So you want more games like Civilization? As the undisputed king of 4X games (at the moment), many have tried to copy what Sid Meier created.
A lot of people want to play a Civ-like game that wasn't made by Firaxis. The Civilization games offer a unique take on turn-based strategy where you start from humble beginnings and lead a people through the ages, founding new cities, enriching your empire with cultural or technological advances, and quite often fighting other civilizations. It's not a historical strategy game, but more of a history-inspired sandbox, and few other games have tried to offer as much breadth as Civilization.
While we have a separate list of great 4X games in general (which includes Civilization), some of you might be interested in looking for something more similar to the popular Firaxis series of games. We decided to make a separate list of games similar to Civilization, but for this list we dug up some very specific examples, so don't worry that they will overlap too much. Enjoy!
Warlock: Masters of the Arcane
If you take Civilization V and then add fantasy elements such as magic (instead of technology), NPC monsters and portals to other dimensions, you get Warlock: Master of the Arcane. Released by Paradox Interactive in 2012, this game was a hodgepodge of experimentation that took it beyond "fantasy civa" and became a fun counterpoint to Civ 5.
What was especially interesting was that if you got bored of doing the usual Civ-style activities on the main map, you could take your armies and try to find portals - they led to other "maps" and represented other dimensions, with more complex monsters and better rewards. You could also colonize these spaces and thus expand your empire.
In 2014, Warlock released a sequel called Warlock 2: The Exiled, which made dimensional jumping more fun. It wasn't as creative as the first game, but still pretty good. Both games are notable for the fact that Civ V's user interface is fairly faithfully reproduced, making it obvious what the inspiration was.
Old world
Recently released from Early Access, Old World is a 4X game that attempts to deconstruct Civ and innovate while pushing the boundaries like no other. It's the brainchild of Soren Johnson - former Civ 4 lead designer - and his studio Mohawk Games. Old World is geared towards the ancient and classical eras, featuring civilizations such as Rome, Carthage, and Assyria.
The mechanical controls of the empire are nice, but the real innovations are the addition of Crusader Kings-style character elements, events, and an "order" system that turns the player's ability to act into a limited resource, as opposed to each unit being able to do something each turn. . Check out our review of Old World to find out more, but this game is definitely worth checking out.
Age of Wonders 3
While Age of Wonders: Planetfall is included in our 4X games guide, it's the third game in this long-running turn-based game series that's closer to Civilization's roots, though it's another fantasy twist. Everything you'd expect from a Civ-like is here - empire management, armies, tech trees and spells, and heroic units. The main feature of Age of Wonders 3 is the presence of a separate tactical battle mode, where armies fight each other in more detailed detail.
The world is filled with the dangers of NPCs as well as other empires, but there were also quest nodes that could be interacted with, such as dungeons or abandoned mines, and maps could spawn an underground level that could only be accessed through certain points on the map. Some races in AoW3 (such as dwarves) prefer to be underground. What I've always found interesting is that, in addition to building ordinary cities, it was possible to build small "forts" and outposts to hold key positions without having to found an entire city.
Freeciv
It's impossible to talk about games like Civilization without talking about the ultimate copy, Freeciv. As the name suggests, it is 100% free, and has been actively developed and operated as an open source project since 1996. In terms of rules, it has more in common with Civilization II than with more modern games, and in terms of architecture, it was based on an old shooter game called XPilot.
Since then, the project has grown and developed, in 2004 a new "longturn" format was introduced, involving moves during the day, and games with up to 30 people. The game can support 2D and 3D graphics and is very flexible if you know what you're doing.
The Battle for Polytopia
It's a great, light distillation of the Civilization 4X experience. Considering the game started out as a mobile strategy game, it has grown into something even on PC as it offers 12 civilizations, plenty of procedurally generated maps, and all the key elements you'd expect from a 4X game.
As with the classic RTS Northgard, all major updates to the game are free, while additional civilizations can be purchased as DLC. The game has recently undergone a major balancing act, and the developers still have many plans for the future. If you're looking for a lighter, more solid Civilization game, this is the game to look into.
Humankind
Last, but certainly no less important game than Civilization should be one that is actively trying to topple the giant Sid Meier from his gilded throne. From the developers who brought you Endless Legend and Endless Space, Mankind aims to be king of the hill with a reimagining of the diplomatic, empire and victory system, as well as a turn-based tactical mode where armies can clash over large expanses of terrain.
This is the game that Amplitude has been working on for its entire existence, so a lot depends on it. You can read our Humankind review to see what we think of it in its entirety, but in short, it's off to a great start. There are still some late game balance issues, but it's no worse off than Civilization V or VI when those games first hit the market. We can't wait to see what the developers will do with it next.
We hope these six gems will satisfy your craving for other Civilization-like games while we wait for Civilization 7.
