Civ Vi, Surviving Mars - Good place to start?

[Mountain Goat]

Good morning people of the sim world,

I picked up both of these on sale a while ago and I'm wondering if they are a good place to start for getting into Sims.

Haven't done any "simming" before, so it's a new genre for me (and my 12yo son).

They both seem to review really well, but advise there is a bit of a learning curve.

Or am I jumping in a bit too deep and should I be looking at other titles to start with?

Thanks

[grognardgary]

I don't know about surviving mars but Civ VI isn't technically a simulation. While you can play a true earth map it isn't compulsory and I, for one never have. The game itself has a huge learning curve and the tutorial isn't much help. If you never played this game before is to fire up the game go through the in game civilipaedia and learn the terminology terrain units and the like then watch some Youtube videos and see what they have to offer.

[SLG]

Yes, Civ 6 is more a strategy game. Are you referring to the The SIms series?

[Mountain Goat]

Ok, I'm a bit loose on the phrasing here and I probably assumed these are "sims", as in you are simulating the building, maintaining and expanding of your empire, Or words to that effect.

I was also assuming there would be tonnes of strategy, so yeah, maybe Sim, maybe strategy.

It sounds like I need time and study on these, but thats cool - I was just gauging other people's views on these games as suitable for first-timers or not. Or are these easier games to learn first etc.

Thanks

[Steelairship]

I think Civ VI is a pretty good entry in the series for a newcomer, especially since it has an extensive "advisor" system, which basically functions as a tutorial or guide for new players. If you get the DLC, I recommend playing the base game (standard ruleset) first, in order to familiarize yourself with the core game mechanics. In fact I recommend this for most strategy games, as major DLC tends to introduce a lot of new game mechanics that might be overwhelming for a beginner.

[Twelvefield]

I agree with the above: the tutorial is not good except maybe for vanilla, but the advisor is okay at pointing things out as you go. There are a number of YouTube videos you can watch as well, and you and your son can teach each other the mechanics of the game as you go. Civ VI would be good for that.

Surviving Mars is a very good entry into the base-building genre. It's fun and well-designed. You can tailor the difficulty level to suit your needs, so that it can be very forgiving or crush you like an insect. It does have some quirks that you have to get used to as your colonists can sometimes do strange things and a disaster could cascade into a lethal catastrophe that destroys everything, so be cautious as you build and keep lots of reserves. The only downside to Surviving Mars is its last DLC, the underground stuff, which unfortunately wrecks the game. Play without it, and the game is super fun, especially using the remaining DLC which is great.

[Mountain Goat]

Appreciate the feedback, I think it's time to get up and running 👍

[👁]

Surviving Mars is hands down one of the best settlement sims I've ever played, it has some punishing difficulty and when things go wrong they can cascade but when you get everything running efficiently and it all clicks into place it's very satisfying.

I very VERY highly recommend it.

Civ 6 on the other hand is just a 4x Civ Game. Not hating on Civ 6 I like a lot of things about it, especially how it handles climate change with Gathering Storm, it's just that there are dozens of Civ games that are pretty good out there.

In fact, Call to Power 1 remains my favorite because it takes the Civ Genre and asks "What if we don't just ignore the fact that slavery was a thing" followed by "What if there were eco terrorists with Gaia Bombs" then "What if humans had cybernetic implants that eliminate all diseases" and then "What if Humans cloned an alien" and then "What if there was a rogue technocracy led by an all seeing AI that build giant death walkers that could stomp through the ocean"