Pic relevant. I’ve tried playing the new Civ games several times, and quickly end up quitting because I find them too overwhelming and find it hard to want to deal with the learning curve.
It occurred to me that part of the problem might be that I was jumping into a very old franchise that has been getting increasingly complicated over the years. Had a hunch I would have better luck with the original, so I went onto one of those play-dos-in-your-browser sites, dove in, and sure enough I am hooked!
Do I know what I’m doing? Not really, but stuff is happening and my civilization is growing, and it’s a good time.


Never too late to dicover a classic.
By sheer chace I came across Alpha Centauri (wikipedia) a sequel to the original Civilization on gog.com. Best purchase ever. Exceptional gameplay. The best 5$ I remember spending.
“Don’t go, the drones need you”
Sequal to civ2 though I think?
Alpha Centauri is a game I’ve had since release. Ended up building a dual P3 1Ghz box so I could play without experiencing extreme slow downs during end game when the whole world is visible.
I still do a playthrough once a twice a year.