Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City
Game
Game2012
Galactic Civilizations® I: Ultimate Edition
Developer Stardock Entertainment
Galactic Civilizations is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Stardock and released in March 2003. The game is a remake of an OS/2 series of the same name. An expansion pack entitled Altarian Prophecy was released in 2004. A sequel, Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords, was released February 21, 2006. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
187 reactions from 1 source (Steam reviews) · newest Jun 20, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
45
Mixed
85 positive · 102 negative
95% range 38–53%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 85 | 102 | 0 |
Steam's own rating
Mixed
153 of 307 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 187 · most liked firstUnfortunately, this is not really a review of the game, so much as a warning that on some modern machines, the game does not work at all. There have been reported problems getting this game to install or run all over the forums, and while I didn't encounter any of the installation problems, even the proposed solutions to getting the game to launch don't work for me. As such this is a thumbs-down, but mostly as a warning that the game may not work at all for you! "Tested" on 64-bit Windows 7.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a game from 2003 so graphics and interface are not quite up to modern standards. During its time, GalCiv was probably one of the best 4X space games available and certainly the one with the best AI. So much so that I have spent hundreds of hours on it (boxed retail version). If you are new to the GalCiv series, I would suggest you start with GalCiv II instead. It is better in many ways: bigger universe, modern graphics and better AI. GalCiv I is less demanding on resources than…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →DO NOT PURCHASE if you're running anything higher than Windows Vista or XP. It won't work. The most common problem people are having is that the game will show to be running in Steam, but never actually starts on the computer, and doesn't show up in Task Manager. There are some methods posted on forums around the internet, including on Steam, but none of them worked for me. There is NO SUPPORT on the developer's page, either. Don't waste your time or money with this one. GalCiv2…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun past time While this game is clearly old its still quite a bit of fun. The user interface has a few issues but they are managable. the biggest downside was figuring out how to play the game which for me meant making the AI very dumb …. well below the beginner level ai for a game, figuring out some core mechanics then notching up the challenge after figuring a few things out.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game refuses to start. Multiple people report this issue, the GOG version reportedly works, and the Steam version is never fixed. I really want to play this game, like it, and then be able to recommend it, but I can't, because the thing doesn't frigging work. It is a waste of money. Thanks, Stardock.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this version because I wanted to try it cheap and didn't know if it would be any good. But I was amazed. Finally a game that can truly match the amazing gameplay and addictiveness of the Sid Meier's: Civilization franchise. Now I regret not buying the package deal of GC1&GC2, becouse I sure will buy the seqeul and am really looking out for part 3. When your a Civilization junkie like me? You sure should try this game out! You will find yourself finally having something to beat your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you are having trouble running this game on Windows 10 try the following: 1) Select Galactic Civilizations I from your Steam Library list and right-click, select Properties 2) Click the Local Files tab and click the Browse local files button 3) This will open Explorer to where your game is installed. Next, run GalCiv1_steam_setup.exe - you may need to Run as administrator if you run into issues. 4) Next, go into the GalCiv directory and run register_dart.exe 5) Try running the game and you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →THe game play sucked me in. The only issue was some of the auto focus changes but was common for the year it was released. I have not played II or III so I am guessing they learned. I am about to purchase II in hopes they got rid of the more aggrevating behaviors. Overall the game is very playable and well woth the $10 I payed for it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not sure why it says i've played for 72 hours, i have YET to get it to launch on Windows 10, despite trying all of the supposed "fixes" i've found online. I bought this out of a sense of nostalgic obligation, but i also recall being able to PLAY IT years ago. Please do not waste your money
