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Civilization 7 marks a significant shift in the series, especially with its revamped age system. This new feature radically alters the gameplay dynamic: you start the game by selecting a leader, and then you progress through different ages, transitioning from the Exploration Age to the Modern Age, each time choosing a new civilization. This fresh approach to the historical evolution of your civilization introduces a plethora of new strategies, units, global events, and more.
Our goal is to provide you with a comprehensive guide to all the basics of Civilization 7, while also delving into some of the innovative mechanics. We’ll navigate through the game, age by age, for a thorough walkthrough.
Starting the Game
Before you dive into gameplay, there are crucial decisions that can significantly influence your progress.
Choosing Your Leader and Civilization
In a departure from previous games, leaders and civilizations are now separate entities. This means, for example, that you could lead Augustus while playing as the Ming Dynasty. At first, this might seem historically inaccurate, but this flexibility adds a fascinating layer to the game.
Each leader provides unique advantages that are applicable throughout all three ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Thus, choosing the right leader holds substantial importance.
Leaders tend to favor specific victory conditions, so it’s wise to have a victory strategy in mind before you begin your game. As you advance, civilizations themselves can evolve. For instance, you might start as Rome, gaining benefits in infantry production and culture, but transition to a different civilization during the Exploration Age, which could shift your game’s direction. If you’ve focused on building wonders and cultural structures as Rome, you might want to adjust your strategy for the Exploration Age to align with a civilization that excels in cultural growth.
Once you’ve decided on your leader and civilization, consider Mementos.
Understanding Mementos
Mementos are a fresh addition in Civilization 7, serving as part of the game’s meta-progression system. These rewards are obtained through gameplay, leveling up different leaders, and accomplishing various challenges.
At the start of the game, you can select two Mementos to enhance your play. They can provide boosts ranging from additional attribute points for your leader to extra gold for every 50 tiles revealed.
You can also switch out Mementos between Ages.
Typically, Mementos are color-coded, offering insights into which type of victory condition they support—gold for economic victories, red for military, and so forth.
As you progress, you can earn more Mementos by reaching level thresholds and completing specific challenges—like defeating the game itself. Additionally, leveling up the Civilization pass will also earn you Mementos.
Getting Started in the Antiquity Age
You’ve chosen your leader, civilization, and Mementos—now it’s time to establish your first city.
In contrast to earlier Civilization games, Settlers won’t always directly establish a city. Initially, new settlements will be Towns, which require conversion into cities using gold later on. However, your first Settler is a special unit called a Founder, which can instantly establish a city.
Choosing your first city is a critical decision. While the options may seem straightforward, the right pick isn’t always obvious. Use the Settler lens feature to check for game suggestions.
A few key points about cities in Civ 7:
- Cities can access resources within a three-tile radius of their city hall.
- Cities will immediately grow by one population, which allows you to unlock a new tile.
- Unlike previous entries, growing a city on a tile will immediately enhance that resource or tile—no builder is necessary.
Fresh Water
Settling your initial city (and subsequent towns) benefits from the new Fresh Water system. Historically, settling near water has had its advantages, such as exploring coastal areas, developing fertile land, and constructing specific World Wonders.
In Civilization 7, the advantages of Fresh Water aren’t explicitly outlined. However, it typically provides an initial happiness boost for settlements founded near fresh water.
Types of Income: Culture, Gold, Science, Happiness, and Influence
Your empire generates five types of income: Culture, Gold, Science, Happiness, and Influence—visible on the top left of your screen.
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Culture: Contributes to civic research. Earn more culture by constructing cultural buildings like the Monument, utilizing policy cards, or taking advantage of leader or civilization bonuses.
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Gold: Comes from trade routes, gold-generating buildings, resources, and policy cards. Establish trade routes with friendly civilizations and city-states for extra gold, or benefit if other empires use trade routes within your territory.
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Science: This metric influences your tech research. Enhance your science output with buildings like the Library or collaborating with friendly AI players.
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Happiness: Represents the total happiness of all your settlements combined. While positive happiness is beneficial, it’s vital to maintain it across individual settlements to unlock Celebrations that grant new social policy slots.
- Influence: One of the trickiest resources to accumulate, especially in the early game. However, it’s invaluable, providing bonuses to your empire interactions with both friendly and unfriendly AI, such as boosting early-game science through research collaborations or befriending city-states.
Starting Strategies
The early turns in Civilization 7 are pivotal, particularly with the new Discovery system that has replaced traditional goodie huts or barbarian villages. Discoveries are special locations on the map that yield powerful rewards upon arrival with a unit.
It’s crucial to gather as many Discoveries as possible, but you’ll have to compete with other civilizations to do so. This is why we recommend the Scout rush strategy.
Early Scout Rush
The strategy is to generate at least two scouts as quickly as you can. Prioritize production tiles to expedite the production of scouts. Once operational, you can use the Search feature to reveal a large radius that highlights Discoveries even obscured by fog of war. Opt for this instead of the Lookout function, which won’t reveal Discoveries.
