Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm

That’s a darn shame, really. The Civilization franchise has always been known for having a weaker endgame experience, and Civilization VI: Gathering Storm is no exception. Most of the action happens in the early to mid-game stages of your playthrough. Anything that happens past turn 250 is just you cleaning up the mess — whether it’s an AI opponent that needs to get crushed by your Giant Death Robot, or the planet’s pollution.

The Gathering Storm features a long checklist of other new additions, including 18 new units, 9 new world leaders, 9 new technologies, and 10 new civics. These are all nice little bonuses, but Gathering Storm’s world congress and natural-disaster system are robust enough to make Civilization feel fresh. The Gathering Storm adds new layers to Civilization VI’s incredibly deep strategy system, but taming the planet remains far from simple.

Civilization has always been a board game too complicated to play with cardboard and plastic pieces. Gathering Storm takes that complexity to new levels of simulation, but it is so well presented you never feel overwhelmed. I’m an easy mark for a new Civilization, but I have no fear in saying that Gathering Storm is one of the most creative and significant expansions a Civilization game has ever received.