[P]

TL;DR: I would recommend Civilization Revolution on iOS or a DS, and then Civ IV without the expansions.

Long version: Civ IV was the pinnacle of the traditional Civilization game. Combat is stack-based on a rock-paper-scissors setup - cavalry is great vs. archers but loses to spearmen, etc. All the mechanics are obvious and explained in a tooltip - e.g. cities grow strictly based on available food minus a health factor, but what affects that health factor is directly shown by hovering over the sickly face in the city screen. Any unhappy citizens simply go on strike and refuse to work, nothing worse ever happens. Growth is limited by the maintenance costs of supporting far-away cities. You can start on a low difficulty level and learn how the mechanics work, and then keep playing basically forever.

Civ V was an attempt to rethink the entire 4X strategy genre (something the creator Jon Shaefer is doing again now with a Kickstarter called At The Gates). Combat is tile-based strategy, one unit per tile with some units shooting from far away, some units supporting nearby units, etc. Most of the mechanics are hidden - you get a specified bonus of so-and-so many food or happiness, but noone ever tells you the basic formula. This means that it is much harder to "learn" the game - you are rather dropped into a situation and expected to figure it out intuitively. This is quite hard, when the systems are so strange The health system has been completely ripped out (something even Shaefer admits was a mistake) and replaced with some sort of teleporting food. Civ V did not receive anywhere near the same testing from the Civ community, and it showed - it launched in a rather rough state. They fixed much of it now, and the expansions are mostly adding back the good things from Civ IV and pasting it on top of the new tile-system.

Civilization Revolution is the creator of the original Civ, Sid Meier, returning to the franchise and cutting it back down to the bare bones of the game he initially envisioned. It plays a lot like the original Civ from the nineties, except balanced and much faster. Not so fun for those of us who have played the game for years on end, but for a newbie, it's the right place to start.

[KCrosbie]

Assassins Creed 2 is free to download on X Box live until the end of the month.

Oh and Mortal Kombat is $10 for the deal of the week.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by P 

TL;DR: I would recommend Civilization Revolution on iOS or a DS, and then Civ IV without the expansions.

Long version: Civ IV was the pinnacle of the traditional Civilization game. Combat is stack-based on a rock-paper-scissors setup - cavalry is great vs. archers but loses to spearmen, etc. All the mechanics are obvious and explained in a tooltip - e.g. cities grow strictly based on available food minus a health factor, but what affects that health factor is directly shown by hovering over the sickly face in the city screen. Any unhappy citizens simply go on strike and refuse to work, nothing worse ever happens. Growth is limited by the maintenance costs of supporting far-away cities. You can start on a low difficulty level and learn how the mechanics work, and then keep playing basically forever.

Civ V was an attempt to rethink the entire 4X strategy genre (something the creator Jon Shaefer is doing again now with a Kickstarter called At The Gates). Combat is tile-based strategy, one unit per tile with some units shooting from far away, some units supporting nearby units, etc. Most of the mechanics are hidden - you get a specified bonus of so-and-so many food or happiness, but noone ever tells you the basic formula. This means that it is much harder to "learn" the game - you are rather dropped into a situation and expected to figure it out intuitively. This is quite hard, when the systems are so strange The health system has been completely ripped out (something even Shaefer admits was a mistake) and replaced with some sort of teleporting food. Civ V did not receive anywhere near the same testing from the Civ community, and it showed - it launched in a rather rough state. They fixed much of it now, and the expansions are mostly adding back the good things from Civ IV and pasting it on top of the new tile-system.

Civilization Revolution is the creator of the original Civ, Sid Meier, returning to the franchise and cutting it back down to the bare bones of the game he initially envisioned. It plays a lot like the original Civ from the nineties, except balanced and much faster. Not so fun for those of us who have played the game for years on end, but for a newbie, it's the right place to start.

I feel bad. I appreciate the in depth reply, but after examining Civ a little closer I realized its another 4x game. Endless Space is my first foray into the genre and seeing as I've completed all of one game in it, I figure I should keep playing it before I start buying other franchises in the genre.

