@f I think that beginning with Civ V, the desktop game became way too elaborate. It was also demanded far greater computing resources. On the other hand, Civ Revolution for the gaming platforms was fun, but way too easy.
On the Sims front, I played all the SimCities, SimTower, and a few rounds of SimCopter and SimEarth. I think SimTower had huge potential, but Maxis gave up on it really quickly. :-(