Civilization 4 vs 5, 6 and 7

Civilization 4 (2005) plays on a square grid with unlimited stacks of units; Civilization 5 (Sep 21, 2010) moved to hexes and one military unit per tile, Civilization 6 (Oct 21, 2016) let support units share a tile and units merge into Corps and Armies, and Civilization 7 (Feb 11, 2025) groups units under Commanders and splits each game into three Ages. Critics scored Civ 4 highest on Metacritic (94), and press still calls it many fans' favorite, but which is best is a matter of taste.

The biggest difference between Civilization 4 and the games after it is the map and its armies: Civ 4 plays on a square grid where any number of units can stack on one tile, while Civilization 5 moved to hexagons and allowed only one military unit per tile, GameSpot's 2014 history of the series explains. Civilization 6 "split the difference", in PC Gamer's words, and Civilization 7 lets units gather under Commanders. Civ 4 has the highest Metacritic score of the four, 94 against 90, 88 and 80, and press still calls it the favorite of many longtime players, but neither critics nor players agree on a single best Civ: in PC Gamer's 2015 reader survey Civilization 5 came first and Civ 4 second.

Quick facts

	Civilization 4	Civilization 5	Civilization 6	Civilization 7
Released	Oct 25, 2005	Sep 21, 2010	Oct 21, 2016	Feb 11, 2025
Map grid	Squares	Hexes	Not compared in the press cited here	Not compared in the press cited here
Units per tile	Unlimited stacks	One military unit	One, plus support units; Corps and Armies	Units stack into Commanders
Religion	Seven religions that spread (a series first)	Missing at launch	A major part, per PC Gamer	Only from the second Age; reduced
Metacritic (critics)	94	90	88	80
Steam players, Oct 21, 2026, 18:30 UTC	1,756 (Beyond the Sword)	14,940	25,882	8,702

Sources: release dates from 2K's launch release (Civ 4), GameSpot (Civ 5), Take-Two's 10-Q (Civ 6) and Take-Two's announcement (Civ 7); grid and units from GameSpot, PC Gamer's Civ 6 and Civ 7 reviews; religion from the Civilization IV manual, 2K, PC Gamer (2018) and the Civ 7 review; Metacritic via Game Rant, Feb 4, 2025; players from Steam's GetNumberOfCurrentPlayers (8800, 8930, 289070, 1295660).

Stacks of doom vs one unit per tile

Civ 4 lets a player pile any number of units on one tile, and Civilization 5 ended that. GameSpot's 2014 history describes Civ 5's "shift from playing on a square grid, a series mainstay since the very beginning, to hexagonal tiles", and adds that "Military units could no longer be grouped on a single tile". Civ 4's combat rules are on Combat.

Civ 5's own lead designer later doubted the change. Jon Shafer told PC Gamer in 2020 that he does not think the one-unit-per-tile system "works very well, either", and that "A stack model is probably better; it's more suited to a game of Civilization's scope." In a 2013 essay he wrote that the AI for one unit per tile was hard to design and that maps had too many bottlenecks, and PC Gamer reported in 2013 that he criticized his Civ 5 decisions "from AI programming to unit stacking".

Civ 4's lead designer, Soren Johnson, sees two extremes. Writing about his own game Old World in 2021, he called "carpet-of-doom" an ironic reference to Civ 4's "stacks-of-doom", and said that "few people called for the return" of stacks while critics found carpets of single units "just as bad".

Civilization 6 and 7 each took a middle path. PC Gamer's Civ 6 review of Oct 20, 2016 says it "has split the difference between 5's one unit per tile and 4's Clash of the Doomstacks": support units such as medics and Great Generals share a tile with a combat unit, and later two or three units merge into a Corps or an Army. In Civ 7, PC Gamer's review of Feb 3, 2025 notes, military units can be stacked into Commanders, which keeps turns from dragging.

Players have not let the question go. PC Gamer's 2015 survey found "two camps: the no-stacking hex camp and the stacking square camp"; in January 2025 PC Gamer wrote that "Some long-time Civ players still complain about the decision to end unit stacking in Civ 5", and another PC Gamer writer said the same month that friends of hers "still mostly play Civ 4, and see the era of one military unit per tile as high heresy."

Religion and espionage

Religion was a Civ 4 invention that later games handled differently. 2K's official Civ 4 page says it "was the first entry to feature Religions that can spread across the map", and it also introduced Great People; the Civilization IV manual has seven religions, covered on Religions. Civilization 5 launched without religion, and PC Gamer wrote in 2018 that "Many Civ 4 die-hards criticized changes like only allowing one military unit per tile, and the lack of features like religion in the initial release of Civ 5."

