Need an iPhone game that's like Civilization, SimCity, or Age of Empires
March 28, 2013 1:39 PM   Subscribe

Need some iPhone games that are as engrossing as Civilization, SimCity, and Age of Empires. (Yes, I already have Civilization Revolution and SimCity DLX.)

For the most part, I am not much of a gamer. The only games I've ever gotten into were Civilization (original, Civ 5, and Civ Rev), SimCity (every version), Command and Conquer, and Age of Empires. However, I've found that if I play Civ Rev while working out on the elliptical, the time just flies by. Sadly, I've now beaten Civ Rev on the hardest level, fulfilling every possible victory condition, and haven't found a game to replace it. Do you have any suggestions? I'm not into action games or puzzle games, and am not looking for a game like Go or Chess. The closer a game is to Civ, SimCity, or Age of Empires, the more likely I am to get addicted to it.

The game has to work on the iPhone; I don't have an iPad, and I work out at a gym, so I can't use a proper computer. Also, I would prefer a game I could purchase for an up-front fee, not a game that's always trying to weasel money out of me in the form of in-game purchases.
posted by Afroblanco to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (19 answers total) 59 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: Also, I have an iPhone 4S. Dunno if it matters.
posted by Afroblanco at 1:40 PM on March 28, 2013


Ascendancy is more or less space Civ. It was a PC game in the mid 90s and is now on iOS. I really, really wish they made it for android too.
posted by MillMan at 1:47 PM on March 28, 2013 [2 favorites]


It’s a strategy/board game rather than a strategy/simulation, but Catan for iPhone is a great game that follows the “civilization building” theme. The in-app purchase expansions are not necessary to enjoy it (I’ve never tried them).
posted by Ryon at 1:51 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


It's not quite like Civ or SimCity (actually, it's not quite like any other game), but I bet you'd like King of Dragon Pass.
posted by theodolite at 1:55 PM on March 28, 2013 [8 favorites]


My game taste is rather similar to yours and I've very much enjoyed Kingdom Rush. Technically it's a tower defense game, but it scratches that same "must keep on top of long term strategy while fending off immediate attack" itch.
posted by Diablevert at 2:01 PM on March 28, 2013 [3 favorites]


iOS, especially the iPhone, is paltry for 4X and RTS. Is there a particular facet of the genre(s) you like? That might help with recommendations for similar stuff.
posted by griphus at 2:08 PM on March 28, 2013


Response by poster: Griphus : hard to define. I'd say a combination of complexity, building things, long-term planning, and possibly killing stuff.
posted by Afroblanco at 2:14 PM on March 28, 2013


I'd second King of Dragon Pass then. It's a lot more abstract/narrative-focused than a 4X game, but it does have all those elements. It drops down the $6-7 pretty frequently, so if you watch a Let's Play and aren't totally excited, wait until then.
posted by griphus at 2:20 PM on March 28, 2013 [2 favorites]


There's Majesty, the Fantasy Kingdom Sim. You don't get direct control over units, but you build various guild halls, and can place bounties on things.
posted by zabuni at 3:02 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


Haven't played it, but reviews lead me to believe you might like Rebuild
posted by backwards guitar at 4:41 PM on March 28, 2013 [2 favorites]


I was going to suggest King of Dragon's Pass; I stayed up all night just reading a Let's Play of it.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants at 5:33 PM on March 28, 2013 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Seconding Ascendancy. How about Starbase Orion?
posted by Rob Rockets at 5:36 PM on March 28, 2013 [1 favorite]


An extremely simplified, Farmville-style on that is a lot of fun is Simpsons: Tapped Out.

Somewhere between that and Civilization is Tribez, in which you're sort of cavemen in what is either a post-apocalyptic world or one where humans have crashed their technology. It's the best one of these I have played so far, and it's world is enormous.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 7:47 PM on March 28, 2013 [2 favorites]


Megacity HD is a very fun puzzler.
posted by Skyanth at 2:01 AM on March 29, 2013 [1 favorite]


Ah sorry, I just read you're not into puzzle games. Still, I'd give it a try if I were you - it's special.
posted by Skyanth at 3:09 AM on March 29, 2013


Response by poster: Thanks for the suggestions! I plan on trying all/most of these. However, I can only play one at a time, so I picked Starbase Orion for my first, based on the recommendation here and the ratings in the app store.

Thanks for helping me stay in shape :)
posted by Afroblanco at 11:18 AM on March 30, 2013


Autumn Dynasty is pretty solid. I've been looking for an Age of Empires-style game for a while and this is the first one I've really enjoyed and played for more than an hour or two. I've only played it on the iPad, so I can't speak to the playability of the iPhone version, but it is a universal app and works on both.
posted by orange_square at 12:16 PM on April 2, 2013


You could try Kingdoms of Camelot. Or Clash of Clans.
posted by jeffamaphone at 7:52 AM on April 11, 2013


I downloaded Catan based on this question (I loved Civilization), and I anti-recommend it. I had never played the board game in real life, and while I suspect that the board game is probably fun, the smartphone game has all the charm of watching robots roll dice. (You have to play with four people, so, three robots.)
posted by purpleclover at 12:40 PM on April 14, 2013


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