[Kjeld]

I definitely agree with Kohan beeing a little gem. It is the only real time strategy game that "feels" like a turn by turn game. The "company" system and the clear choices to reward thinking vs. micromanagement and click fests was truely refreshing.

The best civ-like is IMHO SMAC. The game itself was a solid and classical (but well done, the whole social engineering system was nifty) civ-clone, but what I really liked in this game was the "storytelling", immersive elements. With all the voice acting and text blurbs for each technologies and buildings, and the text interludes following up the great game manual, there was a nice atmosphere of discovery, I truely felt I was unlocking the secrets of the planet.

Although the game is very, very basic (though strangely addictive) and has nowhere near the depth of even the AoW or HoMM series, I have a soft spot for the Disciples series. The graphics of disciples 2 are gorgeous, and the "dark fantasy" art is really brillant (though I dislike the main map, way too crowded, however the character portraits and combat models are awesome) : again, a very immersive experience, largely due to the art style this time.