Sullla’s AI Survivor: Gandhi Meditates, Everyone Else Panics!

By | June 16, 2026
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Season 9 Playoff Game 3!

Sullla’s AI Survivor is an annual competition of all Civilization IV AI Leaders by long-time Civilization enthusiast and streamer Sullla. CFC is very excited to announce that the popular series returns after almost a two-year hiatus with Season Nine. AI Survivor has become quite an event over the years for both old and new Civ IV fans.

Playoff Game 2 Recap (click for write-up): Victoria (Vicky) of England entered the game like a baby deer dropped into a den of wolves — the lone high‑peace‑weight leader on a map full of predators, sitting at over 70% First‑To‑Die odds – by the picking contestants – despite having respectable land. Things initially followed the expected script when Brennus of the Celts launched an early war, his stack perfectly capable of striking lightly defended London but instead wandering toward a sturdier target, giving Vicky just enough breathing room to repel the invasion and secure peace. From there, her fortunes flipped: she teamed with Stalin to dismantle Justinian and claimed most of the spoils, then quietly expanded and powered up while the other wolves tore into each other. By the time anyone thought to look her way again, she had already transformed from prey into a force of nature, unleashing her beloved Redcoats, spreading constitutional monarchy across the map, and delivering one of the season’s most commanding performances — a Domination victory with the earliest finish date this season.

Cheers to Saxo Grammaticus for putting Civfanatics back on the weekly leaderboard by placing #1 in the picking contest!!! a pen-dragon finished 3rd!!! Saxo Grammaticus, a pen-dragon, and Thrasybolus are now the 1st, 3rd, and 5th humans in the overall contest!!! (SmartRandom.org still sits in the top spot)

Playoff Game 2 ON June 26th (12:00 PM EST)

Playoff Game 3: This final playoff before the championship lines up six leaders who feel like they were drafted from entirely different shows and then shoved onto the same stage: Qin is trying to engineer a masterpiece while quietly ignoring the part where enemies exist, Gandhi is attempting to host a peaceful book club in a neighborhood that keeps catching fire, Sitting Bull is armed to the teeth but treating warfare like a strict “look‑don’t‑touch” exhibit, Elizabeth is poised to turn everyone else’s missteps into her next scientific breakthrough, Hammurabi is building cultural monuments as if the scoreboard doesn’t include conquest, and Zara is handing out handshakes and compliments right up until he decides someone needs to go. It’s a lineup full of clashing instincts and mismatched ambitions, and the map isn’t giving anyone room to hide. If you’re tuning in for a playoff where plans unravel, tempers flare, and one leader somehow stumbles into brilliance, this is the one to watch!

Enter the AI Survivor Picking Contest

Don’t forget to make your picks in the picking contest before the game goes live!

Also, note that our favorite CFC Warrior Queen, Mylene (My), hosts her own friendly betting competition (with fake ducats, of course..ha). Make sure you join in the fun in the S9 Wildcard Picking Game.

Sullla’s AI Survivor Season 9 continues Friday, June 26th, on Sullla’s Twitch Channel at 12 PM EST.

We welcome you to join the fun by discussing here.

Sullla’s AI Survivor: Clash of Crowns and Cataphracts!

By | June 9, 2026
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Season 9 Playoff Game 2!

Sullla’s AI Survivor is an annual competition of all Civilization IV AI Leaders by long-time Civilization enthusiast and streamer Sullla. CFC is very excited to announce that the popular series returns after almost a two-year hiatus with Season Nine. AI Survivor has become quite an event over the years for both old and new Civ IV fans.

Playoff Game 1 Recap (click for write-up): Ramesses staged a stunning, almost theatrical rise in this playoff match, transforming a vulnerable central start into a runaway cultural triumph as the rest of the field tripped over itself. Joao ballooned into a coastal powerhouse, leading in almost every statistical category by the end. Meanwhile, Catherine and Gilgamesh carved out big empires of their own, yet never turned their momentum toward Egypt when it mattered, leaving Ramesses free to snowball behind a torrent of wonders and a map‑wide Taoist lovefest for much of the game. Asoka collapsed early, Cathy’s late assault fizzled into disaster, and Gilgamesh’s eventual push evaporated under Egyptian air power. With no one stepping up to stop him, Ramesses cruised to a Turn 286 cultural victory, and Joao quietly secured second place and a ticket to the Championship

Thrasybolus is now in 4th place in the overall contest all by himself! Will he or any civfanatic be able to outsmart SmartRandom.org by season’s end???!!! Let’s show everyone that Civfanatics are the best in Playoff Game 2 this week!

Playoff Game 2 ON June 12th (12:00 PM EST)

Playoff Game 2: This game brings together a lineup of leaders who each excel in wildly different ways, creating a field where steady growth, sudden aggression, and unpredictable detours all have room to shape the outcome. Victoria enters with her famously powerful toolkit but an equally famous tendency to drift off‑course. At the same time, Louis brings his trademark blend of artistic ambition and opportunistic conflict that can either elevate him or leave him exposed. Stalin arrives with a reputation built on past dominance but recent struggles, making him one of the biggest question marks in the group. Suryavarman remains the ultimate swing factor — capable of explosive expansion or baffling misfires — and Brennus adds a layer of ideological stubbornness that can stabilize alliances or fracture them instantly. And then there’s Justinian, whose mix of early flexibility and late‑game force makes him a perennial threat whenever the map gives him room to breathe. Put together, this is a field where no single style is guaranteed to succeed. It’s anyone’s game, and that should be exciting!

