Civilization V
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 9 of 24 strategy games by recommenders
Deep, replayable turn-based strategy that many play for hundreds of hours, extended by mods. Critics say strategic depth runs out after about 100 hours.
Deep, replayable turn-based strategy that many play for hundreds of hours, extended by mods. Critics say strategic depth runs out after about 100 hours.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, 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
Long-lasting replay value
“Both are timeless and I still play them a few times a year.”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “Ask HN: What game have you replayed more times than any other?” “I put over 1000 hours into Civ 5 alone”
Comment from 29 Mar 2026 in “OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1” Widely seen as the reference version
“To this day, 5 remains the reference version, as evidenced by Steam numbers.”
Comment from 11 Dec 2025 in “Sid Meier: More Than Just Civilization” “It is a great game, and the Vox Populi mod has given it so much more life.”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” Enjoyable and strategically rich gameplay
“It is a great game, and the Vox Populi mod has given it so much more life.”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “Are they more enjoyable and enriching than a MOBA? Yes on all counts.”
Comment from 6 May 2026 in “Stop big tech from making users behave in ways they don't want to”
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 III | 20 | 10 | 67% | 3 | — | — |
| Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri | 16 | 0 | 100% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Civilization VThis page | 12 | 5 | 71% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
14 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“civ 5 is basically instant and cold running while barely running on the intel macs”
“it's been recommended for at least V and VI, not just VII to skip the x.0 releases, wait for some updates”
“Turns out it was just a CD with a Steam code and some cached content.”
“Both are timeless and I still play them a few times a year.”
“a crash in Civ V multiplayer that had an easy to find workaround”
“Are they more enjoyable and enriching than a MOBA? Yes on all counts.”
“I put over 1000 hours into Civ 5 alone”
“It is a great game, and the Vox Populi mod has given it so much more life.”
“Civ V definitely solved the issue by separating unit strength and their HP”
“Put about 100 hours into Civ5 and felt that I'd entirely exhausted its strategic depth”
“Ghandi actually nuking everyone (the bug is ACTUALLY REAL IN CIV 5, the best modern civ game!)”
“Civ5 turned into a puzzle of moving units in order”
“To this day, 5 remains the reference version, as evidenced by Steam numbers.”
“it's clearly inferior to getting it to work with proton”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.