Sid Meier’s Civilization® V: The Complete Edition

This game is so good. My friend gifted it to me and we started playing multiplayer. Since 2015, we've only had five matches. We're still on match five because every match lasts that long! Super fun and great value for the money!

Of all the games I have played I have never come close to how much time I put into Civ V. By far the best game I have ever played and the many different maps, mods, scenarios, and civilisations help keep the game from ever getting boring!

This game is very clearly the best Civ ever made, and I have always been afraid of these games merely because after playing them when I was much younger I remember getting extremely sucked into the world. I managed to avoid them for a bit and then all of the extra content for Civ V came out and I have to try it out. This game ate my life for quite a while. Absolutely addicting, fantastic gameplay and it is always interesting to see how the other rulers will react to your presence and watch their personalities unfold through the course of history. For example, Alexander the Great and I teamed up to basically destroy everyone and I helped him for the first half of the game, but then he becomes more and more power hungry, eventually growing to dislike you and also trying to start a war with you. It was very interesting to watch this play out and try to change the political landscape through bribing others to fight him for me, etc. So many options for gameplay, it's extremely in-depth and everything is fantastically done.

Civilization V is the game I have the most hours on out of any game on Steam, and there's a very good reason for that! It's an absolutely outstanding game. Whilst hardcore strategy fans might find it "dumbed-down", for me, Civ V strikes a brilliant balance between strategy and accessibility. Whilst it does take a while to learn, it's nowhere near as complex as games like EU4 which for me at least, is a good thing. The replay value is probably the game's strongest point. Whilst there are set maps, most of the times you will be playing on randomly generated worlds (there are many, many customisable options available) and you can be absolutely assured that no two games will be the same. Every game evolves differently - if you enjoy your first few games, then you can be assured that Civ V is going to keep you entertained for a very long time. You really get a sense of creating your own version of history in each playthrough and it's incredibly immersive. If you play on slower speeds, you can get to know your worlds very well and time really does fly away. I have clocked several hundred hours on Civ V and it still keeps me interested. One important thing though - please make sure you challenge yourself! I spent a long time playing on lower difficulty levels which is fun at first but it does get boring quickly. It gets a lot more interesting when games are genuinely challenging for you.

This game has to have the most intuitive interface of all strategy games I have played. Not only are the graphics fantastic, with all details showing prominent color and texture, but the interface is easy to learn, and easier to remember. The soundtrack of Civ V is pretty great as well, let's just say you will never be bored playing this game, especially on the higher difficulty levels.