I've been going through my wishlist and having a bit of a clean up, when I noticed that I had both Sid Meier's Civ 3 and 4 on the list.

I can't see the point in having both games, so which one is the 'definitive' version? I mean, 4 is a bigger number than 3, so it must be better - right? ;)

I heard that some of the later games have some interesting bugs. I have Freeciv on my tablet, but i'm having trouble figuring out how to even play. I'm kinda hoping that i end up with the Ghandi bug that i keep hearing about, as it sounds like an instant classic.

IV had bloody well better be better than III, considering they're charging more than three times as much, despite it having come out just a few years later (and more than a dozen years ago, now).

IV is far better a game than III. III is just so limiting, which is weird, seeing as II felt even better.

See in III, they introduced the idea of strategic resources, which basically mandate that you need X to use Y Tech. This would be a good idea if the game ever bothered to spawn more than one (per) at a time, and they didn't have a random chance per turn to slip away to another location. So the Railroad, one of the most useful techs in the game requires two of these, and I've had games where it turns out coal (or worse, iron) was sitting on some island just off to the side of the super continent, out of reach of most early game boats. I made a post about this.

Also, due to various mechanics, the use of popcorn strats is mandated for any useful empire growth. This wastes a lot of startup time, as rather than cultivating your empire from within with workers, or generating trade with roads, you are instead encouraged to throw settlers everywhere.

Also, Civ IV is still getting mod updates and considered the crown of the series so far, whereas I'm not really aware of any kind of modding scene for III.

IV is the version to get ... and for me it has a great atmosphere where sound and presentation is just what I like. With V alot changed a bit and IV is the most polished "old style" Civ.

Go for Civilization 2 and it's amazing council of Advisors.

The Elvis impersonator Advisor's actions during total Anarchy needs to be seen by everyone. https://youtu.be/XqPC08cPGJw

Corruption doesn't exactly exist in IV, as a traditional mechanic. Rather, the X distance from capitol penalty still exists, but it's a more visible maintenance cost and can be mitigated by several factors. While it may slow the growth of individual cities, it doesn't slog the entire empire down, but it can put a dent in your wallet.

As others have said, definitely go for 4. Civ 3 had several design choices that tended to make the late game quite tedious (namely corruption and pollution mechanics), while Civ 4 is just solid all around. Civ 4 also has quite a few good mods available for it if you happen to get tired of the base game (I'd personally recommend Fall From Heaven 2, for basically a hybrid of Civ and Master of Magic).

4 is the best game in the series, so go for that one.

4 is better than 3 and 5. Plus, the mods were pretty sweet back when I played it. Caveman2Cosmos was my favorite.

Every cent you spend in Civ 4 is worth it. The game has such an ellegant design. All the different systems (city maintenance, civics, technology tree, great people, diplomacy, etc.) work very well and interact perfectly with each other, with some subtle interactions you notice as you become more experienced.

Civ 4 Complete also includes the Colonization remake, which wasn't as great but it's there nonetheless. And of course, some of the mods (Rhye's and Fall, Fall From Heaven and many many many more) greatly add to the experience or even feel like a totally new game, that you get for free.

Civ 3 but the resouce distribution leaves alot to be desired,I lost interest after Civ 3 Conquests,but there's a nice editor at the Civ Fanatics

Civ 4 has Leonard Nimoy. :)

At the risk of going against the grain, I found the gameplay in Civ 4 to be dull. Even the blue interface is bland. I liked Civ 1 and 2 a lot. Didn't recall anything really bad in Civ 3. But Civ 4 is where I quit playing the series. Maybe it was the low poly unit graphics that helped turn me off. But I think I was hitting spacebar to move on to the next turn a few too many times.