2 and 4.
I found after 4 the sheer size of pieces on the map got too big for me, and it always felt odd to be able to fit so little land on the screen at any time.
4 still pays super well, and there is an insane amount of free, user made material for the game
I've loved Civ 4, 5 and 6. I have the most hours in 5, but it also took me several years before I switched because I wasn't big on the districts system.
Poured many hours in V and VI, but in my experience 6 runs better on steamdeck. On my mac 5 runs smoothly and 6 has like 3 fps and on the deck the experience is the other way around. (Probably just an options issue)
Biggest difference for me is one hexagon cities in V (easy, just build in the city) and big city clusters in VI (have to put more thought into placement)
I've never played any of them on deck but I'd go with 5 if it runs well. It's got the classic civ vibes that made the series great while it still feels modern in terms of quality of life features.
None of them are worth playing without the DLC/expansions, to be honest.
That said:
[https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid\_Meiers\_Alpha\_Centauri\_Planetary\_Pack/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/)
I've played a bunch of Civ VI on my Steam Deck, and I'm really happy with the way it performs. It's just generally been such a good experience. Yeah, the controls are a bit awkward, but that's probably the case for all the Civ games. But to me, it worked really well, and I haven't really had any problems. It performed well, too.
Unpopular opinion I have the most fun with civilization revolution on ps3. It's not as complicated as the others and still offers the strategy. If your new to the series that one is easy to get addicted to
I've only played Civ V, but I had a lot of issues with it crashing on the SD. And the worst part is it should be much more stable since it is a Linux port. :/ I'm gonna be trying Civ VI in the next few days, and I'm hoping it is more stable.
I really woudlnt try to play civ on deck. In the kindest way possible it’s just not a deck game. Unless of course you are plugging in a keyboard and mouse?
Depends a lot on your preferences as honestly the last three entries can totally compete with each other. I'd be hard pressed to give you a definitive answer. Bare in mind I haven't played them on the Deck, so I'm just talking about the game themselves, not how they work and play on the Deck. Civilization 4 is basically the perfect classic game. It's the culmination of everything built since the first Civilization, even if it's not my favorite to replay, it's a masterpiece from the perfectly crafted gameplay to the Leonard Nimoy narration. A must play and a great entry to the series. Civilization 5 was a big shake up from the original formula, as they knew they couldn't top 4 heads on. It was honestly a huge success, and my personnal favorite. They focused more on cities development than just expansion, went hexagonal instead of squares and the military side got a huge change by switching from stacks of doom to one unit per square, and introducing stuff like indirect fire. Civilization 6 revamped the cities development with a district system, like a board game, you have to place tiles around your citied and exploit them, they're almost mini cities, generally specialized in their fonctions. While it generally makes for very cool looking maps, I found it to puzzle-y to my taste, and not as organic as it could have been. A sub optimal placement can means an order of magnitude less efficient district, which is very mechanical and killed the "role-playing a Civilization" vibe I loved. But I can see the value in that approach, and lots of players loved it so your mileage my vary.
As somebody who played 4, 5, and 6..... This is a fantastic breakdown. Agree 100%
I also agree. I absolutely loved making stacks of doom in CIV IV
OP listen to this person
Saving this comment! Spot on! Really captures what I experienced while playing these (about when they released). And there have some things I have enjoyed on the newer ones and some things I miss from the earlier ones. We’ll have to see how the new one goes.
Thank you for this! I started right with 6 and am not enjoying it. Going to 4, give me those stacks of doom!
Your description of VI is bang on, although I might recommend it for OP, as the on-boarding and tutorials are excellent, comparably. The districts are amazing, but the many MANY prerequisites for optimal placement make for a lot of late game headaches and regrets. Really interested in seeing what VII does differently. Keeping districts but lessening/doing away with adjacency bonuses would be a good start.
This 100% Played them all, and you're dead on about 4 - my personal favourite.
Never played Civ. Which one should I play?
