Sid Meier's Civilization® VI Reviews

by Wow! What A Name!

So I tried the 60 free turn gimmic (turned out to be 45, imagine that). It’s great that they could get this to be an app. However my favorite Civs were 3 & 5. This is garbage that your builders can only make so many improvements before they’re gone. I disagree with the road system if that’s to be made by the traders (that you have to build 😒) there’s a lot going on here and maybe in the long haul it will work out. As for this moment I’m really frustrated.

Honestly, can I get my money back? I’ve tried to enjoy this game, but I hate the religion aspect. I miss having workers to manage tile improvements. I’ve spent hours learning about this new crap. I would be much happier to have a Civ5 or Civ3 app. I got burnt 3+ times with steam’s crap to be able to play civ5 (log in pass expired or something. It’s been so long now I just know I’m not keen on repurchasing it again). Civilization is loads of fun, but I feel they’ve lost sight of what I cared about. Maybe a good consideration would be complexity options. I’m seriously upset with this purchase. And I truly feel like the BS 45-60 turn trial wasn’t enough to gauge if it was worth the $20. I’m giving it 1 star at this point

by Fiercey13

Don’t waste your money. The game used to be perfect but after they introduced the two new expansions, the base game is simply unplayable without needing to wait 5 minutes to restart with high frequency. The problem is that when you tap something, the game loses which “layer” to draw on... so you can hear the sounds and even hear the sounds of your taps, but the screen is frozen. This never, ever happened to me after many, many games until the expansions actually modified the base game. Sad! I just bought one of the expansions— and it’s worse!! Games will freeze even on move 1... the developer HAS TO KNOW about this bug, why hasn’t it been fixed?? Btw, another review by SISOUVONG described the problem exactly, including even when it started for him/her as well. I am considering suing in court for my money back, because they basically broke my game and have not even bothered to respond to the complaint about this bug. Their support site claims it crashes on unsupported devices (mine is a supported device) and then claims you need to be on iOS 11.4.1. Apple would kick them off SidMeiersCivilization Store for making this claim.

by Bane115

Let me start by saying I know this is a pc port, not a game made originally for mobile play. However, if you are going to make it available for an iPad, at least make it so it is playable. I have the full game and purchased all of the DLC. After the update, the game is completely unplayable. The mini map no longer works at all. The map options are non responsive. You can no longer see tile yields or wonder names. If you continue to play anyway, when you get to the first world Congress, the game completely crashes and you can no longer play.
I have tried to reach out to customer support but there is no in game option. I have created a bug report on their website but as of today, it has been 5 days, there has been no response. As near as I can tell, they pushed out a bug filled update, took my money for the DLC and checked out, never to be heard from again.
Pre-update, the game was great. I play civ 6 on pc but wanted a game that was easier to get to than on my laptop. It was pretty close to that version. However, it now completely is broken.

DO NOT BUY THIS GAME UNTIL THE BUGS ARE FIXED. It took them over a year to release New Frontier DLC as compared to PC, Xbox and PlayStation versions, I would not hold my breath on a patch to fix these issues. We are clearly not their priority.

by Quark42

For any not able to play after the recent update:

Enable civ 6 in iCloud (and Game Center). That seems to get the game so it doesn’t crash on starting. Try reinstalling following the support site instructions (link in the comments section in SidMeiersCivilization store for civ 6). Allow notifications when you reinstall civ 6. I was finally able, after a month, to get the game working again. I still think Aspyr is horrible. Shouldn’t need to jump through all these hoops to get the game to work. Also running latest iOS 15 update. Not sure if that matters. Hope that helps everyone that Aspyr abandoned to figure this out on their own.

Game 5/5 stars if you like strategy. Aspyr 1/5. I haven’t been able to play the game in about a month due to a bad update. This is unacceptable in such an expensive app. Aspyr could fix this by making the previous working version of the game available in SidMeiersCivilization store as a separate app which would solve the issue so many people are having now, but they don't seem to care.

by Grunt3089

It’s alright but Civ 6 is so watered down in and of itself that it’s not worth the money no matter what system you use. Theres very little about actual history, the “politically correct” police ruined that for us. The days of recreating real scenarios are over.

The game isn’t even worth playing without all of the DLC’s which are ridiculously overpriced, and even then it feels empty.

A lot of other abilities/settings are removed as well, like being able to gift units to an ally, builders and military engineers only have 2-3 builds then disappear and you can’t have them autonomously build improvements anymore, can’t build railroads, can’t have spies rig elections, there’s no option to have other leaders to act like their personalities, etc.