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Galactic Civilisation was a blast back when it arrived as one of the first 4X space games with a meaty management simulator coupled with some galactic conquests. There are alot of things talking for this game; a humongous tech-tree, an intriguing cast of aliens to trade and raid and an ever changing galaxy to explore to your heart's desire. However time has not been gentle to this game and if you are looking to try it out in 202X consider just skipping ahead to the second installment. It has…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →unfortunately, no matter what i try i just can't get this game to run on windows 10.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not much of tutorial but if you playd this style of game before you can figure things out. You have different way of doing things so it is worth testing them. Graphics are ok and it plays well, I did not see any bug or lag! Ok game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Received the game free from Humble Bundle. Also tried Gal. Civ. II many years ago. Galactic Civilizations I is similar to Civilization games in may aspects, but all in all are less about micro-management, which is good, because it would be tough to micromanage something which so futuristic. Game runs okay on Windows 10, although many people have claimed recently quite the opposite. UI seems really outdated even for 2003. Reminds me rather of late 1990's. But that is the good part, because…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It says I have played for 232 hours. In reality I have not actually even been able to log into this game. I haven't played for 232 seconds let alone 232 hours. I WILL NOT recommend a game I cannot even play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →QUICK GUIDE FOR RUNNING THE GAME ON WINDOWS 7/8/8.1/10 1. go to the directory of the game (/steamapps/common/Galactic Civilizations I Ultimate Edition) 2. run GalCiv1_steam_setup.exe and go through the setup (you normally just have to click finish) 3. now go into the GalCiv directory and execute register_dart.exe (it should show the installation path of the game) 4. click ''ok'' You should now be able to run the game! (have fun :D )
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Buy only if ... You are okay with the 4x genre You are okay with steep learning curve and limited tutorial You are feeling nostalgic for this game You are okay with old graphics If you checks at least two of above pointers, you will love this game, so buy it. Me? I love 4x genre but CIV is my taste. This game has steep learning curve and no tutorial. You have to learn the game by watching YouTube videos from legendary streamers/LPs. I had no nostalgic…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, I really enjoy the game, until I get to combat. I can go a hundred turns or more, before the dreaded day a space shark gets too close and then, I have game freezing issues. Based on a simple google search, it's been an issue that has been known to affect anything after Windows XP since 2013, but no clear resolution has been found. There was a forum that suggested the problem is how Operating Systems utilize multiple cores and CPUs running too fast for the game to make sense, but…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the steam release of an ancient 4X grand strategy/sci-fi game (like Master of Orion) that plays a lot like Civilisation 3 in space. The game is broken under Windows 10. It's been reported and both Valve and well-known shady publishers, Stardock, know it, but have done nothing to fix it. It's also superseded by GalCiv 2 and 3. And it's inferior to modern 4X space games like Stellaris. So, broken game, superseded, doesn't work, not very good either, what do you think you should…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Won't start. Says it has been running for days and won't stop.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wow, this one will suck your time away. A really solid 4x game with excellent AI, a sensible interface that (gasp) actually presents information well, and a few little tools that allow you to manage a large empire without having to click through every planet. One of my favorite aspects of the game is that it de-emphasizes the necessity of combat. yes, you can certainly pursue a military path to victory, but the extensive work put in to building the trade and economic systems mean that you can…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Any game where you can install a party-palace and a water-park onto each of your fleet of not-death-stars is an awesome game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just like Benjamin 005 said, this game seriously lack tutorial. Not to mention, the game literally HANG when the enemy ship attack my ship or vice versa. I can not colonize a planet that was colonized by the enemy even if I destroy the defense but the enemy can colonize your planets. WTF! If anyone experience this problem and found a solution, please tell me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bought the game, cant play it and neither the game company nor steam are gonna help or refund your money
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →GalCiv1 was thoroughly enjoyable, and fortunately I managed to pick it up and play through it before getting knee deep in GalCiv2. This is definitely the case where playing through one obsoletes the other, in my opinion... still, the amount of game you get for the 'Ultimate Edition' on Steam sale can't be ignored.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun game i suggest starting on a easier AI until you have figured out how to paly the game and some of the mechanics as they can be a bit tricky at the start
