Unfortunately there’s only one worthy Civ 5 strategy guide, but fortunately it’s a really good one. It helped me greatly with both singleplayer and multiplayer with hundreds of tips, tricks, tactics and strategies I’d never think of. I still haven’t beat the AI at Deity difficulty but I’m slowly getting there :). Read my reviews below:

1. James’ Civilization V Strategy Guide
2. BradyGames Official Civilization V Strategy Guide

1. James’ Civilization V Strategy Guide

Rating: ★★★★★ 

When I first got my hands on this Civ5 strategy guide I was afraid it’ll lack content since it was published almost right after the release of the game. However, the author clearly snagged a beta key very early on since it was impossible to develop so many different strategies in such little time. And I’m not talking about newbie tips you can find on every other Civ V fansite: these strategies are very detailed, step-by-step guides on how to consistently win games with any civilization. Pure gold.

Build orders are covered, as are building details, wonders, unit strengths and weaknesses, social policies, diplomacy, victory conditions and a lot more. Confused on how many cities you need for your empire? How to increase happiness while still maintaining a military dominance? Want to know how to get a technology victory while your opponents is still in the Renaissance era? With this guide you’ll find out all of that and more, while your opponents beg you for a peace treaty.

Bottomline is, this is the only decent guide available for Civilization 5 and it’s an amazing one. Whatever questions you have about Civilization V this guide will answer, and if you really want to dominate other players online this is exactly what you need.

2. BradyGames Official Civilization V Strategy Guide

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

BradyGames and their official strategy guides are rarely any good. Basically, the official game websites often have more detailed information, but people still keep buying these guides and wasting money. I’ve read more than a few of these and was always disappointed.

Civilization 5 has an in-game Civilopedia which is basically what this guide is, but not even that detailed. A printed version of the basic game information and statistics. There are no insider strategies, no useful tips and tricks which you can’t get elsewhere for free.

Even though it’s not much of an investment since you can get this for under $15, it’s simply not worth even that much. I’d recommend you rather get the unofficial guide which costs the same but is worth five times as much.