# Freeciv Go — user reviews > 91 indexed App Store user reviews of Freeciv Go by Vladimir Davidovich, rated 4.30/5 from 173 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/freeciv-go/id1514658494/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/freeciv-go/id1514658494.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 120 · 4★ 22 · 3★ 9 · 2★ 9 · 1★ 13 ## What do users think of Freeciv Go? Overall sentiment: positive **Pros** - 🚀 Great port of classic game - 👍 Intuitive controls - 🎨 Faithful to original Freeciv - 🎮 Nostalgic Civ experience **Cons** - 🐛 Crashes after many turns - 🤖 Overpowered AI - 🕹️ Clunky UI/UX - 🔍 Lack of information/tutorials **Commonly reported bugs** - Diplomacy system not working as expected - Performance issues on older devices - Crashes with external keyboards **Most requested features** - Pinch-to-zoom functionality - Customizable rulesets - Tech tree/Civilopedia - Map editor - Multiplayer support ## Newest reviews (18 of 91) ### 2/5 — Needs some work *2026-01-10, version 25.12.7* I loved the PC FreeCiv and this has the features of that but, the AI seems consistently advantaged across the difficulty levels. No matter what I try, what I change in my strategy, AI is always better, always a step ahead (Even if I get ahead of the AI in tech). I played 10-15 games before deleting the app and all were so stacked against me (the last half I played on novice) and could barely keep up with the AI. Love the game but the AI needs some tweaking before I play again. ### 2/5 — A suggestion *2025-11-26, version 25.9.3* I was wondering if you could make your game accessible for blind people using VoiceOver screen reader. I noticed some of the options on the screen are accessible if I turn direct touch on and screen recognition but I can’t fundamentally move the units so it’s still not fully accessible and I therefore hope you could consider this in future updates thank you and have a good day :-) ### 3/5 — The game crashes *2024-12-11, version 22.4.1* When I start the next move the game crashes although this has never happened before I hope they fix it ### 2/5 — Crashes after a hundred or so turns *2024-11-20, version 22.4.1* After talking a hundred or so turns, the app now exits unexpectedly whenever I tap “end turn.” The is no way to proceed with the game. ### 2/5 — It’s an effort *2024-11-05, version 22.4.1* There’s definitely a game here that resembles the original Freeciv but this one won’t be much of a hit. For starters the AI on every level is perfect so unless you are looking for an immediate challenge you’ll hate this. Secondly, the algorithm does you no favors and the interface doesn't help. It will just spring things on you with the only indicator of attack being a small red dot or your cities randomly being erased by enemies. The other nations also seem to be constantly buffed. No matter what you do you will have less money then them and your veterans will lose to their green troops. Over all it might be fun if you get lucky by putting it on one enemy and choose islands so that you don’t have 5 horsemen rushing you turn 5 but other than that you won’t find this game to be very fun. It was an attempt but should go into the oven for a lot longer. It’s missing multiple pieces that make rts games fun. ### 3/5 — Good game *2024-09-10, version 22.4.1* its a great game with good mechanics and attention to detail, but the ai seems to advance 10x faster then you and there is a population glitch and no tutorial or main menu ? ### 3/5 — Game fun but even on easy I still die make it more easier *2024-08-20, version 22.4.1* Like easy er mode so people can learn ### 3/5 — Odd balance *2024-08-08* When on easiest mode your opponent is op even before you get bronze working, and taking over most of the land around you, while you struggle to build a third settlers unit by any means, I’d say it’s pretty odd at very least. Even considering it not trying to just copy original game rules, as dev told somewhere on the website, that it is a thing in itself. It’s just taking away any enjoyment from the playing experience original games had, it shouldn’t be a rat race. ### 2/5 — Nice replica but one deal-breaking flaw *2024-07-21, version 22.4.1* Does a great job of reproducing Civilization 3, far and away my favorite Civ version and probably one of my top 3 games ever. So that’s nice. BUT… No matter what level the AI is set on, the attack odds are horrendous. I still haven’t ever beaten a Settler, losing battle after battle against a unit with literally no defense. And most other