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Don't ever run this game if you are on Win7. It freezes in the worst was so you can't even make Alt-Tab or invoke Task Manager, and only way to unfreeze it is hard reset. And it'll mess with your display settings - after running it I had my working display resolution 1280x960 to disappear from the list suggested by video card and still can't make it back!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Rather dated 4x game that is just alright, but considering how many better games there are in the genre I'd rather recommend against playing it unless you already played everything else similar and need some variety.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Like much of the others here say, game doesn't start, tried fixing the problem by searching on forums but to no avail.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unplayable, it does not work at least on Windows 10 (where I tested it). Steam recognizes that the game is running but Windows does not register any .exe of the game. Basically a rubbish in my collection because as Steam recognized that the game has been running for hours and hours without realizing it, it will be impossible to request Steam the possibility of a refund.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Doesn't work but the GOG version does.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You'll be soaring through the stars in no time as you discover the galaxy in a similar fashion to Civilization. You'll find special materials, build star bases, enhance your planets and battle it out with customized space ships. The strategic elements create endless gameplay. But where this game truly soars is in its diplomatic system. The AI feels like you're dealing with real people from real galactic civilizations. You'll tread carefully with some just to avoid war, give freely to others…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun game, just like an older civilization turn-based game would be. It includes 8 races which I like the most, so you can interact with them the way you want. Also galactic influence plays a good role here as well. Sadly, this game has some fouls and doesn't run good on newest OS, so it will be a no for me. You can't play this smoothly. Plus, a Civ V is way better choice and there is also a newer game for the Galactic Civilizations.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Galactic bore fest am I right?
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The original and IMO still the best version. It is simple and fun. What I like best is not being artificially constrained by the number of buildings I can build on a planet.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a shame, this game definitely has its charm. The music is iconic! The graphics are dated and basic but still beautiful. Exploration is pretty fun, and I really like that stars can have a random number of planets with varied quality, or no planets at all. I also like the politics, the diplomacy, the way research is funded and new tech unlocked. But unfortunately the combat and economy are the very low points of GalCiv 1, enough for me to not recommend it at all. Colonising multiple star…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →November 2023 - I run this game under Windows 11 without any issues. WARNING: this game has bugsin itself. Gameplay is simplier than Civilisation 1 but it grips the magic of "one more turn". In total I can recommend for maximum $5 for friends that love Civilisation and not afraid of old games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Install. Play game. Waiting.... Game would not start up, but Steam thought it was still running. Tried task manager to no avail. Manually deleted the files, and found that GalCiv.exe in the Atlantian folder was the culprit. Had to restart the computer before I could uninstall. Not worth it to try again. Tested on Windows 10 PC.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Support for this game is terrible and getting it to work is a nightmare. The installer is broken and you will have to edit your registry and install the runtimes yourself, manually. Support gives you completely wrong instructions, and then leaves you hanging after you tell them it didn't work. As in months later no reply your game still isn't working. I got it working by manually entering the registry keys, manully isntalling the visual c runtimes, the direct x runtimes, and manually the dart…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →-heads straight into Normal mode- -accidently glitched 10000bc for some reason- -spams starfighter with best cost+lease outcome from 4 planets- -stacks them like cancer- -attacks most dominating race in view- -lost the game.- where did life went wrong...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game as a bundle Steam sale deal, I played only a little while, for when there was any ship to ship combat, the game completely froze. I have looked up this problem on forums and the only soution is to turn off any battle animations, which ruins the games excitment a little. The game to me is broken and if your thinking of purchasing...I would not, which is sad, because I really like this style of game
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game does not even open. Finding any support for this game also seems impossible.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let me clear a few things up, the game works on Windows 10. I did not need to turn on Compatibility mode. Date is 5/18/2025. 5600x, 32 gigs of ram, 6650xt. I played the game and owned it on a different platform. Game is good. I enjoyed it. It is dated. Get it on sale.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not even worth the write up, lifted this and agree totally as I clear the back log! "Extremely new-player-prohibitive. There is no tutorial, no instructions (even though it has a "tutorial mode" option, none ever happens), it throws tons of stuff in your face with no explanation or introduction of any kind and you're supposed to just know what to do, automatically."