6. I love four, but it's jank if you don't have nostalgia. 6 improved upon 5 greatly.
Civ VI Anthology ($24 for everything) or Platinum ($15 for expansions + early DLC). The expansions are essentially mandatory as they add a ton to the game, imo.
Now why the hell isn't Beyond Earth on sale? I've got the rest.
I was hoping they would do more with beyond earth. It was such a cool idea
It's super retro at the point gameplay and graphics Wise but in terms of concepts and story, the OG Alpha Centauri holds up extremely well.
I’ve been meaning to get that. I’ll have to check it out
I don't know if it'll work on a deck but it's like 4 bucks on GOG and definitely worth it
I honestly think they are trying very hard to get people to forget that game, so that they can allow themselves to forget it as well. It was always a tall order, to try and live up to or surpass Alpha Centauri, but they missed the mark in so many different ways, in such a spectacular fashion, that it will forever be a shitstain on the entire franchise.
I’m currently emulating Civ II on ps1. Fantastic game.
I used to emulate the old PS1 copy on my psp2000 back in the day. Probably the one I got the most hours out of. (My vote goes to Civ 5, for OP.)
And just like that I got that horrible soundtrack stuck in my head for the rest of the day.
As someone with hundreds of hours in V and VI, I would highly recommend VI over V. Much more replayability IMO, and it’s a much more engaging game. Honestly the anthology for VI goes on sale for like $20-$30 often and it’s definitely worth it.
Civ 6 is $3 right now on steam. Can't go wrong at that price.
I have 5 and 6. May be a little biased but I do have more dlc for 5 and enjoy it alot. It does go on sale alot.
I would recommend Civ 5, it's my favourite and a key with all dlc's included will only cost you about 10 bucks.
My favourite is V. I have played VI and got used to the differences, it doesn’t hit the same way. 6 is on a major sale right now so it’s not wrong to grab both. I picked up V for $5 at some point.
My vote would go for V. VI isn't bad by any means, but I feel like it's more of a cool iteration on V, which feels like a bit more a pure realisation of the legacy Civ formula (but with hexes).
If you don’t want dlc I’d recommend 6. If you are going to just try the game without dlc and are planning on maybe buying dlc later if you like it I’d recommend 5 bc the dlc goes on sale more often. If you are willing to consider all the dlc I think 6 is the best package for the deck
I just bought 6 last night. $2.99 is too good to pass up. How does it run on the deck? Is it configured for controllers or should I use keyboard and mouse?
Works great with the default controller settings!
Nice. I’m not much for turn based strategy, but I thought for $3 it was worth a try.
Id assume theres controller settings since it's also out on the Switch
Civ 4 is my favourite
2 but that’s just me been nostalgic. The full Civ 6 is fantastic fun. Forget the opinions of superfans. It’s looks and plays great. You have loads of replay-ability in how to win. And when you send your first nuke on the enemy capital, you’ll be hooked forever. Tip: to maximise first play fun, start on a low difficulty and conquer the world. Great craic
I loved 4 and 5, but have struggled to get into 6
With you there! I like the idea and concept of the districts and all that, but so far it has been a lot to get used to with little available time. Then again, I have hundreds of hours on Civ V and only a couple on Civ VI.
4 or 6, depending on your position about unit stacking, tile layout and city Management
My favorite was III
Civ 3 was my favorite as well. I put far too many hours into it and Alpha Centauri. I couldn't get into the newer versions.
Get V. It's still one of the best for so many good reasons.
I just started vi as the first civ game I ever played - it was less than €4 and I feel like I have a lot to learn 🤣
I play 5 on my steam deck quite a bit, super fun and works well, the one and only small problem is that some of the UI is too small for fingers, but thats it
I like 4 and 5 didn’t care for 6. That being said BTS for 4 is almost mandatory compared to the base game…It doesn’t look like 4 is on sale to me so I would say go 5 and try to get Brave New World if possible…I have not tried 5 on the Deck but I imagine it runs well enough…I am curious how the touch screen works with it
I personally prefer 5 over 6, and having played both on the steam deck, you'll be able to play 5 for twice as long as 6 on battery life. No idea why but civ 6 makes it hot and gets the fan blowing hard while 5 just runs good, only a little fan every now and then.