battles end up the same, it takes so much strength and numbers to beat anything at all. So frustrating it takes the fun out of the game. Second major complaint is that no matter how few players and how much land you set the game for, you are inevitably surrounded by all other countries and never get more than a few turns without running into the competition. So you have to fight right away, and… see point #1. Great idea, could get there with improvements to the formula. ### 5/5 — Amped-up CivRev *2024-07-15, version 22.4.1* I got this game because CivRev was too easy; even on the highest difficulty, the ai weren’t terribly intelligent. This game… doesn't have that problem. The ai are complex and it takes a combination of luck and skill to defeat them. Or you could just cause nuclear winter and fight a dreadful war of attrition. Every game is different, from the terrain to the tech imbalances to the relations between ai. It’s so much better than Civilization Revolution. ### 4/5 — Sehr gute Adaption *2024-07-15* Das Spiel lässt sich besser als alle mir bekannten Adaptionen anderer Klone und auch anderer PC-Games auf dem Handy spielen. Obendrein ist es komplett werbefrei! Für diejenigen, die die PC-Version nicht kennen, dürfte der Einstieg jedoch recht unbequem ausfallen, da leider weder der Technologiebaum noch die Enzyklopädie zur Verfügung stehen. Mir persönlich fehlen die Städteliste und die Auftragsliste am meisten. Auch habe ich noch keine Möglichkeit gefunden, zu sehen, in welcher Stadt eine Einheit beheimatet ist. Eine Übersichtskarte wäre auch ganz nett, ebenso die Möglichkeit der Umbenennung von Städten. Jedoch ist dies ein Jammern auf höchstem Niveau. Insgesamt kenne ich kein interessanteres Spiel fürs Handy. Ein großes Lob verdient auch die Steuerung: intuitiv und einfach, besser kann ich mir das nicht vorstellen. Besonders gefällt mir auch die Möglichkeit, wie am PC ein hexagonales Raster wählen zu können. ### 5/5 — Игра крутая но *2024-05-21* У меня встал ### 3/5 — It’s Alright *2024-05-18, version 22.4.1* It’s alright, it’s just a bit soulless. Here are a few problems I have with it: It has no animations or victory animations and selecting a nation with that scroll bar is extremely painful (remnicent of that bad phone number selector). The AI is also impossible to deal with, It’s extremely difficult to have any sort of diplomacy at all because the AI will reject any offer you give them, even if you haven’t done anything wrong to them. There is no tech tree or in-game encyclopedia. Also Seretse Khama should be the leader of Botswana. The website version is better I think. Overall, it is a decent replica of the original game that can work on a phone. ### 4/5 — Get this game if you love civ games *2024-05-15, version 22.4.1* This is a really fun game, one problem, the ai is a bit too overpowered. - if you are wanting to find tips I find the best way to beat the ai is to use marines and cruise missiles ### 5/5 — Та самая *2024-05-01* Это та самая 1 цивилизация 90-х годов! Крутая пошаговая, перенесённая на мобилку) Ностальгия)) ### 4/5 — They should continue rebuilding binaries for each new version of Xcode *2024-04-10, version 22.4.1* This version of the app has with forward compatibility issues, such as becoming unresponsive after a “too close” alert As far as the CPU opponent being unbeatable, it’s exactly how the CPU in the desktop version behaves. The problem is with the FreeCiv code base rather than this particular port. To have a fighting chance, you need to take the huge risk of building wonders in your capital city to maximize culture and happiness. You also have to build roads, harbors and caravans to maximize trade. After your city grows a bit you have to pull a citizen away from working and make it an entertainer. If you have to defend your cities you should have enough money saved up to build a musketeer (or alpine troop) in each city being threatened. The CPUs will have hearts in their eyes and not attack you even if their attitude towards you is genocidal. ### 5/5 — Thanks *2024-04-02, version 22.4.1* The game is hard but very in depth! Super cool thank you. ### 5/5 — Recommend Highly *2024-03-18, version 22.4.1* This is awesome.The only downside is the old-dated Freeciv version this app based on and the lack of customizement. For those who are unsure how to play,I mean winning the Ai,here’s some advice to give you some sense. First Remember defense is the most important thing here. If you want to invade Ai,you need defensive units to protect your attacking units