After all, its Steam. I'm sure it'll be on sale again.

[ajprice]

My steam wish list has come down to 2 games left from 8 with this summer sale. Mostly cheap stuff, a couple for the next mac because they're not going to run on the MacBook.

[ajprice]

Last day of the sale has started.

[The Final Dakar]

I ended up flip-flopping on my non-purchase decision. I started a new game in Endless Space this weekend with a custom race, and I ended up crushing. Some of it may have been geographical luck. I actually haven't won it yet, but I'm in line to choose my victory type – anything except diplomatic.

Anyway, after 150 turns I kind of saw the flaw – its a rather dry game; A reviewer mentioned that if you like spreadsheets this game is for you and I see it. I need to work on this, but the amount of micromanaging towards the end becomes tedious.

Of course, I imagine Civ V will also get tedious micromanaging, but at least the game appears to be wrapped up in nice graphics. The turns also seem to play faster (which I will definitely be adjusting on my next Endless Space game, which I'm guessing will also leave me with less margin for error). I picked up the gold edition for $12.

Also, I like hexagons.

[P]

Civ V doesn't take very long to run through (neither does Civ IV, but the earlier versions were slower - especially II and SMAC) and the micro is mostly gone after III unless you want to play on the insane difficulties. The turns start to take forever at the end though.

If you like spreadsheets, try firing up Europa Universalis...

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by P 

If you like spreadsheets, try firing up Europa Universalis...

No... The amount of time I take on endless SPace turns now is already prohibitive. I need eye candy.

[The Final Dakar]

Did a 4 hour marathon session last night unintentionally. Quite enjoying it.

[P]

The Humble Bundle is back, this time focusing on a little publisher you may have heard of called Electronic Arts. Yep. Not so Indie anymore. Dead Space, Dead Space 3, Crysis 2, Mirror's Edge, Medal of Honor & Burnout Paradise available for any price, so basically $1 if you're feeling like a cheapskate, and Battlefield 3 and Sims 3 if you pay more than the average (currently standing at about $5). Usually the money is split between the developers and charities, but this time it's all to charity.

The catch? Yes, there had to be one. Some of the games are only available on Origin - namely Battlefield 3, Dead Space 3, Sims 3 - so you have to install that, and the others are Steam or Origin, so no DRM-free downloads this time. Only Sims 3 has a Mac version, so for the others you have to use Windows. Still it's a nice pack of quite recent games.

[P]

As usual, they've added two games to the bundle as the time is running out. This time it is Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 - Uprising (of the insanely long titles?) and...Populous. No, there has not been a remake, they're giving away the game from 1989.

Sidenote: Some of the games are on Steam, some on Origin. I started downloads on both of them at the same time. The Origin download is around 25%. The Steam download is done, and I've played more than half of the game (Mirror's Edge) and started a second download because the Origin one won't be ready by the time I'm done with the game. Way to promote your service, EA.

[The Final Dakar]

I'd have played populous on SNES more if it hadn't had the absurd codes for a save system. Excellent but frustrating game.

[P]

Oh certainly a good game. I just thought that it was a bit of an odd choice to pick a game from the eighties, but I guess they want to highlight that they sell older games on Origin as well.

[The Final Dakar]

Still playing Civ 5, picked up BNW on sale for $20. Shame no one here seems to play it – though I'd probably get wiped up.

[P]

I'll probably return to Civ V eventually, but my strategy itch is currently being scratched by Crusader Kings II. Yes, still.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by P 

I'll probably return to Civ V eventually, but my strategy itch is currently being scratched by Crusader Kings II. Yes, still.

Seeing as you're in Sweden, I imagine the pace of a multiplayer game between us would "chess by mail."

[P]

Multiplayer Civ is not generally an enjoyable experience anyway. They've made attempts over the years, but except for Civ IV, it was never very fun. The way to play Civ multi is a democracy game, where you vote on major moves in a forum like this and pass the game back and forth among a few "executives" that do the day-to-day business.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by P 

Multiplayer Civ is not generally an enjoyable experience anyway. They've made attempts over the years, but except for Civ IV, it was never very fun. The way to play Civ multi is a democracy game, where you vote on major moves in a forum like this and pass the game back and forth among a few "executives" that do the day-to-day business.