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →That was pretty rough.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have tried to start playing this game several times in the years since it appeared on my account (I mean, I own it somehow, I might as well?), but it is extremely new-player-prohibitive. There is no tutorial, no instructions (even though it has a "tutorial mode" option, none ever happens), it throws tons of stuff in your face with no explanation or introduction of any kind and you're supposed to just know what to do, automatically. That might be not so bad if you could tinker with it, figure…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →incredible game very complete and fun, but it has a hidden drm system that will send you a message warning that you have pirated files of the game somewhere and it will close, so if you downloaded another version of this game for any reason you can not play it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the game will not start at all on newer systems. not worth the buy on steam. try the gog version, from what i understand that one works.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As other reviewers wrote, this is unplayable. The game just won't start. I tried patching it myself, using compatibility modes, searching fixes on forums... nothing worked. This game should not be sold on Steam as is. Don't buy it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have received this game as a free Humble Bundle giveaway. I haven't played it a lot yet, but I can tell you it works fine on Windows 10. It basically is Civilization in space, so if you like that kind of gamves, you can try it :) Although it looks a bit old, it's far from being unplayable, and the music is nice and relaxing too. EDIT: Actually, I got in a spaceship fight and the game crashed. Seems battle animations need to be disabled. TL;DR: Somehow works on Win 10. Get it if you like…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Galactic Civilizations series is a great series and the first entry was a great game back then, but it has - contrary to Master of Orion 1 + 2 - become unplayable by todays standards due to a very outdated interface and mechanics which don't make much sense anymore.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I didn't seem to have any issue getting it to work on W11. Very simple compared to it's contemporaries like Civilization 3. Somewhere between Civ 1 and 2 in complexity. It's... interesting. But from what I can tell lacks replayability. I don't see much reason to play it to be honest. And from searches online, it doesn't appear to have much of a fanbase to speak of.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's no nice way to put this, this game is not good. After struggling to learn it without any real tutorials, I managed to work my way through some of the game, only to find out that the other reviews are correct, combat doesn't seem to work at all. There's really no 'fun' part of this game that I could find, so I won't be trying any longer.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →not sure why this game has so many bad reviews. It's an old game i have bought it twice now once from stardock and now on steam. between the two i have hundreds of hours into it. This game is the reason a bought Galactic civ 2 and 3. Is it up to 2020 standards no. But a great game i still come back to.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Too complex for my simple brain. I spent over an hour colonizing planets and spending more money than I was making. Ended up broke with litle red angry faces on most of my planet. Enjoyed every minute of it. Would doom humans again.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Completely unplayable. When I press play nothing happens. Says I have 68 hours, all of which have been doing nothing. This should not be on steam.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wanted to play, can't. Game launches, shows in taskmanager, and nothing. Heard the GOG version of this game works fine, but I don't have the GOG version.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have no idea why this is Mixed so here's an upvote. Seems people are just blaming the developers for problems with their PCs, and a lot of them seem to have the Windows 10 virus. edit: Mostly Negative now! People never fail to amaze me.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game itself is good, compared to the newer versions/games it doesn't have a lot of content. But there is no point playing this game on modern machines, since at a specific point in the game it will crash. Meaning that you can't finish a single playthrough. This crash will always occur no matter the settings. Conclusion: Just buy GalCiv 2 or 3. (I got it in a pack with GalCiv2, so I don't really care that it's broken because GalCiv2 is a lot more fun. I also enjoy collecting games so…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, this is my favorite Galactic Civilizations game. It's not that the sequels are worse, but at the time this came out, there had been very little competition in the genre (basically just the Master of Orion games). I get very nostalgic whenever the supposedly pure evil and brutal Lord Kona of Drengin Empire offers me a big hug through the diplomacy screen. Shame that you can't play this in windowed mode normally through Stream (you have to set your screen's color depth to 16b) because…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting game. It's got a bit of a learning curve, and isn't too attractive at first, but it'll grow on you if you like 4x games. That being said, I'd say just buy the sequel, a far better game. Don't buy 3 yet.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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