r/Civ2

I might fire it up for nostalgias sake, but I dont currently have a PC that will play a CD ROM, and Im not going to buy hardware for this. (Test of Time preferred)

WOOT! It happened!! Good old Sid Meier's Civilization 2 doesn't make it into mainstream gaming news very much these days but amazingly my Civ2 Heroes of Might & Magic 2 mod has made it into PC Gamer!!! And even better it's a 2 page spread near the front of their mag in the news section! They even managed to squeeze in mention of the Civ2 modding community, the lost scenario preservation project, the get Civ2 back into stores campaign, and even my up & coming other Civ2 mod projects too! :) :)

EDIT: Reddit really doesn't make embedded links & thumbnails at the top of the post very obvious does it lol. Here's the link with a scan and more details for those that missed it:
https://blakessanctum.wordpress.com/2026/07/24/i-made-it-to-pc-gamer-magazine-again/

I have been playing Civ2 since I was a teenager back in the 90s. It's my favorite Civ game. I didn't even think to see if there were others out there. I guess I should not be surprised this subreddit exists. At any rate, just happy to be here reading your comments about a great game.

Here's to another 30 years of great gaming!

When I was a kid, Civ2 was my favorite game, but I always played on Chieftain. I always thought Deity would be impossible.

Some years ago I set out to find the optimal strategy to beat on Deity, and now I can win new game every time. Here is my strategy:

1. Build 2 cities first and get 2 warriors. Send out the warriors to scout the villages.

2. Build 1 warrior for defense in each city, then switch to settlers. Build 2 more cities, so now you have 4.

3. Immediately focus science to get to Monarchy, you need it to build cities.

4. Switch the first 2 cities to building great wonder, any great wonders it doesn't matter. The 3rd and 4th cities should build 1 warrior each, and then 1 settler each.

5. After you get Monarchy, raise science rate to 70%. Make your main objective to rush to Polytheism. If not available, then 2nd objective should be Pottery.

6. For each new city, you can generally follow the pattern of getting 1 warrior for defense, 1 settler to expand, and then switch to Elephants and keep pumping out Elephants.

7. As soon as you have enough money, switch your great wonder to Hanging Gardens and complete it with money in City 1. Have that city build 1 more warrior for defense, and then switch back to great wonder.

8. Science, in order of priority, then should be aiming for Monotheism, then Feudalism, and then Literacy. Nothing matters after that. You will win the game.

9. City 2 should then complete Art of War ASAP. After that, City 1 and City 2 should just keep building wonders: Michelangelo's chapel, Great Library. Nothing else really is needed.

10). By now, you should have 8 or 10 cities all pumping out Elephants/Crusaders. These will all be veterans because of Art of War, and you can just go and conquer all the nations.

That's it. That's the entire strategy. Literally nothing else is needed. It works everytime.

The most critical element is to get the Hanging Gardens, as you need it to keep citizens happy. A distant 2nd would be to get Art of War so you have veteran units. And Michelangelo's chapel is nice to keep citizens happy in case your cities get too big. Great Library isn't truly needed, but it can be nice to prevent your enemies from accidentally getting gunpowder or something.