Enter the AI Survivor Picking Contest

Don’t forget to make your picks in the picking contest before the game goes live!

Also, note that our favorite CFC Warrior Queen, Mylene (My), hosts her own friendly betting competition (with fake ducats, of course..ha). Make sure you join in the fun in the S9 Wildcard Picking Game.

Sullla’s AI Survivor Season 9 continues Friday, June 12th, on Sullla’s Twitch Channel at 12 PM EST.

We welcome you to join the fun by discussing here.

Sullla’s AI Survivor: Let The Games Really Begin!

By | June 5, 2026
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Season 9 Playoff Game 1!

Sullla’s AI Survivor is an annual competition of all Civilization IV AI Leaders by long-time Civilization enthusiast and streamer Sullla. CFC is very excited to announce that the popular series returns after almost a two-year hiatus with Season Nine. AI Survivor has become quite an event over the years for both old and new Civ IV fans.

Wildcard Recap (click for write-up): Sitting Bull of the Native Americans, yes, Sitting Bull, finally stood up last week and won a very impressive Spaceship victory. Justinian of the Byzantines placed second in a very crowded field. Those two will advance on to the playoff round, while the remaining 9 contestants return home to lick their wounds. The wildcard matchup proved as fun as ever, as the Raging Barbarians provided much early excitement. The Barbs captured or razed eight cities, slowing down early game progression for the leaders. In fact, Hatshepsut of Egypt lost her capital to barbarians and came extremely close to being destroyed. She did end up surviving the game with the help of Justinian and her culture.

The last few weeks have been a tough road for Civfanatics, but Mylene (aka Fippy) and Thrasybolus are now tied for 3rd place in the overall contest!

Playoff Game 1 ON June 5th (12:00 PM EST)

Playoff Game 1: The real stakes begin this week as the playoff round commences. This first playoff match looks especially interesting, as we have the backstabbing Catherine of Russia and everyone’s favorite Troll King, Wang Kon of Korea. Gilgamesh of Sumeria played one of the most impressive games ever in the opening round, but will his rough start limit him this game? Can Joao of Portugal finally prove his worth and advance to the Championship? His start this game would indicate yes.

Enter the AI Survivor Picking Contest

Don’t forget to make your picks in the picking contest before the game goes live!

Also, note that our favorite CFC Warrior Queen, Mylene (My), hosts her own friendly betting competition (with fake ducats, of course..ha). Make sure you join in the fun in the S9 Wildcard Picking Game.

Sullla’s AI Survivor Season 9 continues Friday, June 5th, on Sullla’s Twitch Channel at 12 PM EST.

We welcome you to join the fun by discussing here.

Sullla’s AI Survivor: No Room to Breathe!

By | May 29, 2026
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Season 9 Wildcard Playoff Game!

Sullla’s AI Survivor is an annual competition of all Civilization IV AI Leaders by long-time Civilization enthusiast and streamer Sullla. CFC is very excited to announce that the popular series returns after almost a two-year hiatus with Season Nine. AI Survivor has become quite an event over the years for both old and new Civ IV fans.

Game 8 Recap (click for write-up): In the explosive final match of the opening round, Comrade Stalin staged a massive comeback victory, overriding a slow start and poor early expansion to launch a winning spaceship on Turn 325. The central arena of the map quickly devolved into a chaotic warzone, spelling immediate doom for Suleiman, who mismanaged his defenses and fell first to a swift joint assault by Napoleon and Stalin. Catherine the Great, heavily favored by onlookers due to her sprawling corner territory, later teamed up with Stalin to wipe out Napoleon, establishing a dual-Russian stranglehold on the game. While mid-game contenders Augustus Caesar and De Gaulle saw their promising economies ruined by untimely, attritional side wars, Catherine completely stalled her own momentum by neglecting core industrial technologies. This critical blunder allowed the technologically advanced Soviets to easily outpace her with factories and modern weaponry, securing Stalin the ultimate crown while a defeated Churchill collapsed in the final stretch.

Civfanatics may not have been at the top of the leaderboard last week, but we are still doing well in the overall contest. Mylene (aka Fippy) now holds the #2 and a-pen-dragon is holding down 4th place!

