Parents' Guide to

Sid Meier's Civilization V

By Chad Sapieha, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 11+

Excellent strategy game is educational and accessible.

Game Windows 2010
Sid Meier's Civilization V Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • Sid Meier's Civilization V Game: Screenshot #1
  • Sid Meier's Civilization V Game: Screenshot #2
  • Sid Meier's Civilization V Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 8 parent reviews

Nebbie Zebbie
Nebbie Zebbie Adult
June 7, 2019
age 10+

Good ideas, but many problems

Not the best Sid Meier game, but certainly not bad, its new tile system is a great improvement, but it can tend to be very all-or-nothing and get boring, especially in the later game. Strategy can also be very cheesy.
Vohaul
Vohaul Adult
February 16, 2019
age 10+

Still holds up after all these years

Civilization V is a great game with massive content. Since it is a turn based strategy game there will be some combat, but it is not detailed. The game is more focused on civilization and army management as well as political and trade dealings. There are references to wine and tobacco, but no shown consumption.

This title has:

Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 8 parent reviews

What’s It About?

The Civilization franchise is a two-decades-old bastion of strategy gaming bliss in the PC world, and its basics remain firmly intact in Civilization V. Players select an authentic historical leader and begin the game with a single city in a sparsely populated ancient world. As the years flip by, you scout the land, find additional cities, and meet strange new cultures that you can either crush with your armies or befriend as you work toward satisfying diplomatic, cultural, or scientific victory conditions. And it’s all been made more accessible than ever before. A clean, new interface includes bulletins that pop up on the right side of the screen, ensuring you’re always apprised of changes in neighboring countries’ dispositions and aware of vital opportunities. Just below is a dynamic action button that leads you through all available activities, ensuring that you never forget to move a unit or begin production on a new building before ending a turn.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8 ):
Kids say (26 ):

Civilization V’s changes aren’t limited to simply making things more user-friendly. A new social policy system allows players to mix and match ideologies such as fascism and rationalism for strategic growth in areas like technology and population happiness. And the introduction of city-states that can be used as allies or pawns adds an entirely new element of strategy worthy of significant consideration.

What’s more, Civilization’s battles have never been better. Cities can now defend themselves, which means no more piling them full of soldiers you’d rather have on the front lines. And whereas players once stacked units into massive armies before merrily marching off to war, each unit now occupies its own space on the map, forcing players to strategically line up ranged attackers behind melee units in preparation for sieges. Simply put, it’s tons of fun. This season’s high-profile shooters might steal the spotlight for the moment, but if there’s one game released in 2010 that people will still be playing five years from now, it’s Civilization V.

Online interaction: Multiplayer supports open text and voice chat so players could hear unwanted and inappropriate communication.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about learning from games. Do you think the Civilization games can potentially teach players more about the world in which they live? Do you think this game can make players better understand how modern geopolitical conflicts occur?

  • Families can also discuss the differences in depicting war from the personal perspective of an individual soldier versus that of a bird’s eye view. Why might the latter be more appropriate and bearable for younger players than the former?

Game Details

  • Platform: Windows
  • Subjects: Math : addition, money, subtraction, Social Studies : cultural understanding, government, power structures, Language & Reading : reading, reading comprehension, vocabulary
  • Skills: Self-Direction : academic development, Thinking & Reasoning : analyzing evidence, decision-making, prediction, Creativity : developing novel solutions, Tech Skills : using and applying technology, Responsibility & Ethics : learning from consequences, making wise decisions
  • Pricing structure: Paid
  • Available online?: Available online
  • Publisher: 2K Games
  • Release date: September 21, 2010
  • Genre: Strategy
  • ESRB rating: E10+ for Drug Reference, Mild Language, Mild Violence
  • Last updated: November 17, 2019

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