Easiest Civ to play as?

[Nubbe]

What would you say is the easiest Civ/leader to play as for a new player?

[Martinus]

Hmmm it really depends on your style, but since maintenance costs are possibly the hardest part for a new player to get hang of, I would recommend some Organized or Financial civ. Washington is both. Ceasar is another good choice, since he is Organized and has a very strong, early game unit.

[Common Sensei]

I'd also recommend Elizabeth (Financial and Philosophical) as the financial aspect will make economy easier and Philosophical will give you more opportunities to play around with Great People.

[Adagio]

The easiest game I've played so far was when I was playing the Aztec, but that was mostly because I only had one enemy (the english), who I destroyed very early (I only used Jaguars to fight the wars)

[Azuarc]

I'd avoid leaders with Expansive, Organized, or Philosophical on low difficulties as a new player because their advantages are better suited for higher difficulties, or in Phi's case, more sophisticated gameplay.

I would definitely look into something with Industrious, or barring that, Financial. I believe it's Qin of China that has both.

Aggressive, Creative, and Spiritual are also decent traits for a new player. I wouldn't count those out. Gandhi, (Spi/Ind) is another good early choice because of his traits, the Indian unique unit is the fast worker, and he has a nice pair of starting techs.


Other factors:
-Aggressive is helpful if you will be or think you might be at war. If your style is conquest, take an Aggressive leader.
-Creative is beneficial to someone not adept at city placement.
-If you plan on experimenting a lot with civics, spiritual is nice for the lack of anarchy.
-A large empire will benefit from Organized and Expansive, particularly on higher difficulties.
-Starting techs can be significant. If you want to learn about religion, play someone starting with mysticism. (Not every spiritual civ does.)
-Unique units are not completely to be ignored. Most of the ancient cultures have a very early unique unit to play around with. The Inca, in particular, have one available immediately. The Malinese, Aztec, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman have fairly easy ones to reach.