My Favourite Civ-Like Games
After writing about all the MMOs I have been playing over the years, I realized that I have also been playing a lot of “Civ-like games”. I decided to make a list. My first thought, fitting to the subject line, was to rank them. However, some of the games are so different from the others that I found it to be too difficult and not meaningful enough.
Tier 1: The True Favourites
Also, the game I am listing first may not even be a favourite anymore nowadays: Civilization IV! This was my first turn-based 4X game. My first love, so to say. Something I still miss to this day is being able to win over whole cities by spreading enough culture. This was by far my favourite way of playing the game. The least favourite aspect was the “Stack of Doom” (placing a lot of military units on the same tile). I am glad that this isn’t possible anymore.
Because of this, I used to think that I did not like playing games where the focus was heavily on combat. So, I was skeptical about Warlock – Master of the Arcane. I don’t remember why I ended up buying the game, but I am glad I did. I absolutely loved it, especially playing as the Monsters faction. So cute! Warlock 2 was good as well, maybe even better. I just did not like the fractured realms. These two games are the only ones where I played rather aggressively.
I really do love fantasy settings, but once in a while, I want some science fiction in space. Stars in Shadow is the only game in this setting that I really, truly enjoyed playing. I think it is the art style that made it easier for me to maintain an overview of what is happening in the world. I usually get confused with how to build the best space ships, and that wasn’t an issue here either.
My one true love, however, is Old World. It has enough of Civilization, but adds some character by giving you a dynasty and a family to manage. The random events can really screw up your gameplay, which I love because I am not a fan of planning my moves too far ahead. I feel that this game is more forgiving here (I am not sure if it really is, but it feels that way, at least!).
Tier 2: The Fast Ones
In the past few years, there have been several Civ-like games that broke away from the standard rule of “one more turn… for hours”. These games are fast-paced, and individual sessions do not last long. Out of these, I played Ozymandias, Hexarchy and The Battle of Polytopia. I like all three for what they are. But in the end, none of them really feel like a true Civ-like game to me. For my taste, it really has to last a long time and let me slowly build up my empire. However, I like that these games exist and sometimes, I am in the mood for a quick match. I couldn’t pick a definite favourite here, but if I had to, it would be Ozymandias. Just don’t ask me why, because I don’t know!
Tier 3: The Flawed Ones
Number one here is Civilization: Beyond Earth. I wanted to like it. I really did! I gave it several tries, but ultimately decided to move on. I found it boring and it just did not click. Instead, it only made me want to play one of the other Civ games instead. So I did.
Humankind is a frustrating one. I didn’t really know what I was doing or rather, what I was supposed to be doing. Usually, I start a strategy game, make mistakes, restart and then know better what I have to do or avoid in order to be successful. I often have a good understanding of which improvements to build and so on. In Humankind, I never felt that way.
Millennia is also frustrating, but not because of the game itself. I really loved this one and was just waiting for them to fix and improve the diplomacy. I also realized that I do need distinct leaders and not just a flag with colours. But I was willing to wait. Oddly enough, back then, it had a more positive rating on Steam than Ara History Untold and Civilization VII (it still is better than this one), two of its competitors. But Millennia was the one that got axed from its publisher. Thank you, Paradox!
Tier 4: The Backlog
I am not sure whether Galactic Civilizations III should really be here or part of Tier 3. This game also has some kind of events popping up which I liked. There are also fun races to choose from. In the end, however, I felt overwhelmed, especially by having to build your ships with all the different components. And yet, I played this game for more than 100 hours already (although there may be some idle time included here).
Ara: History Untold is the second-to-last game on my list. I have played this for a whopping 5 hours. I want to play it, though! I just haven’t managed to find the patience to learn how all of its systems work.
And the very last game now, just to have a second Civilization game here (as well as starting and closing the post with Civ): Civilization VII. Those roaming mostly hostile units are annoying me. I even put them on “friendly” in the game settings, but managed to build a town too close to one of them and now I am overwhelmed by their army while I have a measly three military units. But I am not giving up just yet!
(Blaugust Post No. 12)
#AraHistoryUntold #civilizationIv #CivilizationVII #CivilizationBeyondEarth #GalacticCivilizations3 #Hexarchy #Humankind #Millennia #OldWorld #OzymandiasBronzeAgeEmpireSim #starsInShadow #TheBattleForPolytopia #WarlockIITheExiled #warlockMasterOfTheArcane