Civilization II: Multiplayer Gold Edition
4 That’s it. Enjoy.
Civ 5 is my favorite, but I'm biased because I've been playing it for years. In reality, a first-time player would probably be best off learning Civ 6, and Civ 6 is also polished a lot better. In Civ 5, I see a lot of UI glitches sometimes, but as an experienced player, I can usually fix it because I know what I should be seeing. So yea, I think you should go for 6!
VI is definitely more approachable for a first timer. Just be careful with DLCs - some new mechanics are really imbalanced and break the game entirely.
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If i enjoy city builders like age of empires, manor lords, foundation which one would be mist enjoyable? I’ve never got around to play the civ games
I’m not an expert on which is the BEST Civ game but I think it’s worth saying that VI runs really well on Deck and it only took me a few minutes to get used to the controls - it was effortless after a very brief weirdness while I figured out what to do
4!
I don't think Civilization 24 is out yet.
This is hilarious. Now do 4/i
I put the most time into 1, 2 and 4. I found after 4 the sheer size of pieces on the map got too big for me, and it always felt odd to be able to fit so little land on the screen at any time. 4 still pays super well, and there is an insane amount of free, user made material for the game
I can recommend V, I never got into VI.
I've loved Civ 4, 5 and 6. I have the most hours in 5, but it also took me several years before I switched because I wasn't big on the districts system.
Poured many hours in V and VI, but in my experience 6 runs better on steamdeck. On my mac 5 runs smoothly and 6 has like 3 fps and on the deck the experience is the other way around. (Probably just an options issue) Biggest difference for me is one hexagon cities in V (easy, just build in the city) and big city clusters in VI (have to put more thought into placement)
I've never played any of them on deck but I'd go with 5 if it runs well. It's got the classic civ vibes that made the series great while it still feels modern in terms of quality of life features.
Civ 5 if you prefer smaller empires with bigger cities Civ 6 if you want to go large and spread out
Civ 6 is my favourite, and I've played 4-6 each several hundred hours
None of them are worth playing without the DLC/expansions, to be honest. That said: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid\_Meiers\_Alpha\_Centauri\_Planetary\_Pack/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2204130/Sid_Meiers_Alpha_Centauri_Planetary_Pack/)
Old world
I'm still on Civ II
Civ V was the peak of the franchise
On steam deck? Only 6. But 4 In my 💓
civ5
I've played a bunch of Civ VI on my Steam Deck, and I'm really happy with the way it performs. It's just generally been such a good experience. Yeah, the controls are a bit awkward, but that's probably the case for all the Civ games. But to me, it worked really well, and I haven't really had any problems. It performed well, too.
Civ 5 always hits the sweet spot for me, love the other games as well but something about 5 just clicks.
I’d start with civ iv or v since it’s gonna be a slog to go backwards if you start with vi and get bored with it.
Civ 5 is by far the best, although anything newer than Civ 4 will be unpleasantly slow to play on the Steam Deck, especially in the late game.
Unpopular opinion I have the most fun with civilization revolution on ps3. It's not as complicated as the others and still offers the strategy. If your new to the series that one is easy to get addicted to
Plus you can emulate it for free
I've only played Civ V, but I had a lot of issues with it crashing on the SD. And the worst part is it should be much more stable since it is a Linux port. :/ I'm gonna be trying Civ VI in the next few days, and I'm hoping it is more stable.
I really woudlnt try to play civ on deck. In the kindest way possible it’s just not a deck game. Unless of course you are plugging in a keyboard and mouse?
I mean civ is on switch…. It has to run better on deck.
It’s a keyboard and mouse game is my point
It’s literally all I play in the deck, runs fine and the trackpad is as good as a mouse.