Get ready to Rule

Sid Meier's Civ III is a great strategy game for those able to devote hours to one campaign.  You will need to set aside ample time as the gameplay for this can be quite consuming, unless you wipe out all of your rivals early on in the game.  It's a simple, yet complex game because you choose the size and style of your playing area.  You choose the type of civilization you want to be and the weather climate and terrain.

  These are fairly easy choices to make, except for the civilization type, as this will affect what you specialize in, as well as the starting pieces you get.  Most of the time, you start with  a lone Settler and a Worker.  Your Settler can build a city from which all things come, from other Settlers, workers, warriors, etc., and your worker can build roads, irrigate land, build a mine, cut down trees, or automate to whatever the computer thinks you need the most.  I tend to just automate mine unless I see a glaring need, as deciding what each worker will do each round can get really tedious.

  The biggest choices you have that will impact the game are what you decide to research and what you decide to have your city build.  Researching military type projects allows you to upgrade your Warriors to Swordsmen, Archers to Longbowmen, etc.  The Wheel allows you to build chariots, while you need mathematics for catapults.  This is where it can get a little complicated.  You need military to protect yourself from marauders and to fight against other civilizations you may run into. 

  You also need to look at the sciences so you can continue to learn new skills and grow as a civilization.  Literature and Writing for Libraries, seafaring for ships, construction for aqueducts, etc.  These are all necessities for your growing civilization.  You need religion to keep your citizens happy and content, so research Ceremonial Burial to build Temples and later on Cathedrals.  You can discover and build Wonders along the way, such as the Pyramids, the Colossus, the Great Wall, and many more.

  Be the first to manufacture gunpowder and hold a distinct military advantage over your competition.  Be the civilization that has the happiest and most content citizens and rival cities will defect to join you.  You see the complexity now?  I haven't even mentioned that the geography and natural resources also play a huge role in your decisions.  Build near water so you can fish, easily irrigate your land, and have a harbor to feed your people.

  Build in the mountains and hopefully have closer access to deposits of gold, iron and minerals.  I try and do both if possible while avoiding volcanoes and marshland.  The more natural resources you can harvest, gold, gems, silk, spices, ivory, iron are just naming a few, the more resources you could trade with your neighboring civilizations.  That's right, you can TRADE resources and technologies to make your people happier and learn faster.  You don't just have to war with neighbors, you can assist them and yourself by working together and even bonding together against a common threat.

  A very fun game, always unpredictable due to the geography, the AI choices, the civilization path and research path you choose, and what you choose to qualify as winning the game.  I have had the game for quite a few years and still play it today, and will probably always have it on hand when I get the itch to play Emperor