Choose Age of Empires® III (2007)
Choose Age of Empires® III (2007) if you want the Multi-player side of the pairing. 11,959 Steam reviews back the pick.
Age of Empires® III (2007) vs 4 Civilizations
Age of Empires® III (2007) and 4 Civilizations both land in Strategy, Simulation on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both share Strategy, Simulation on Steam. Age of Empires® III (2007) (2012) is 8 years older than 4 Civilizations (2020). Both sit near 90% positive on Steam (Age of Empires® III (2007): 11,959 reviews, 4 Civilizations: 10). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose 4 Civilizations
Choose 4 Civilizations if you want an Indie game with Steam Leaderboards. On Steam, it's the newer release (2020) and ships with the modern feature baseline. 4 Civilizations launched in 2020.
Both Age of Empires® III (2007) and 4 Civilizations sit in Strategy and Simulation on Steam, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (90.9% vs 90% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Age of Empires® III (2007) |  4 Civilizations | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2012 | 2020 |
| Genres | Strategy, Simulation | Strategy, Indie, Simulation |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Playable | Unrated |
| Price | Price unknown | 3.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 90.9% positive (11,959 reviews) | 90% positive (10 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Single-player only |
| Developers | Ensemble Studios | Tomas Daugela |
Side by side
- Both share Strategy, Simulation on Steam.
- Age of Empires® III (2007) (2012) is 8 years older than 4 Civilizations (2020).
- Both sit near 90% positive on Steam (Age of Empires® III (2007): 11,959 reviews, 4 Civilizations: 10).
- Age of Empires® III (2007) is Deck Playable on Steam Deck; 4 Civilizations has no Deck rating yet.
Age of Empires® III (2007) vs 4 Civilizations — FAQ
- Should I play Age of Empires® III (2007) or 4 Civilizations first?
- If you want chronology, Age of Empires® III (2007) (2012) came out before 4 Civilizations (2020). If neither is a sequel to the other, order doesn't really matter — start with whichever fits your current mood, since both share enough on Steam to make either a reasonable opener.
- Are Age of Empires® III (2007) and 4 Civilizations similar?
- They overlap on Strategy, Simulation on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.
- Does 4 Civilizations have multiplayer like Age of Empires® III (2007)?
- No. Age of Empires® III (2007) supports multiplayer on Steam (Multi-player), while 4 Civilizations is listed as single-player only.
- Does Age of Empires® III (2007) run on Steam Deck?
- Yes — Age of Empires® III (2007) is rated Deck Playable by Valve. 4 Civilizations doesn't have a Deck rating yet, so its Deck behaviour is currently unverified.