Bacon Bits
Legend
5. Civilization VI.
4. Civilization III.
3. Civilization II.
2. Civilization V.
1. Civilization IV.
You know, I came in to this thread expecting war, but I did not expect to find someone offering a gift of luxuries.
I think I agree with this list, though the above is really all I can say that I played. I did have CivNet (a.k.a., Civ1 + networking support) but we didn't play it long since Civ2 came out right afterwards.
CivIV is what I really enjoyed most of all, I think. I think CivV BNW is a better game and it's what I go back to still, but I had more fun with CivIV. Unstoppable deathballs and all. They're a really bad design but boy are they fun. And, yeah, they will never beat Baba Yetu and Leonard Nimoy.
I really am completely baffled by how they managed to mess up Civ: Beyond Earth. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but this wasn't it. It's like they took the bottled lightning they had from CivV, emptied the bottle, filled it with dishwater, and tried to sell that.
CivVI I have not been able to get into. I don't know why. It's fine. It's just... eh. It's not that it's too boardgamey. I think Civ always felt like, well, a eurogame. I think I just don't enjoy that many systems to optimize? I dunno.