Civilization boardgame: Worth it?

[Angel Tarragon]

Okay, so I have come into a bit of money. I want to get a new boardgame for myself that I can enjoy with my father and a bunch of my friends. So I'm contemplating the Civivilzation boardgame. I like games like Chess, Stratego and Axis & Allies, but I also enjoy computer games like The Sims, Civilization II and Age of Empires. So I ask all of you who may the answers: What abouth this game is good and/or bad?

 

[The Padre]

G'day,

I don't know that much about the civilisation boardgame, but I can heartily recommend ADG's game "7 Ages". It is a very nice game that recreates civilisations from 4000bc to 2000ad.

Give it a look see, it very nice and quite easy to learn (only 12 pages of rules).

Dave

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

I have the game and have played it a few times. I really enjoy it but let me give you some advice about it.

First, it really is more fun with more people. I mean if you could get 5 people or more it would rock.

One game we played in, fighting broke out almost immediately and that took such a toll on our civilizations because we had no money for research and development. By contrast, in another game, not one shot was fired through the entire game. Not one. It went kind of quickly but it was a wee bit boring at times but it was still fun due to the negotiation and treaties. Overall I would recommend it if you have a few friends to play with and are willing to spend at least 6 hours with it (or more - or be willing to come back the next day for part 2).

 

[Geoff Watson]

Do you mean 'Sid Meiers Civilization', or the old Civilization/Advanced Civ from Avalon Hill?

'Sid Meiers Civilisation' is terrible. Unbalanced, 'rich get richer', too random, too long.

The old AH Civilization isn't that great by itself, but much better with the Advanced Civilization expansion. Runs a bit too long though.

Geoff.

 

[Thanee]

Civilization, at least the old one I know, can take days to finish, even without any of the expansions.

If you like Diplomacy-style games, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Game of Thrones by FFG. That's one heck of a good strategy game with almost no luck involved.

I'd generally check out FFG's boardgame line, they have published a lot of great games, like Twilight Empire (or Imperium?).

The Warcraft boardgame is also quite good as I heard, but havn't played it yet.

Age of Mythology is not too bad either, only played it once, but it was pretty good. A lot of work prior to starting, since all the countless plastic figures were still in their frames (a couple I game with had just recently bought it)...

Bye
Thanee

 

[Terath Ninir]

The old Civilization is TEH BOMB, and you should jump at the chance to play it. It's better with the expansions, yes, but it's worth it all on its own.

The one based on the video game is okay, but not in the same league. It's worth playing, but I don't know how much it costs, so I'm not sure if it is worth *owning*.

 

[fusangite]

Like Diplomacy, it's an elimination game. This creates problems in the social dynamic of games, I find. Like diplomacy, it is an elimination game that takes a long time to play, only it takes 3-4 times as long as the average diplomacy game. So, social dynamic problem magnified. Sure, it's a great game at a technical level; however, assembling a group of people who will have a good time playing it is so difficult that I don't consider the game worth purchasing.

 

[Mark]

The old Civ game rocks in a landslide! Never played it with expansions (I'll have to try it sometime). I agree that the more players the better. Buy a used copy on ebay, if you can verify all the pieces are there, and keep it around for those rare times when you can get enough people together. If you have a local game shop that has a boardgame day, post a message on their bulletin board and give it plenty of lead time so as to get a large group of people. Have fun! (I love a good diceless board game.)

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

The one based on the video game is okay, but not in the same league. It's worth playing, but I don't know how much it costs, so I'm not sure if it is worth *owning*.

It's $60. That price has kept me from buying it.

 

[Mercule]

The old Avalon Hill game Civizilation/Advanced Civ is my absolute favorite game. Unfortunately, it takes long enough that many of my friends don't have the attension span for it.

Couldn't tell you much about the one based on the video game (which was, in turn, based on the AH game), other than I've not heard many good reviews of it.