Not unpopular, but correct opinion....
The Best Civilization Games, Ranked*
Last: Call to Power. I can't even.
6. Civilization. I want to give it bonus points for being the first, but naw.
5. Civ2. The beginning of modern Civilization.
4. Civ6. Ugh. I don't know where to start with this one, but while it has people that absolutely love it, this was the first time in the entire series that the game managed to miss that sweet spot that kept me coming back for just .... one ... more ... turn. I've probably played less of this one than any other "main line" Civ game.
3. Civ3. Easily the best of the pre-modern Civs. Probably the one I played the second-most.
2. Civ5. Jarring at first (WHERE IS MY TANK STACK??), it gradually grew on you ... especially with the much-needed expansions. And mods, mods, mods.
1. Civ4. There can be only one. Civ4 might not have been perfect (no game is), but it was the watershed game in the series. It made Civ3, which was a great game, look like nothing. Also? Leonard friggin' Nimoy.
I have spoken.
*Why not Alpha Centauri and Beyond Earth? Because. Think about it, and you'll understand.
Ok, so I had to create an account and replay just because of this....
7. Civ 6. Before this game came out the Civilization series was easily my top favorite game of all time. Now I probably won't ever play it again, I have found CK3, EU4, Vicky3, HOI4, and Stellaris. I should probably thank this game for that but no, f*k this game.
6. Civ 3. Only here because I don't really remember much of this one, I know I played it, but it was probably out shown by my #1.
5. Civilization. The first, I have so many great memories, mostly of epic wars against Shaka.
4. Civ 5. This one was so much fun once they released a lot of expansions to actually make it a decent game. I don't know how many times I played as Venice, but it was a lot.
3. Civ 2. This one was a massive improvement over Civilization, it had a map builder, everything I wanted changed from the first was changed, it was great. This would be even higher if I had known how to mod at the time. I played this one sooo much, spent most of a summer or two with this game.
2. Civ 4. Yup, the best of the Civ games. Played much of this multiplayer as well, so much fun.
1. Call to Power. Yup, everything about these games are things that I miss in the Civ games that came after. Enormous parts of what makes up history are just missing with out Slavers/abolitionists, spies, televangelists, trade routes and piracy. Civ 5 gave some distant nods to some these but not in nearly as satisfying of a way. This game had layers, not just military might, and you had to build defenses against them all. And that is all before we get to the future stuff: cyberpunk distopia, under water cities, space cities, AIs that can control your population or rebel against your rule. There were just so many great ideas here....
^2