since your units strength will decrease if you only have partial movement when the combat occurred. If you love peace or just got a terrible start where you can’t get an overwhelming army to flood the Ai,you need neccesary defense to avoid being conquered by the enemy Ai and sometimes one or two powerful attacking units to drive Ai units out of your high producing tiles. Anyway,you understand that you need defense right? Then how?Just one most advanced defensive unit possible and then city wall,coastal defense if possible,barrack(1,2,3),sam battery,sdi defense.The denfensive units you should pick up as soon as you can,from left to right,are Phalanx,Pikemen,Musketeers,Riflemen,Marines,Mech. Inf. and,if the city is coastal,(consider)AEGIS Cruiser.You may also want to have a diplomat or spy fortified in your cities,one for one,to prevent(actually decreasing the possibility) it getting harmful damages from Ais’ diplomat or spy.Notably,a larger city would give your defending unit more strength in combat.That is to say,a city of size 19 and musketeers is better than one with a size of 6!Get yourself several attacking units too in case your enemy controls the essential food producing tiles. Second Remember cities follow both “The More The Better” and “The Larger The Stronger” rules. Never waste your time on wandering your settlers around.Grains,Peasants,Whales,Fish,River whatever just make sure your settler-producing city have its health of +2 or higher even at size 1.Don’t stop to produce the stupid library or so on before you are sure that there’s no more tiles for your settlers to build city on.Well,defense is an exception that unless you’re sure nobody would appear to conquer your city when you focus on building settlers(enough coins for a one-turn defensive unit building is also ok).The trick is to research Map Making tech quickly so that you can use a trireme to take two settlers away to other islands or continents.Also,if you are lucky,you can use your explorer or diplomat(settlers and warriors are ok too) to “take” a tile,leaving the AI’s settler stuck there wasting turns,which will hopefully give you more cities than Ais. Third Small empire deserve no war. Though it’s nice to have the first city growing fast with its health +2 at size 1,there are games you don’t.The consequence is that you only have 3 or 4 cities until the end of game.(Well,you only have 2 or even 1?Start a new game.)You can still win as long as you don’t need to put resources on any attacking units.How?A good alliance and strong large empire Ai ally!This surely needs some luck,bro.As it really happens,put all your efforts on defending,improving tiles,enlarging cities and researching the fastest,which would be easy if Ais are spending turns on wars.Try to grab some useful wonders like A Smith’s Trading Co.,Shakespeare’s Theater,Women’s Suffrage and so on.But don’t waste your turns and caravels building any wonder that is useless in the modern era as a Democracy government(Pyramid and Leonardo's Workshop are the only two exceptions,if you managed to that early).At last,you should be able to set off a nice 100% success rate spaceship(you can get 53% or 56% during your building the most expensive space components,but that’s not recommended) with 15.1 years or 7.7 years,anything alike,and hopefully win the game while all your ally would declare war on you eventually. I believe you would be able to win and get one fun in the game since you know the three points.Have fun!There are way a lot to play with. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Not freeciv *2026-03-27, version 25.12.7* Doesn’t follow any of the rules you’d expect, invents whole new rules, doesn’t even show a tech tree, can’t bump, no attack button, doesn’t show percent chance or how many or which units are in a stack. Really awful to play. ### 1/5 — Мусор *2024-03-19* Баланса 0, только зря потратил время ### 1/5 — Unübersichtlich *2023-12-20* Ich find’s eher unübersichtliches und schlecht zu bedienen. ### 1/5 — AI cheats *2023-06-23, version 22.4.1* The AI cheats, completely ignores rules about having 2 population in a city to build settlers. So not true to civ. ### 1/5 — It is way too hard and brutal personally unfair *2023-06-23, version 22.4.1* Even when set to novice, it is unwinnable. If you try to focus on making more units then there will be a famine that makes your people rebel, if you try to focus on your people then the AI for some reason starts to hate you and declares war on you, and you can’t attack any of their cities because they have