Wildcard Game ON May 29th (11:00 AM EST)

Wildcard: The stage is set for a massive, chaotic showdown in the Civ4 AI Survivor Season 9 Wildcard Game, featuring an unprecedented field of 11 survival-round casualties battling on a Huge map under Raging Barbarian conditions. This unique setting promises to test the defensive capabilities of both the pacifists and the warmongers alike. Headlining this match is the undisputed low-peace-weight titan Huayna Capac (#2 overall power ranking), who looks to bounce back from a cold spell and exploit his overpowered Incan civilization. Standing in his way is a bizarrely polarized cast of characters: hyper-pacifists like the scoreless culturemonger Hatshepsut and the underperforming Lincoln, highly defensive but economically stagnant isolationists like Sitting Bull and Tokugawa, and the legendary, unpredictable psychotic aggression of Montezuma. With a single spot in the playoffs on the line, the community expects a bloody, high-stakes collision of conflicting diplomacy, runaway economic traits, and brutal barbarian pressure.

Enter the AI Survivor Picking Contest

Don’t forget to make your picks in the picking contest before the game goes live!

Also, note that our favorite CFC Warrior Queen, Mylene (My), hosts her own friendly betting competition (with fake ducats, of course..ha). Make sure you join in the fun in the S9 Wildcard Picking Game.

Sullla’s AI Survivor Season 9 continues Friday, May 29nd, on Sullla’s Twitch Channel at 11 AM EST.

We welcome you to join the fun by discussing here.

PC Gamer: Civ7’s Test of Time update brings players back

By | May 23, 2026
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PC Gamer reports that Civilization VII’s new Test of Time update has pushed the game to its highest Steam player count in over a year.

According to the article, Civ VII recently climbed above 16,000 concurrent players on Steam, roughly double its recent peak numbers. That suggests many players were waiting for a substantial reason to give the game another look.

The update is a significant one. Its headline feature is the much-requested ability to continue playing as the same civilization across age transitions, but it also reworks victory conditions, adds optional objectives with bonus rewards, and makes a broader set of changes aimed at addressing launch criticisms.

Early reactions still appear divided. Some players say Test of Time makes Civ VII feel much closer to a complete 1.0 release, while others argue that issues with UI, pacing, simplified systems, and DLC pricing remain.

Still, this may be Civ VII’s most important update so far. The player-count bump shows there is still plenty of interest in the game – now the question is whether Test of Time can keep those returning players around.

What do you think? Has Test of Time changed your view of Civ VII?

>> Discuss on the forum

Sullla’s AI Survivor: From Versailles to the Volga!

By | May 21, 2026
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Season 9 Game Eight!

Sullla’s AI Survivor is an annual competition of all Civilization IV AI Leaders by long-time Civilization enthusiast and streamer Sullla. CFC is very excited to announce that the popular series returns after almost a two-year hiatus with Season Nine. AI Survivor has become quite an event over the years for both old and new Civ IV fans.

Game 7 Recap (click for write-up): Gilmesh of Sumeria won a tightly fought Domination victory over runner-up Zara Yaqob of Ethiopia. Gilgamesh performed with an almost human-like manner in one of the most impressive displays in Survivor history. Justinian of Byzantium and Saladin of Arabia just barely held on to advance to the wildcard match of the playoff round !!

Tough match for Civfanatics last week. However, Mylene (aka Fippy), Thrasybolus a-pen-dragon are holding down 3rd, 4th, and 5th positions, respectively in the overall contest!

GAME 8 ON May 22th (noon EST)

Game 8: We have a shiny new number one seed in Churchill of England leading the way this match. Churchill has performed surprisingly well in recent seasons, despite not looking that impressive on paper. In addition, we have a pair of Russian leaders in Catherine and Stalin, as well as two French leaders in Napoleon and DeGaulle. Will France survive the Russian Winter this time?!! Rounding out the field is the industrious Augustus of Rome and the deep-thinking Suleiman of the Ottomans.

Enter the AI Survivor Picking Contest

Don’t forget to make your picks in the picking contest before the game goes live!

Also, note that our favorite CFC Warrior Queen, Mylene (My), hosts her own friendly betting competition (with fake ducats, of course..ha). Make sure you join in the fun in the S9G7 Picking Game.

Sullla’s AI Survivor Season 9 continues Friday, May 22nd, on Sullla’s Twitch Channel at noon EST.

We welcome you to join the fun by discussing here.

Imperium – a spiritual successor to Ascendancy

By | May 21, 2026
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This will test the memories of many of our CivFanatics but do any of you remember the 1995 classic Ascendancy? After Master of Orion took the Civilization formula to the stars many other 4X space games followed each with a different take, and Ascendancy’s big change was constructing buildings in terrain slots across the planet surface as well as specific ship parts in ship slots. Sadly much like Civ1&2 Ascendancy has been lost to time and is not legally available in modern stores, however one fan frustrated with this situation has decided to remake the game in a spinoff of sorts called Imperium and released a free public beta demo on Itch for everyone to try before going live on steam. He’s eager for feedback so check it out here, and discuss it with us here!

Play the new Civ5 “Game Of The Month” #289

By | May 20, 2026
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It’s the middle of May, and we got a new Civ5 GOTM for you! This time the settings are a bit more special, because this game has the “One City Challenge” enabled, making it extra hard! You play as Bismarck of Germany on a standard size Pangaea map on King level. You must win this game via culture, with the one single city you’ll have. Do you think you can manage this and send in the winning savegame before June 18? Then check out this thread and get your starting savegame!