Also it seems like certain civilizations have ridiculous advantages; like one time I was playing against China and a few others and China was already in the Atomic age by the 1800’s AD and everyone else was still in the Industrial Age or earlier. I understand there’s ways to do that but as someone who prioritizes science that seems a little ridiculous.
In terms of functionality on a phone, it’s clunky and needs polishing, and once your game has progressed quite a bit and civilization’s have grown, the game just crashes every few turns.

It’s worth the $5 for the base game. Not a cent more.

by Bella0196

I’ve loved CIV since it was introduced to me few years back, so having it on my iPad was incredible! I love it so much that I bought the game twice (on my macbook and on my iPad) HOWEVER, today I tried playing multiplayer with my friend and immediately encountered some glitches on both the local and cloud modes.

On local mode, whenever I would create the game, it would not let me choose my own CIV.

On cloud, well its just not the most favorable of experiences. Since its not real time, you would exit out of your current game when its not your turn, and then proceed to the loading screen once more once it is. This process is inefficient, and makes the game run forever with so much dead air. Having the game be in real time would allow users to fully invest in the game and provide more attention to it as opposed to being encouraged to do other things (and maybe even close out of the game) as they’re waiting. To top things off as well, my friend reported having difficulty getting back into the game once he was closed out (my turn) and eventually we just called it. I love the idea of playing with my friends out of range, so please work on your multiplayer options. Thank you!

by YouEatPig

It’s an amazing port of a full PC game. Honestly, it’d almost nicer to have on the go. A lot of people don’t like Civ 6 and prefer older ones, but this is the first one that I’ve played that really drew me in.

What’s bringing down the rating is the parity with the PC version. The PC version was recently updated, so cloud saves that were made on PC are no longer available on iOS. This is a big problem for me. I like being able to go back and forth, if I’m at the PC I’d like to play it there, but if I want to hang out on the couch with my partner, I’d like to switch to the iPad.

I purchased all the DLC on iOS (which doesn’t go on sale like PC games do, you can get the game with all DLC for $30 pretty often) so that I could use the cloud saves. But now this feature does not work, and my current game is stuck on my PC. With cloud features like this, game updates should be coming to all platforms in a timely manner.

by FunButPayToWin

This game has gotten more complex (which is great) and I’m fine with learning curves but there are issues beyond the time it takes to get a feel for the game. The main issue I’m seeing is just the way the game poorly translates over to mobile, the UI is obviously built for a PC and many icons in the game require hovering your mouse over (or holding your finger on) the item to get more information. That is simply not enjoyable on mobile having to put your finger on everything to be reminded of the plots dynamics etc.

The game has gotten too advanced for mobile in its current state and needs to be simplified back to a version that is more of an advanced Civ Rev 2.

Im sure this is a great game once you get over the the learning curve but they’ve gone so in depth that it’s bound to be enjoyed by a more niche audience whereas the previous games were more friendly for all.

by Average-Consumer

Absolutely the greatest phone game a person could ever get their hands on.
Single player works flawlessly, and is the full game like you’re playing on PC.
IF YOURE LOOKING FOR GREAT SINGLE PLAYER ACTION THIS IS IT. Multiplayer is kind of disappointing due to there only RECENTLY (as of 1 day ago) been multiplayer where you could play with others outside of your own local WiFi. They have added cloud play, meaning you can have a set game saved on their servers, and you can play with others, but the system is VERY buggy as of now. It’s VERY hard to get into a game due to unknown errors because all it tells you is “Error joining Multiplayer Session”. But when you DO get into a game, you have to wait days sometimes a week before it is your turn again. But it’s a step in the right direction, and great for people who enjoy that sort of play. (because there are many who do)
However, I still feel since there is a massive civilization community, there needs to be LIVE play options and servers. Where you play live with people without the need for waiting days and weeks. But I know it’s a work in progress, and these things take time. I’m simply saying you would find your player base growing on SidMeiersCivilization with that feature. Great work otherwise guys! 👌🏽

by Nexxinus

This is now a great mobile port. When the game came out there were a ton of crashes and the pricing for the base game was unreasonable at $60. Most of the crashes seem to have been eliminated and the base game is now priced at $10 so it’s very easy to recommend.

The rest of the DLC pricing is wonky though, at $30 just for Rise and Fall (meaning that the initial DLC costs 3 times as much as the base game). Considering you can get Civ 6 Gold on PC which includes the base game, Rise and Fall, and all the unit, nation and scenario packs for under $30 (Green man gaming, Fanatical, Steam sales, etc.), the DLC pricing still needs work. Rise and Fall should be on the order of $10 as well, since Aspyr did not develop the game but simply ported it over to mobile.

Multiplayer doesn’t seem to work at all and there isn’t even an option for live multiplayer games, only local WiFi or play by cloud. I’ve never been able to get into a play by cloud game, so I would treat this as a single player game only.

