Sid Meier's Civilization

シヴィライゼーション (Shiviraizēshon)MS-DOS, PC-98, SNES, Saturn +51991

  1. JP1992
  2. NA1991
  3. EU—
  4. RU—

Sid Meier's Civilization is often shortened to just Civilization; in Japan the PC-98 version was simply シヴィライゼーション, while the console versions were sold as Sekai Shichi Daibunmei (1994) and Shin Sekai Shichi Daibunmei (1996).

Sid Meier's Civilization is a turn-based strategy game designed by Sid Meier and Bruce Shelley and released by MicroProse in September 1991. The two started with a real-time prototype around May 1990 before making it turn-based. The Civilization name was licensed from Avalon Hill, which held the rights to a 1980 board game, and Meier estimated the development cost at $170,000.

It is generally considered the first major 4X game. Ports followed for Amiga, Atari ST, PC-98, Windows, Macintosh and the Super NES, and the multiplayer CivNet came out in 1995. In Japan a PC-98 version appeared in 1992, and Asmik released reworked console versions for Super Famicom in 1994 and for PlayStation and Saturn in 1996.

One famous piece of trivia is false: the 'Nuclear Gandhi' bug is apocryphal, and Meier's autobiography says the story was made up in 2012.12

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Sid Meier's Civilization MS-DOS September 1991 MicroProse 1
JP シヴィライゼーションPC-9801 version. PC-98 1992 — 2
JP シヴィライゼーション 世界七大文明Shiviraizēshon Sekai Shichi DaibunmeiJapanese Wikipedia treats the console versions as reworked games with changed rules and characters. SNES 1994 Asmik 2
JP シヴィライゼーション 新世界七大文明Shiviraizēshon Shin Sekai Shichi DaibunmeiAlso released on Sega Saturn in Japan; Japanese Wikipedia treats it as a separate reworked game. PlayStation 1996 Asmik 2
JP シヴィライゼーション 新世界七大文明Shiviraizēshon Shin Sekai Shichi Daibunmei Saturn 1996 Asmik 2

Also known as: Civilization WW1シヴィライゼーション 世界七大文明 JP2シヴィライゼーション 新世界七大文明 JP2

Box art by region

  • Sid Meier's Civilization box art, North America release
    NA Sid Meier's Civilization

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: Wikipedia.

Version differences

  • GameplaySuper NES

    Next Generation criticized the Super NES port for cumbersome menus, separate City and Production screens, awkward controls and scaled-down graphics, while GamePro praised its interface and audio.1

  • ContentCivNet

    CivNet (1995) added multiplayer for up to seven players over LAN, modem, serial link or hotseat, plus a map editor and support for Windows 3.1 and 95.1

  • GameplaySuper FamicomPlayStationSaturn

    Asmik's Japanese console versions changed the rules and characters so much that Japanese Wikipedia treats them as different games from the PC original.2

Reception

Civilization sold over 850,000 copies by 1996 and 1.5 million according to Bruce Shelley in 2016. It won the Origins Award for best strategy computer game of 1991, Computer Gaming World named it the best game of all time in 1996, and it entered the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2022.1

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2ja.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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