Sid Meier's Civilization
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 24 strategy games by recommenders
Addictive turn-based strategy game people recommend for its fast, simple play and long hours of replay; critics say the AI is weak.
Addictive turn-based strategy game people recommend for its fast, simple play and long hours of replay; critics say the AI is weak.
34 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 25
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 74%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 25 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 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
Addictive, hours of play
“I'm somewhat addicted, but at the same time I might find a new game soon because I get upset when the AIs attack me.”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “AI optimism is a class privilege” “Every person I considered really smart in the early to mid nineties had a Civ addiction at some point.”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Triple-A Minesweeper” “I have played more hours of any single Civ than all other games combined.”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “Kernel Anti-Cheat Is an Overreach” - Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III”
- Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Triple-A Minesweeper”
Original Civ 1 preferred over sequels
“I loved the fast play style that was possible, also in other games, civilization 1”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Amiga Graphics” “Strangely enough I still think Civilization I is best.”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “civ 1 is by far the best! I adore the wonky graphics.”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” - Comment from 29 Mar 2026 in “OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1”
- Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III”
- Comment from 25 Oct 2026 in “fheroes2: A recreation of Heroes of Might and Magic II game engine”
Fast, simple gameplay
“It's simple (both in terms of gameplay and graphics) and it's the fastest Civ game to complete a full playthrough.”
Comment from 29 Mar 2026 in “OpenCiv1 – open-source rewrite of Civ1” “I loved the fast play style that was possible, also in other games, civilization 1”
Comment from 18 Apr 2026 in “Amiga Graphics” “Great for playing Civ on a flight”
Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “Apple introduces the new iPad Air, powered by M4” Nostalgia and fond memories
“I was spending more hours with Civilization and Heroes of Might and Magic games than Wolfenstein and DOOM”
Comment from 9 Aug 2026 in “"Code was never the hard part" is an insult to all programmers” “I remember the old CIV games used to have a replay map of the entire world history, that was pretty cool.”
Comment from 20 Nov 2025 in “Interactive World History Atlas Since 3000 BC” “This, Civilization, the Wizardry remake, and a few old Ultimas brought back some great memories.”
Comment from 21 Aug 2026 in “The Lost Treasure of Sid Meier's Pirates” - Comment from 2 Oct 2026 in “With most information hidden, the game Stratego had stumped AI until now”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Long sessions eat time
“they make 4hrs feel like 30min, so I can't play them”
Comment from 7 Feb 2026 in “OpenCiv3: Open-source, cross-platform reimagining of Civilization III” “"One more turn" at 2am is harmful.”
Comment from 26 Mar 2026 in “Landmark L.A. jury verdict finds Instagram, YouTube were designed to addict kids” “I will be up until 3am playing”
Comment from 26 Mar 2026 in “Landmark L.A. jury verdict finds Instagram, YouTube were designed to addict kids” Weak, poor AI opponents
“I'm somewhat addicted, but at the same time I might find a new game soon because I get upset when the AIs attack me.”
Comment from 16 Feb 2026 in “AI optimism is a class privilege” “I do think Civilization games are lacking because of poor AI”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “GPT-5.6 Sol can beat Factorio on peaceful mode” “the AI in Civ games has always been known to be poor”
Comment from 25 Oct 2026 in “fheroes2: A recreation of Heroes of Might and Magic II game engine” Later games declined or stalled
“the actual game and gameplay itself got worse over the years. Same with civilization”
Comment from 28 May 2026 in “SimCity 3k in 4k” “I haven't really felt compelled to play the franchise much since Civ4.”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “Ubisoft cancels six games including Prince of Persia and closes studios” “later parts required so much more computational calculations”
Comment from 28 May 2026 in “SimCity 3k in 4k” - Comment from 10 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: Voice driven murder mystery, Interview AI suspects with your voice”
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 CivilizationThis page | 25 | 9 | 74% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Sid Meier's Civilization III | 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
39 of the 42 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I do think Civilization games are lacking because of poor AI”
“the AI in Civ games has always been known to be poor”
“but specifically civilization 1.”
“I think you need an emulator to run Civ1, though.”
“Civilization done in this way would be really, really cool”
“Been chasing that high ever since.”
“Every person I considered really smart in the early to mid nineties had a Civ addiction at some point.”
“maybe Stratego in childhood is part of why I love Civ games so much”
“as is civilization or Masters of Orion 1”
“This, Civilization, the Wizardry remake, and a few old Ultimas brought back some great memories.”
“which hasn't seem to evolve much in decades”
“I was spending more hours with Civilization and Heroes of Might and Magic games than Wolfenstein and DOOM”
“the subjugation is often fairly... whitewashed”
“I have played more hours of any single Civ than all other games combined.”
“the actual game and gameplay itself got worse over the years. Same with civilization”
“later parts required so much more computational calculations”
“these series are an excellent initiation to curiosity”
“The late 1970's were the golden age of documentaries”
“I loved the fast play style that was possible, also in other games, civilization 1”
“I played a lot of Civ1, Colonization and Civ 2.”
“the middle game can be a slog due to micromanagement”
“It's simple (both in terms of gameplay and graphics) and it's the fastest Civ game to complete a full playthrough.”
“"One more turn" at 2am is harmful.”
“I will be up until 3am playing”
“Great for playing Civ on a flight”
“I've managed to win in every civ game”
“it's civilization that's kind of hard to replay for me”
“I found it easy to play games such as civilization or UFO: Enemy Unknown”
“I'm somewhat addicted, but at the same time I might find a new game soon because I get upset when the AIs attack me.”
“Strangely enough I still think Civilization I is best.”
“I was surprised how similar but how different they are to Europa Universalis and Civilization respectively”
“the game designers are extremely boneheaded about how they executed that particular part of the game”
“I like the idea of Civilization, and will play it for that reason alone.”
“I lost a nuke to a phalanx in Civ 1.”
“civ 1 is by far the best! I adore the wonky graphics.”
“they make 4hrs feel like 30min, so I can't play them”
“I spent a massive amount of time playing Civ1”
“I haven't really felt compelled to play the franchise much since Civ4.”
“I remember the old CIV games used to have a replay map of the entire world history, that was pretty cool.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.