There are still some frustrating features of the mobile port that I don’t think work quite as intended. Moving more than a few tiles can be frustrating and some tool tips don’t work properly. Still, at $10 the base game is a fantastic deal. I’ll gladly pick up the DLC once it’s more reasonably priced, and I look forward to getting Gathering Storm eventually as well!

by Ccccccyttttt

BUG REPORT:

After playing towards a domination victory for a while, I unlocked nukes and decided that I wanted to wait until i used at least one before I finish the game. I had their capital surrounded and I was basically stalling for a bunch of turns until, finally, the nuke was done. I was so excited to launch a Nuke on mobile for the first time, and with my anticipation bubbling over, I sent the nuke towards their capital. As soon as it made contact with the map, the game froze. It didn’t crash, it froze. However, I could still hear volume. I reloaded the game and tried again, but it happened again. After that I reloaded it again but this time as I sent the nuke, I made sure that it was not visible on my screen when it went off (I scrolled away from the explosion). After I heard the detonation, I scrolled back and saw a beautiful mushroom cloud and the game was fine from then on. I’m playing on an iPhone 11 Pro Max. I hope you guys can fix this because I haven’t really noticed any other problems. Thanks!

by Biggfoot26

Edit: I was able to finally complete a full game without crashing. This legitimately feels like a full port of the game. Even has the hypocritical War weariness and Gandhi the warmongering “pacifist”: I love it!!!. Hopefully they will release some of the expansions from the main game in the future, but otherwise this is the game I was expecting when I first downloaded SidMeiersCivilization . Thank you to the developers for fixing the game! Keep up the good work.

Old review:
When this game works it’s amazing, but it crashes so often that it’s more frustrating then worthwhile. Originally I tried running a standard game. Crashes started around turn 50 at 150 I was crashing every other turn. Looked at the reviews figured I would try a smaller map my device is only 2 years old but whatever. Get to turn 250 with 3 crashes. Annoying but playable. Now that map is is once again crashing every couple of turns. What is the point of a game you can’t even play properly let alone play to its full potential. I have other full AAA games ported over that play fine. Appears I’ll have to stick with them and maybe one day they will fix the SidMeiersCivilization to work properly until then maybe try to convince Apple to give your money back.
Side note 3-4 minute wait times to load a map are ridiculous particularly with the crashing.

by Review_Boss

First of all, let me begin by saying that the introduction of the Rise and Fall DLC to the iPad version of Civ 6 has made my day, my month, and quite possibly my year. To be honest, I was beginning to lose hope! 😅 But, when I go to the tab that the DLCs already introduced are under, Rise and Fall is not available for purchase! Is this a problem with the way I am attempting to buy the DLC, or a problem within the software? Please help me resolve this, and when you do, I will upgrade my review to 5 stars. Also, it would be much appreciated by myself, and most likely by others, if the Gathering Storm DLC also came out for the iPad, and if the overall modability of the game were increased. I don’t want to be overly demanding, but anything within 3-6 months for the Gathering Storm expansion would be GREAT. Thank you so much!
EDIT: Just came across message from Aspyr rep while troubleshooting, guess the expansion will be here soon.

by Voidman66

Thanks for the latest update!!!

Thanks for the Frontier pack! Works pretty good for me. Hello again, what a marvelous game. I couldn’t be happier! ____________ Just dropping back in to say THANKS for Gathering Storm! It works wonderfully well on the iPadPro! ————— Thanks for Rise and Fall. You guys are the best! Not having any issues with Great people or anything else. Using the original iPad Pro. Looking forward to additional content. Most mods continue to work like a charm with a little effort. ————— Hello all, it appears that some folks writing reviews do not fully appreciate or understand how the game is played... shame on you for your low ratings as they are totally unsubstantiated. This is a great game with great support. It works just like the Desktop/Laptop version but with the graphics toned down just a bit. Yes turns can take longer, but on a standard size map it might even be a bit faster than on my PC, although it is likely older than what some of you have. I’ve been playing on a 12.9” original iPad since it came out and the only issues I’ve had were with a couple of mod’s. Developers, with your next update could you possibly have as a game option, a setting to turn on the “ui scale 1” option so I don’t have to turn on my Bluetooth keyboard for that every time? Looking forward to R&F.

by JASPER DUPREE

So my below compliant has been solved. Now I think 5 stars is warranted. When trying to buy using faith I had my queue open which prevented the faith option from showing up. Blah! I feel stupid not figuring that out sooner. Real game changer for me, ha!

