4. CIVILIZATION III
Civ III introduced religion and, more importantly, national borders for the first time and did an admirable job of it. The latter especially was a big deal that I don’t think enough people appreciate, because without those borders earlier Civ games were an infuriating free-for-all with little sense that your empire was a cohesive whole.
I know a lot of people who still think this is the best game in the series, and I appreciate why; it’s probably the most coherent game in the series, from its design to its interface, confident in its heritage but with enough features to set it apart.
Civ III also has, I think, the best map editor of the series. And even almost 20 years later, still looks damn pretty.
