Explore, Expand, Conquer!

• Complete coverage of all civilization advances
• Tips for building and controlling your armies
• Essential strategy for diplomacy, politics, and commerce
• How to use Great Leaders
• Tactics for understanding and developing the new Culture element
• Advice for immersive single-player gaming
• Detailed information on the game editor

I use this along with Civ 3 Complete Edition. I have about 25 hours of playing time so far, during which I spent a lot of time with the standard manual. The Ellis/Prima manual has a lot of tables that I find more useful than the tables in the standard manual. Tips that appear in the sidebar are also useful and non-trivial. The index is more intuitive than that in the standard manual. PLUS this book covers the game editor; I wasn't even able to FIND the game editor before, and I had looked hard. This was definitely worth the money ($4 plus shipping) but I suspect that the 2001 copyright date means that it came out before the expansion packs; therefore I am ordering the 2002 manual that includes Play the World etc. Recommended -- but the 2002 manual may be even better. Ellis is good.

This a great book that improves your skills. It is great for skimming through or evening reading cover to cover. Great addition for Civilization fans!

Gives you a lot of information in tables and charts. Well orgainzed and easy to reference. Has some helpful hints and clues to make the game easier to learn. It is NOT going to help you WIN. You have to think and reason on your own to accomplish this on your own ability. Use the brain GOD gave you and say thanks. Great Game and Great Information Book.

I bought this manual hoping to quickly get up to speed with the new game. I knew enough to play at the more basic levels but wanted tips on how to improve my playing level. What I found in this book was a nicely complete instruction manual, and very little in the way of strategies, tips, etc.

While I did read the book cover to cover and learned a few rules and features that I was unaware of beforehand, it did little to improve my level of play. This is a very complex game, and knowing a few basic tips/tricks can be immensely helpful. Most of the tricks I've learned came from extensive playing (it's easy to get [pulled] into this game) and message boards online - Yahoo groups, civfanatics, etc.

If you have money to burn and want a comprehensive instruction manual buy this book. If you are looking to improve your level of play, you won't find it here.

This guide is only for those people who don't know the difference between a spearman and a warrior, or for those who get eliminated while playing the Chieftain level, which isn't an easy feat.

Otherwise, it does the job it's supposed to.