Maybe it’s me because I’m new to the civ games but on my iPhone I can’t seem to buy any units with faith. No missionaries no apostles and no gurus (also no naturalists). They show up in my unit selection screen but without any action button to buy or add to my building turns. I have holy sites, having founded a religion and also have temples and other building. What have I missed? Or is this in error from the game. I tried to send a message to aspyr via their website but it’s capture feature kept kicking me off.
This is really my only complaint and I wouldn’t even mind so much but it’s one of the ways to win the darn game so it does frustrate me. Hence the three stars and not the five it could have.

by 50110k

I have been playing since the snes release ages ago I am glad they have made it as far as they did I only hope my game (when I get it up and running) is as successful, but I am stricken with pure sadness that they have followed suit like all have done. False advertisement. I entered in Freeciv hoping that the creator of that game made a mobile version but I find this game under that list. They don’t have to pull in people on false pretenses but they do 1 it says get instead of a price. This is false advertisement at a minimal level just like me typing in freeciv and finding this game so please devs decide on whether the core game is truly free or not it’ll be better for you in the long run don’t want some idiot to come in and ruin your app with a false advertisement report. People are like that and don’t say “but it is free” because 60 turns is cop out to it being “ free” the way it sits it’s a “free trial” and no where does it state that

by Narwhal-The-Gamer

It’s worth the money, truly. I knew I needed to buy it after only having played the 60 turn allowance for 20 turns. It’s an amazing game! It drains your phone battery quite a bit, but just be close to a charger and everything will be great.
I love the inventive idea of using turns rather than the average “this action will take three hours” type of game. It is already a game that takes quite a long time to complete, so adding a time stamp would be torture, as I normally spend days and days on one game. The turn system allows you to choose your own gaming schedule, you get to decide when the action is done based on how long you spend per turn. It’s a great idea.
Final thoughts: it definitely deserves my five stars. I’m not one to write reviews normally, but this game has warranted it. Buy it, and you won’t regret it. Beautiful graphics, great gameplay, wonderful inventive turn system, and all wrapped up into the pretext of writing history to your will. Truly, a winner is you.

by SkeeLocSta

Now that they’ve patched it, this is the absolute best casual strategy game available on whatever device you own. It’s perfect for me as it can pass 10 minutes of time in a waiting room, or keep me busy all evening long if I’m on the road for work. It’s the FULL VERSION of the killer PC franchise and nothing has been left out. The latest update looks really nice and added some conveniences as well. The depth of this game is fantastic, but the difficulty adjustments allow it to be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. The game is expensive, but it’s worth every penny. I’ve got every form of gaming available in my household - but the convenience of a turn-based strategy game on an iPad, and this game’s high level of addiction, fun, and challenge makes this my most played game for a year now at least. It’s a must have if you ever liked any of the franchise previously.

Thank you to the developers for coming through with the update. This game was sorely missed. I purchased the expansion as a way of showing my appreciation.

SkeeLoc

by Ivan E

I can’t rave enough about this game, and I bought it when it came out at full price, $60. Ive never paid anywhere near that much on an iPad game in my life, but I’ve been a Civ nerd since Civ 2 and after playing the free trial I was hooked. I’ve purchased all of the expansions thus far released and I have probably played 30 or so standard, large and huge map games and still have a blast. There are so many ways to attain victory, no two games are the same. I can’t endorse this game enough. Just get it. The only complaint I have is that the UI gets a little crowded sometimes, and it’s especially hard to long press a tile to see the info on it, like what district improvements are there. It pops out the tooltip below and to the right, but it’s so long that it’s often below the viewable part of the screen, so I have to put the tile I want to look at in the very top of the screen. But that’s a minor thing, overall an excellent game. Plus I wish they could figure out a way to do multiplayer games online.

by Electro Junky

Probably the best gaming experience I’ve ever had on iPhone, or from any mobile game at all. It’s beautiful, it’s easy to navigate, it’s responsive and it’s well worth every penny. I love the long stand offs against my opponent, fending off every battle and making temporary peace just so I can work my way up to thermonuclear weapons and...well it’s all hell fire from there. One thing though...one very important fix that NEEDS to be made. As I said, I enjoy using the nuclear option. It’s just that it also nukes my game in the process. I of course want to witness the destructive power of the atom in all its classic civilization style glory. But if my camera is aimed at the event, it freezes. And boom, done, that’s it. Game frozen and I have to close the entire app and go back to the save, use the nuke again except this time I can’t watch the city burn to a crisp. This also happens when attack enemy units that carry nuclear weapons, and at that point there isn’t enough time between pressing attack and it actually happening for me to move the camera so as not to crash the game. Please please PLEASE fix this. This is a game breaking bug for me, this ruins the whole experience of the game, and this is probably my favorite strategy game of all time. Please fix this :(((((