Honestly, they are all delightful. My personal recommendation would be to start with Civ III or Civ IV depending on your preference for graphics. If time is li

Honestly, they are all delightful. My personal recommendation would be to start with Civ III or Civ IV depending on your preference for graphics. If time is limited, get Civ IV and buy all of the expansion packs play on Settler with advisors on and you'll learn it quickly. They are all learning based, with that effect being slightly less as the series has aged... but still great games through and through.