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Sid Meier's Civilization® III Complete
Sid Meier's Civilization III: Complete, the latest offering in the Sid Meier's Civilization III franchise, provides gaming fans with Sid Meier's Civilization III, the highly-addictive journey of discovery.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-08-31 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
38 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“between 2 steam accounts and 1 disk version, 4 laptops and 2 PCs one of the best games i've ever had the pleasure of touching. there is not much I have not done: . modded it . made mods . played comp . did a 6 friend…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Best game in civ series IMO. Been enjoying this game for a couple of decades now.”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Civ 3 is my favorite game of all time. I played it when it came out and this steam version works, plays and functions the same way. I think it is amazing that this functions so well. Spend the couple of bucks and you'll…”
“Plays fine, occassionally does freeze when map is exposed but seems to always continue.”
“loved it as a kid, the new updates area great addition. Currently in 1980 in the middle of a world war, i the russians are the only country friends wit everyone”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“between 2 steam accounts and 1 disk version, 4 laptops and 2 PCs one of the best games i've ever had the pleasure of touching. there is not much I have not done: . modded it . made mods . played comp . did a 6 friend…”
“A classic. I love the fun graphics and music.”
“Started out with Civilization III when I was 8 or 9 years old. I would sit for 10 - 13 hours a day playing this game as Cleopatra rushing to the modern era just to listen to that sweet music.”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“not visually cluttered like the recent games”
“Civilization III is fun to play. It is not Like Civilization II which was much better because it allowed you to get the upper hand on advancements. However, it is still a good game, even though if you get an advancement…”
“Civ III was and stil is the best of them all. Simple masterpiece with great soundtrack and pleasant graphics which still hold well over 20 years after the release. Not far behind it are IVth and Vth Civilizations. It is…”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“Arguably, the best Civilization in the entire series. Can't get it to run reliable anymore. They are still selling it, so they should try to keep it workable. Since they don't, I'm gonna have to recommend against people…”
“This game would not open correctly on my desktop. I could find no way to fix this through steam”
“Well, I finally managed to play it under Proton. Besides the addition of KeepRes=1 and PlayIntro=0 to the conquests.ini, I can only use the Proton 5.3-16 version and had to tinker with the gdi32.dll.so to finally show…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“My advisor said they were weaker than me. Got raided by one speerman”
“Ive spent tonnes of hrs on this game, trying everything i can think of to be competitive. At level 4 (monarch) the game gives you no chance to compete always being overwhelmed by AI rivals & their troops. This game…”
“Civilization III is fun to play. It is not Like Civilization II which was much better because it allowed you to get the upper hand on advancements. However, it is still a good game, even though if you get an advancement…”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“They changed so little and yet it plays so much differently compared to Civ 2. If you wanted to develop tiles in Civ 2, you needed to build settlers and make them work. Now, every time you take an enemy city, you…”
“its rough but fun”
“eventhough not as polished as the later entries but still my favourite Civ game. (got it late on steam therefor the low playtime)”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this · 1 of them still recommend the game.
“Arguably, the best Civilization in the entire series. Can't get it to run reliable anymore. They are still selling it, so they should try to keep it workable. Since they don't, I'm gonna have to recommend against people…”
“I really wanted to play the game but the game won't let me. Started with screen resolution issues and I fixed those, then the game crashed every time my PC tried to load a map. As a 25 year old game, I would expect it…”
“you can buy all day but cant play the game. steam should put on there, you can buy this game but cant play the game unless you have a pc that is 30 years old”
3 of the 103 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“Okay, the graphics aren't as fancy and the interface not quite so polished, but this is still a great game. Really, it's *the* Civ game if you like sprawling empires. Also, it runs wonderfully on older or lower end…”
“It lacks the charme of Civ 1, while offering a far bulkier UI. To me it seems that there is even less functionality compared to the original. At the same time it's a long haul from Civ 4 in terms of graphics. It really…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 89.5% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“- Start a game - Meet another civ - They ask for everything I own - I refuse - They declare war 11/10 realism”
— a player, Steam review · 1 hrs played“I can't understate what a brilliant game this is. Even in 2026, given what gaming has become, Civ III shines for its complexity of game mechanics. It starts easy: you explore some land, build and connect a few cities. Soon, you'll be playing a chess of a thousand factors -- as…”
— a player, Steam review · 1,566 hrs played“Click during the 2K logo at startup and it won't crash. Have fun, this game is frustrating as hell”
— a player, Steam review · 226 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Strategy |
| Player tags | Strategy · Turn-Based Strategy · Turn-Based · Classic · 4X · Historical · Singleplayer · Multiplayer · Replay Value · Grand Strategy · Simulation · Military (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · Includes level editor · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English |
| Official site | http://www.civ3.com/ |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Recommended: Windows® 2000/XP (only), Pentium® II 400 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 1.7 GB Free HDD space, Windows® 2000/XP compatible video card*, Windows® 2000/XP compatible sound card*, DirectX® version 9.0b (included) or higher * Indicates device should be compatible with DirectX® version 9.0b or higher.