I just think it'd be interesting not to play against the somewhat predictable and unreasonable AI. I mean, I'd get crushed but still.

[KCrosbie]

There's a massive Capcom sale on Steam this weekend. Up to 75% off game titles. Check it out.

[KCrosbie]

So Target's Black Friday ad has already been leaked...

Some noteworthy sales...

$35 each for 360 and PS3
Battlefield 4
Batman: Arkham Orgiins
Madden 25
WWE 2K14
Fifa '14

Black Ops 2 - $25

Xbox 360 Kinect Bundle 4GB for $189 w/ 2 Kinect Games

PS3 250GB w/ 2 games $199
includes The Last of Us and Batman: Arkham Origins

[Stogieman]

Looks like I'm buying Battlefield 4 on Black Friday.

[The Final Dakar]

BF4 is $25 at Walmart, Black Friday. I may consider it.

[sek929]

For 360?

<shudders in excitement>

[The Final Dakar]

Yes. In a related note, I have $40 of MS point cards I need to get rid of.

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

BF4 is $25 at Walmart, Black Friday. I may consider it.

Sweet! I'll pick it up for both systems. (360 & PS4)

[KCrosbie]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

BF4 is $25 at Walmart, Black Friday. I may consider it.

That sale actually starts at 6pm on Thanksgiving while supplies last. Jesus! Walmart opens at 6pm. Before you know it Thanksgiving will just be a regular shopping day and Black Friday will become Black Thursday. ****in' sad.

[Stogieman]

Apparently the $25 sale for BF4 is only for the 360 and PS3 versions. PS4 and xbone versions will be $50.

[P]

Aspyr has a bundle of recent games: Civ V, Bioshock Infinite, Borderlands 2 and CoD 4 (OK so less recent, but still a good game) at 67% off. While they're very different, these are 4 good games:

Aspyr's Greatest Hits Bundle for Mac | Macgamestore.com

Only 15 hours left at the time of writing.

[P]

Fallout 1, Fallout 2 and Fallout:Tactics are free for two days at Gog.com:

GOG.com

[P]

Steam has their usual sales, except you can't use it, because Steam is down. Has been almost two hours now.

[P]

Ubisoft has a sale at Steam with up to 75% off a lot of titles. Not AC4, but older AC games are included.

(Caveat emptor: Ubisoft's DRM is exceptionally bad even by DRM standards.)

[Laminar]

Driver: San Francisco and Splinter Cell: Conviction are definite winners there, both are a lot of fun.

[KCrosbie]

Xbox live is having ultimate daily gaming sales with some pretty steep discounts. Every sale is 24 hours each. I picked up Elder Scrolls V for $10 yesterday. Figured it was worth it since I heard a lot of good things about it.

Ultimate daily DLC sale is next week. Hopefully they'll have some good discounts there as well.

[Inteldrour]

Age of Mythology is coming to Steam, in an enhanced edition! Can't wait! The first RTS I ever played, with Titans. Many fond memories of the amazing campaign.

[P]

Steam has a 24 hour sale of a lot of games nominated for BAFTAs, which is basically the greatest hits of 2013:


BioShock Infinite (75% off – $7.49)
The Stanley Parable (40% off – $8.99)
Surgeon Simulator 2013 (66% off – $3.40)
Rayman Legends (66% off – $13.59)
Lego: Marvel Super Heroes (50% off – $9.99)
Democracy 3 (50% off – $12.49)
Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Brave New World (75% off – $7.49)
Tomb Raider (67% off – $6.66)
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (40% off – $35.99)
Gone Home (60% off – $8.00)
Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons (67% off – $4.99)
XCOM: Enemy Within (75% off – $7.49)
Gunpoint (50% off – $4.99)
Grid 2 (75% off – $7.49)
Football Manager 2014 (66% off – $16.99)
Papers, Please (50% off – $4.99)
NBA 2K14 (67% off – $10.00)

This is not a bundle - individual sales, so pick and chose. If you've missed Bioshock or Tomb Raider, your last excuse just expired, and it is an excellent chance to pick up indie darlings Papers, Please, Brothers and Gone Home.

