Sid Meier's Civilization III
Ranked 3 of 24 strategy games by recommenders
Players recommend it for nostalgia, strong art, an active modding and multiplayer scene, and its long, absorbing play. Critics say it is hard to run on macOS.
Players recommend it for nostalgia, strong art, an active modding and multiplayer scene, and its long, absorbing play. Critics say it is hard to run on macOS.
30 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 20
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 67%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 20 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Nostalgia and favorite Civ version
“there is a certain sense of nostalgia I get from playing Civ 3 that I never got from any of the other Civ games”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “I actually preferred Civ 3 to 2 and 4. It scratched a certain itch.”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “For me the most classic one is Civ III by a mile.”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” - Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III”
- Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III”
Active modding and multiplayer community
“The modding community was gigantic for 3 and was simply amazing being a part of it.”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “3 is just as active on steam and has a very active and loyal multiplayer league.”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “One of my fondest gaming memories involves a massive Civilization 3 PBEM match”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” Great art and graphics
“Civ III in my opinion had some of the best art of the entire series.”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “3 overall feels complete and had great graphics”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” Long, absorbing play sessions
“I lost the best part of a week of my Christmas break to it”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “I'd play for 6+ hours at a time”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Hard to run on macOS
“getting vanilla Civ III running on MacOS is a hassle and still has issues with e.g. audio and cutscenes”
Comment from 6 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “getting vanilla Civ III running on MacOS is a hassle”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “that doesn't work on Mac either”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III”
Other strategy games people recommend
The four most recommended other strategy games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battle for Wesnoth | 39 | 4 | 91% | 4 | 10 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| Sid Meier's Civilization | 25 | 9 | 74% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Sid Meier's Civilization IIIThis page | 20 | 10 | 67% | 3 | — | — |
| Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri | 16 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Heroes of Might and Magic III | 16 | 2 | 89% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
26 of the 31 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Civ3 worked fine (after some fix to the startup in an INI file)”
“I lost some city due to some culture or religious influence and ragequit”
“the later half of the game is too solved”
“I lost the best part of a week of my Christmas break to it”
“the first one with a proper non-military victory option”
“the 3d rendered sprites make it much more of a pain to add anything graphical to”
“getting vanilla Civ III running on MacOS is a hassle”
“One of my fondest gaming memories involves a massive Civilization 3 PBEM match”
“Civ is like TOS Star Trek movies: You can mostly avoid the even numbered ones!”
“there is a certain sense of nostalgia I get from playing Civ 3 that I never got from any of the other Civ games”
“Civ 3 was always my favorite version.”
“The modding community was gigantic for 3 and was simply amazing being a part of it.”
“that doesn't work on Mac either”
“3 is my least favorite version of the game.”
“Civ3 copy protection was intense.”
“I lost every single one of my troops and that's the last time I've played Civ 3 in my life.”
“they just added a bunch of tedium”
“Civ III in my opinion had some of the best art of the entire series.”
“I'd play for 6+ hours at a time”
“For me the most classic one is Civ III by a mile.”
“still feels to me the peak Civ experience”
“3 is just as active on steam and has a very active and loyal multiplayer league.”
“3 overall feels complete and had great graphics”
“getting vanilla Civ III running on MacOS is a hassle and still has issues with e.g. audio and cutscenes”
“I actually preferred Civ 3 to 2 and 4. It scratched a certain itch.”
“There's no natural point to stop, so I just keep playing until the sun comes up.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.