This practice ensures an advantage for vigilant players. And with the addition of active research, you can cut research time in half by meeting specific, logical conditions tied to individual Techs and Civics-settling next to a coast will boost your research in sailing, for instance. Civics replace social policies and now function identically to technologies: pick one from an expansive tree, spend a few turns researching it, and unlock new cultural possibilities like theocracy or globalization. You can now tailor your government to your specific playstyle by earning various policy cards that impact everything from war weariness to cultural output. You’ll find a host of slightly smaller but equally smart changes as well.
It can be a little exasperating and tedious, but ultimately, I realized each and every city contributed to my overall success and, consequently, provided unique opportunities for strategic gain. Where previously you could mentally check out for a few turns while waiting for your big picture decisions to pan out, you must now actively monitor and improve each city’s condition. These replace the global food and happiness levels of previous Civilizations and make individual turns more engaging in the process. Barbarians were less of an issue than I initially feared, but it's still frustrating they can instantly spawn advanced units anywhere hidden by the fog of war.Īlong with planning each city’s long-term development, you must also manage its housing and amenity needs. Not only does this change the way you consider the board, it also adds a new strategic layer that fills a gap and creates greater variety in the types of thinking Civ demands. Certain structures, for example, function more efficiently on specific types of land, while others can only be built if certain typographical demands are met. Rather than occupy a single tile on the world map, cities now sprawl outward, allowing you to capitalize on each city’s specific surroundings-assuming you exercise some serious foresight. And espionage, now deeper than ever, lets you not only place spies but pick specific missions for them to carry out.Ĭiv 6 is packed with added nuances that enrich existing systems, but it also makes some major changes, the biggest of which is “unstacking” cities. War weariness will eventually lead your population to revolt, but using diplomacy to squeeze luxury resources out of your allies can quell rebellion. Maintaining military units, for example, is expensive, but picking trade routes with a high gold yield helps mitigate the financial impact. You can use the builder unit in new ways to better capitalize on the resources that surround your cities, accelerating humanity’s ascent into space.Īnd of course, you can still amass a formidable army, but even warfare presents new considerations that force you to lean on other systems beyond battle tactics. You can create new religious units like apostles to more efficiently spread your gospel to world. You can build arts districts that allow you to more quickly accrue culture points and attract great artists. More than ever, every win condition feels equally rich and equally viable, whether you’re pursuing culture, religion, science, or domination.
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