[KCrosbie]

Originally Posted by P 

Steam has a 24 hour sale of a lot of games nominated for BAFTAs, which is basically the greatest hits of 2013:


BioShock Infinite (75% off – $7.49)
The Stanley Parable (40% off – $8.99)
Surgeon Simulator 2013 (66% off – $3.40)
Rayman Legends (66% off – $13.59)
Lego: Marvel Super Heroes (50% off – $9.99)
Democracy 3 (50% off – $12.49)
Sid Meier’s Civilization V: Brave New World (75% off – $7.49)
Tomb Raider (67% off – $6.66)
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (40% off – $35.99)
Gone Home (60% off – $8.00)
Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons (67% off – $4.99)
XCOM: Enemy Within (75% off – $7.49)
Gunpoint (50% off – $4.99)
Grid 2 (75% off – $7.49)
Football Manager 2014 (66% off – $16.99)
Papers, Please (50% off – $4.99)
NBA 2K14 (67% off – $10.00)

This is not a bundle - individual sales, so pick and chose. If you've missed Bioshock or Tomb Raider, your last excuse just expired, and it is an excellent chance to pick up indie darlings Papers, Please, Brothers and Gone Home.

Those are some good deals! Thanks for the heads up!

[Laminar]

I picked up Tomb Raider a while back but keep forgetting to play it. Maybe after I finish Blacklist I'll remember to pick it up.

[P]

Tomb Raider is excellent. I picked up the Civ expansion and Brothers: A tale of two sons. Playing the latter now, really nice.

[P]

Dead Space is free (as in beer) on Origin until May 8th.

[The Final Dakar]

Steam summer sale has begun. Bought Democracy 3 because I love boring games.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Steam summer sale has begun. Bought Democracy 3 because I love boring games.

"You've got veto power, use it!"
"Legislation Spree!"

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by sek929 

"You've got veto power, use it!"
"Legislation Spree!"

F I L I B U S T E R [/Mortal Kombat guy]

[ajprice]

Steam stats calculator, see how many games you own, what is cost and how many of the games you haven't played... Steam Calculator · Steam Database

Worth: £913.08
Games owned: 123
Games not played: 74 (60%)
Hours spent: 61.4h

[Malcolm Owen]

Well that makes me feel fantastic...

Worth: £2635.06
Games owned: 340
Games not played: 235 (69%
Hours spent: 627.5h

[The Final Dakar]

It is incredibly easy to get assassinated in Democracy 3. By the capitalists, of course.

[Mike Wuerthele]

Omerta: City of Gangsters is free on GOG for about two more hours after this post.

GOG.com

It's in the flash sales list. GO GO GO!

[Laminar]

Is that in actual dollars paid, current price of games, or MSRP?

• Worth: $762.55
• Games owned: 56
• Games not played: 25 (45%)
• Hours spent: 436.3h

edit: Steam-o-meter says it's worth $807 regular price or $363 on sale. That doesn't account for Humble Bundles and other package deals (I got every GTA game for $12, for instance).

[P]

• Worth: 1737,21€
• Games owned: 143
• Games not played: 45 (31%)
• Hours spent: 1,747.4h

Top games are Civ IV and Civ V at almost the exact same amount of hours (if you add up the various expansions), which is notable, because Civ IV wasn't even on Steam for the first several years I owned it, so it cannot have logged even half of what I've played of that game. This is followed by EU IV, Skyrim, Fallout: NV and CK2.

[mattyb]

Lower class gamer

• Worth: $174.94
  
• Games owned: 8
  
• Games not played: 3 (38%)
  
• Hours spent: 30.6h

[mattyb]

Bloody dangerous these Steam sales!!!