I have discovered Civilization!

[I Have No Idea]

Number four, to be precise. And sweet bejeezus is it addictive. I cannot believe I haven't tried this game out sooner. Just the sheer fun of making and expanding an empire is awesome. My Egyptian empire will conquer the world!

*ahem*

So to give this giddy post some discussion value, has there ever been a game discovery for you that has grabbed you by the face and did not let go? Just any game you heard of and tried out, or just stumbled upon by chance. Sound off!

 

[Razentsu]

Hah, Civilization III grabbed me in the same way. The Civilization games are some of the most addictive games out there. Their addictiveness is actually kind of dangerous.

I remember one match that lasted me over 8 hours. T_T

 

[Jmp_man]

I have discovered Civilization!

How long were you in those woods anyway? /joke

...really though...

I want to check out Alpha Centauri myself.
(The Sid Meier game not the galaxy... I already did that joke K?)

It was recommended to me numerous times, but I would have no idea where I could get it for cheap. I didn't really look hard though so it's really on my head...

 

[Ruzinus]

Things that facegrabbed me pretty hard:
Civ 2 (I think of all the Civ games, 2 and 4 are the most alike... 4 is basically 2 but better, while both 3 and 5 experimented with the formula. 2 and 4 also seem to be the most popular)
PSO
Warcraft 3
Phoenix Wright (hit me at a time where I didn't have a lot of free time to play video games with, ended up cutting out increasing amounts of sleep to play it)
Oblivion

 

[Aidinthel]

Morrowind

I went into it with some trepidation as I had previously played Oblivion and didn't like it. The next week is a bit of a blur. I remember how shocked I was to realize, about 20 hours (yes, hours) into the game, that it didn't have full voice acting. I seriously hadn't noticed. I wish new games would imitate it - I'll take content over voice acting any day.

 

[pilouuuu]

Congratulations! I had the same discovery when I started playing Civ 1, but it wasn't until Civ 4 that I started to lose many nights playing it. Even if it is simpler I'm totally enjoying Civilization V because it feels easier to get into.

Playing Rayman Origins was a great discovery for me. The gameplay is amazing in that game! I can't stop playing it. It has that "one more try" feeling to it.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Well, Dungeons of Dredmor didn't really sink its teeth into me, but it distracted me from AAA+ F2P SHOOTAN long enough for Brogue and Shiren the Wanderer to latch on

 

[Neverhoodian]

Morrowind

I went into it with some trepidation as I had previously played Oblivion and didn't like it. The next week is a bit of a blur. I remember how shocked I was to realize, about 20 hours (yes, hours) into the game, that it didn't have full voice acting. I seriously hadn't noticed. I wish new games would imitate it - I'll take content over voice acting any day.

Same here, except I played it before Oblivion (and preferred it over Oblivion as well, but that's another topic altogether). I remember being slightly baffled at a friend's description of the game, and my poor low-end Pentium III wouldn't run it back in the day.

I decided to buy a cheap used copy of the Xbox version to see what all the fuss was about. I started a new game, created my character, walked out of Seyda Neen...and proceeded to wander the landscape for six straight hours. It was the first game I ever played that had a "go anywhere, do anything" vibe to it, and the sensation was exhilarating.

After getting a new computer, I was able to appreciate the game's full potential with its dizzying array of user-created mods and addons that range from simple fixes and tweaks to radically changing gameplay and adding new islands and landmasses to explore. While the vanilla game hasn't stood the test of time very well, the mods more than make up for any shortcomings.

 

[Haz88]

Lately it was Civ5. I had it lying around on Steam for about a year before getting around to it but now I've put more than 50 hours into it over the last 2 weeks alone. Just 5 more turns...
Other than the obvious Civ I was for some time obsessed with Dawn of War 2 and it's first expansion. I found the squad based tactics really fun to use.

 

[SweetShark]

About the Civ series, for me I must say Civ2.
This game just....feel so right when you play it that you go with the "flow" of the game gives you.
I just can't describe this feeling, but Civ2 feel much better that the other games of the series.

Other than that, many games really, but I will say as a special case, Age of Empires 2.
My god.....this game suck litterally my life away.....and I enjoyed it.

 

[Jeff Gennick]

Both Civilization four and especially Fallout 3 grabbed me this way. I'm still playing them!

 

[Tanis]

You should try out Galactic Civilizations 2; better game.

The Endless Universe edition (or the good old box set with all the expansions) has some MASSIVE, and I mean bloodily MASSIVE, maps.

 

[sb666]

Mine will also be the Civ games. Another one would be Gary's Mod I use to play that game every hour of every day.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

C&C Red Alert 2 did this to me years ago! I still fire it up now and again, and revisit some of my old saved skirmishes! There is one where I took out the enemies base using only Tesla Coils (That were in a chain spreading from my base to theirs!) That was a fun match!

 

[chimeracreator]

I've clocked 129 hours in Civ 5 so that. That said I often do end up watching TV or listening to podcasts while playing it so I might be odd.

 

[viranimus]

I guess I am of a strange minority that I really have no sort of affection for Civilization franchise. Its really not all that impressive to me.

Though, the notion that one guy has a working file from Civ2 that has ran for 10 actual years and the concept that the game could hypothetically be utilized as a simulation of sorts has its intruiging concepts... but then I get reminded.. Its Civ... after a point, it looses all semblance of simulation because it eventually gets to the point all tech trees become maxed out and well humanity has yet to ever hit that stumbling block.

 

[Palmerama]

I have also only just discovered Civilisation! Been playing Medieval II Total War & got me into wanting to play other strategy games & got the Complete Civ IV collection for £3 on eBay! My god & I thought Total War was addictive!

I also got addicted to WoW when my housemate introduced me to it!

 

[Esotera]

I want to check out Alpha Centauri myself.
(The Sid Meier game not the galaxy... I already did that joke K?)

It was recommended to me numerous times, but I would have no idea where I could get it for cheap. I didn't really look hard though so it's really on my head...

It's a couple of quid on amazon, personally it's not something that I'd continue to play as I found it a bit dated and can't be bothered to get the hang of it. But it does look like a really solid game.

OT: Discovering Mass Effect was pretty awesome, I got it a couple of years later than everyone else, for £6.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Hah, Civilization III grabbed me in the same way. The Civilization games are some of the most addictive games out there. Their addictiveness is actually kind of dangerous.

I remember one match that lasted me over 8 hours. T_T

Sweet cheese, 8 hours? Did you both agree to take breaks and use the bathroom?

 

[MrLS]

Civ here aswell, tried Civ 4 and loved it, have a lot of hours in Civ 4 as I used to play it while doing something else like watching TV or something. Personally I like Civ 5 more though because of hexagons (and no stacks of doom). Bought Civ 5 on release and proceeded to have a 14 hour long session, thank god that it was during the weekend...