Civilization 7 cut both religion and spying back, and its reviewer missed Civ 4. PC Gamer's Civ 7 review says religion arrives only in the game's second Age, and that since religion had mattered in "each series game dating back to Civilization 4", it is "disappointing" to see it reduced; its espionage is a few low-impact actions, with "No more sabotaging Wonder production, spy networks, or (Civ 4, how I miss thee) feeling like you're running your own MI5-style spy agency." Civ 4's spies, added in Beyond the Sword, are on Espionage.

TheGamer's series ranking, updated Feb 27, 2025, credits Civ 4's religion, espionage and vassal states, and says that for many longtime fans Civ 4 "is Civilization at its peak".

What later games kept from Civ 4

Johnson argues the modern series starts with Civ 4. He told PC Gamer in 2020 that "I feel like the franchise begins with Civ IV", because the blueprint for how to keep iterating, which Civilization 5 and 6 followed with their content and expansions, "sort of starts there". The same history notes that Civ 4's square "chessboard" grid was not kept in Civilization 5, which made the move to hexes.

GameSpot summed up the changes in one line in 2016: "Civilization IV expanded mod support. Civilization V unstacked military units". Civ 6 then spread cities across several tiles, and Civ 7 split leaders from civilizations and each game into three Ages, Antiquity, Exploration and Modern, in which the civilization you lead changes, per PC Gamer's Civ 7 review.

Scores and reputation

Critics scored Civ 4 above every later game. Game Rant's comparison of Feb 4, 2025 gives Metacritic critic scores of 94 for Civ 4, 90 for Civ 5, 88 for Civ 6 and 80 for Civ 7, and a user score of 8.4 for Civ 4. GameSpot gave Civ 4 9.4 in 2005, and its 2014 history called it "a masterpiece". More is on Reception and Awards.

Players are split. In PC Gamer's 2015 reader survey of more than 1,000 readers, Civilization 5 was voted best and Civ 4 second with 21.6%; Civ 4's fans cited Leonard Nimoy, unit stacking and the expansions. Kotaku's Zack Zwiezen called Civ 4 "the pinnacle of the series" in September 2025 and recommended it to players let down by Civ 6 or Civ 7, and PC Gamer's advice in 2021 was that "if you prefer squares over hexes, you can't go wrong with some Civ 4."

On Steam the later games have more players. Steam's own count at 18:30 UTC on Oct 21, 2026 showed 25,882 playing Civ 6, 14,940 Civ 5, 8,702 Civ 7, and 1,756 Civ 4: Beyond the Sword plus 701 in the base game. Civ 4 is also sold DRM-free on GOG, whose players Steam does not count.

Frequently asked questions

Is Civ 4 better than Civ 5? Critics scored Civilization 4 higher (94 to 90 on Metacritic), but PC Gamer's 2015 reader survey put Civ 5 first and Civ 4 second with 21.6%; players who prefer stacks and squares tend to favor Civ 4, and those who prefer hexes and one unit per tile Civ 5.

What is the difference between Civ 4 and Civ 6? Civilization 4 has a square grid and unlimited unit stacks, while Civ 6 (released Oct 21, 2016) keeps one combat unit per tile but lets support units share it and merges units into Corps and Armies, and spreads cities over several tiles, per PC Gamer.

Should I play Civ 4 or Civ 7? Civilization 4 has deeper religion and espionage by PC Gamer's account (its Civ 7 review misses Civ 4's spies), while Civ 7 (released Feb 11, 2025) adds Ages in which your civilization changes and Commanders that stack units; Kotaku recommends Civ 4 to players let down by Civ 6 or Civ 7.

Why did Civ 5 remove unit stacking? Civilization 5's lead designer Jon Shafer replaced Civ 4's stacks with one military unit per tile on a hex map, but later told PC Gamer that a stack model is "probably better" for a game of Civilization's scope.

What is the best Civilization game? No single answer: Civilization 4 has the highest Metacritic score in the series' recent games (94) and GameSpot called it "a masterpiece" in 2014, but PC Gamer's readers voted Civ 5 best in 2015.

Does Civ 4 still have more players than Civ 5? No: at 18:30 UTC on Oct 21, 2026 Steam counted 14,940 players in Civilization 5 and 1,756 in Civ 4: Beyond the Sword, Civ 4's most played version there.