like five defensive units in each city, all of which are veterans. This is on novice mind you. I would compared to the dark souls of civilization knock offs. But in dark souls you can actually win. I apologize for being harsh but I have spent a lot of time on a unwinnable game, if this gets an update where the AI is weaker in someway or I get a better tutorial then I would consider replaying it but until then I will not, I will not delete it though in hopes that the developer will see this. ### 1/5 — No fun to be had here *2023-05-07, version 22.4.1* I've played every Civ game from the beginning, and this is simply impossible to even get going, much less have any chance of winning. You are out-settled, out-armied, and out-technologied by each other nation. Even after quitting close to a hyndred times to get the absolutely perfect river/quail/bison start, you are defeated within 50 turns. It's FREE, so it's not really a omplaint about the price, but it is a complete waste of time. It did get me to work throught getting the latest FreeCiv installede under X Windows on the Mac. which is the recommended way to go. ### 1/5 — Too F’in Small! *2022-11-19, version 22.4.1* Why, WHY do you developers not see that this CAN NOT be read, like on an iPhone 12, and yet you still peddle your inferior merchandise! And Apple, you allow it. ### 1/5 — Stolen Game *2022-11-03, version 22.4.1* Nobody is saying it so I will. This is a poorly copied version of sid meyers Civilization 3. This game is completely unplayable even on novice settings. Shame on you for not only stealing the idea, but tarnishing the reputation of one of the best war games ever created. This game needs to be flagged and removed. ### 1/5 — Not winable *2022-09-30, version 22.4.1* I’ve played regular civilization games for years , this is kinda like it but you never can win, your enemies build 10 times faster than you and you can never get an edge even on novice level, this is a stupid game, I’ve started a new game about 20 times and a matter of minutes you are over thrown, stop trying to compete with civilization you have no chance devs ### 1/5 — . *2022-09-01* Ничего не понятно, нет нормального меню и обозначения локаций, все очень очень не понятно … да это упрощение цивилизации, но это просто очень сырая игра ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — Thanks for porting to the Mac! *2026-02-09, version 25.12.7* It’s hard to find decent open-source games for the Mac. And this one plays without any bugs I have met so far. As good as the other game Luanti! ### 5/5 — Phenomenal port *2025-12-07, version 25.9.3* Great port of a classic PC game, I recommend everyone try the full version on their computer. Would be nice to be able to change rule sets on here ### 5/5 — Fun tablet/mobile freeciv port! *2025-11-13, version 25.9.3* Love this game! It’s a great clone of the official civilization 2 & 3. Not that difficult once you get used to the differences. Give it a go! ### 5/5 — Fun! Similar to Civilization *2025-09-12, version 25.9.3* If you like the old school civilization games you like Freeciv ### 5/5 — Absolutely Amazing! *2025-02-12, version 25.1.16* A great option for playing Freeciv on the go, haven’t experienced and real issues, but maybe a multiplayer (local or online) would be loved! Though it may not be the best for those new to the genre or not experienced due to it’s mildly steep learning curve, you have done an amazing job. ### 5/5 — Um problema *2025-01-31* Jogo incrível, muito legal, mas ainda acho que precisam melhorar as batalhas, porque é muito difícil fazer qualquer conquista, apenas com sorte teria alguma chance. ### 5/5 — Nostalgic *2025-01-31, version 25.1.16* It takes a little getting used to the interface, but once you get the hang of it, it’s just like old school CIVII, but formatted to fit in the palm of your hand. Spent hours playing as a kid, and now I get to experience it again with my own kids. Shoutout to the devs! Excellent Work! ### 5/5 — Great game *2025-01-15* Great implementation of the Civilisation gameplay. The game is completely free without any advertisements. ### 5/5 — Good *2024-10-27* Всё супер спасибо разработчикам ### 5/5 — Best free game I've found so far *2024-10-08, version 22.4.1* This is pretty much an exact replica of civ II, with slightly better graphics. Overall a very fun game, and free, which is awesome. Combat favors the defender a little too much, in my opinion, but besides that everything is exellent. Highly recomended. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-23.*