Unlike some other games, you do not need to spend a whole days working at a map; sometimes a half hour is enough, leaving you time to play another round or just to avoid the necessity of trying to cram two hours of sleep before the morning alarm clock. There are many modes to try; I particularly like the Hegemony battles - not because I always win but because I sometimes don't although I wish there were a forum for each of the various civilisations (factions) so that I could see if there are other players that consistently favour one or some civs over others rather than just wondering if folks are merely jumping onto the bandwagon of the one leading faction.. The developers are good at staying on top of the little issues.

This game really captures the honeymoon turns of an early civ game before it becomes unwieldy which is why I can give him a recommend for a civ enjoyer. A slight critique is that military is a bit too powerful if you all in on it on late turns but there are generally only 20 turns per game max. The deck building element can be fun but the game can devolve into digging for cards if you're not aware about the value of burning cards.

Not a bad game per session, and I was actually having a lot of fun. Until I went to multiplayer.

The movement there is just broken to the point of being unplayable.
Everyone makes the orders on their turn, then the movement and attacks happen in a seemingly random order.
This means that if you're the last in turn order you can get your big unit move blocked by a scout.
You'll get shot first before getting to do anything.
You'll get flanked because you've not moved yet, so the enemy has perfect knowledge.
You'll have your disembarks move blocked - the charge card you paid for? Wasted. Pick a different cell next turn? Then can just move to it.

It's not just bad, it's infuriatingly unfair if you're not player 1.