3. Civilization 5
Back in grade school and early elementary school I was introduced to the series with Civ 3. This was a solid game but, limited in some senses. I played Civ 4 and was impressed by the graphics but, again it still felt limited to me. Then Sophomore year of college I finally downloaded Steam and Civ 5 with it, might have been one of the best purchases of my life.
I am someone who likes to make my decision to buy a game based on the amount of fun and time I will get for each dollar I spend. I bought this game on sale for $30 and have spent about another $30 on expansions since. I have now put in 355 hours exactly. I would say I have definitely gotten my $60 worth of fun.
This game starts you in a random spot on the map with a settler and a warrior. You have to found your first city and build your empire from there. You have to have diplomacy, war, infrastructure, strategy, ect. It is a game of many different outcomes and because it is on Steam you can download thousands of different modifications for the game.
It is truly a game where almost anything can happen. For instance Gandhi could be your best friend one turn and then Nukes your capital the next. The strategy is fun and trying to win on Deity mode is nearly impossible. (Shout out to TJ for actually winning a Deity game). There are 43 official civilizations in this game and hundreds more to download from Steam.
This game is so addicting that you spend 4 hours on it and don’t even notice the time has passed. It is truly a game of many different outcomes and it is a game you can replay over and over again. It is my favorite strategy game of all time and I highly suggest that you go and play it if you even slightly like strategy.