Prioritize Luxurious Encampments along your path, as they often present the best rewards.
If you have sufficient production, consider going for a triple-scout rush to uncover a wealth of Discoveries, Independent Powers, and other nearby civilizations.
Production is Key
In the early game, prioritize boosting Production in your capital by acquiring production-oriented buildings like the Saw Pit and Brickyard. Consider researching Animal Husbandry and Pottery for a boost in production.
You can rely on towns to provide food to your capital, so focusing on food-producing structures in your main city isn’t immediately urgent.
Independent Powers, Diplomacy, Warfare
Conflict is a natural part of Civilization 7 as you encounter Independent Powers and other civilizations. Independent Powers function as city-states, which can be categorized as either Hostile or Friendly. You can identify their type through the icons next to their names, such as a coin for economic powers or a flask for scientific ones. Establishing friendly relations with an Independent Power typically costs 170 Influence.
In the early game, the AI will aggressively present you with Influence-related opportunities—these could be research collaborations, local festivals, or military bonuses. However, sometimes it might be wiser to decline these offers in order to save Influence for befriending Independent Powers.
On higher difficulty settings like Immortal and Deity, Independent Powers can be particularly aggressive. If you find yourself in close proximity to multiple hostile powers, investing in military units early can prove essential.
Diplomacy
Civilization 7 has significantly revamped its diplomacy system. Now, you earn Influence each turn, which you can utilize for diplomatic engagements and potential sanctions with or against other players. The AI will offer various proposals from the onset—accepting valuable ones, like research collaborations, could give your early game a boost.
Playing diplomatically is increasingly viable, especially on higher difficulty levels. Generating enough Influence can allow you to deter enemy aggression by rejecting their hostile sanctions.
Warfare
Game maps in Civilization 7 seem to shrink rapidly, placing you in closer proximity to neighboring civilizations sooner than expected. AI tends to adopt a more aggressive stance, which necessitates military development for your survival.
Fortunately, there are various strategies for both offense and defense, with the new Army Commander unit playing a pivotal role.
Army Commanders
The introduction of Army Commanders enhances combat mechanics. These units reduce micromanagement by enabling the stacking of multiple units on a single tile and moving them together, while also providing significant boosts through promotions.
Units in Civilization 7 don’t receive promotions—Commanders absorb all experience and promotion benefits, maintaining their levels through Ages, making them critical assets.
Army Management
Army Commanders offer various promotions, including the Assault promotion, allowing units to move immediately after being deployed, or the Fortification tree, beneficial for defensive strategies. They can also deliver buffs and bonuses to cities and districts.
Mastering Army Commanders’ functions may take time due to the new mechanics involved.
Cheesing the Peace Negotiation
AI opponents are often eager to concede cities during peace negotiations. If you find yourself in an intense battle with an enemy, propose peace and see if you can secure one or two of their cities as part of the deal.
While the specifics of this mechanic can be unclear, it’s commonly observed that those with a significant military advantage are more likely to see this tactic succeed.
Exploration and Modern Age Commanders
As you start training Army Commanders in the Antiquity Age, you’ll then unlock Fleet Commanders in the Exploration Age and Squadron Commanders in the Modern Age.
Religion Doesn’t Fully Develop Until the Exploration Age
In Civilization 7, religion plays a limited role in the early game. You can construct Altars and select a pantheon, but founding a religion with a Great Prophet is not the focus initially.
Religion becomes more relevant in the Exploration Age, where you will need to research the Piety civic, paving the way for temples and the ability to produce missionaries for spreading your faith.
Religion can yield substantial benefits, such as bonuses to gold and culture, and is essential for achieving a cultural victory by gathering relics, predominantly obtained through your religious efforts.
Civilization Change and Stacking Bonuses
A crucial innovation in Civilization 7 is the ability to transition to a new civilization between Ages. This practice is prompted by the game and may suggest historical or geographical connections, yet you retain complete control over your choices.
For instance, in one military-focused game, I initially began with Rome, conquered a large portion of the continent, and then switched to the Mongolian Empire during the Exploration Age to unleash a horde of Keshigs against the remaining opponents.
Always maintain an awareness of your upcoming victory condition. If you’ve spent the previous Age developing a scientific base, continue with that in the next Age. The diversity of variables makes determining the “best Civilization” a nuanced and complex question.
Victory Conditions – What Should You Aim For?
Different leaders and civilizations favor distinct victory conditions. Keep in mind that each Age has its unique objectives, and your civilization choice should naturally align with these.
For example, starting as Amina in the Antiquity Age and achieving an Economic Golden Age means that Gold can carry forward into a Science victory condition as the game progresses into the next Age.
Conversely, if you pursued a military victory with Rome in Antiquity, it’s logical to continue capitalizing on that military strength in the following Age. Understanding which leaders and civilizations excel in achieving specific victory conditions is vital.
The Age System – Crisis and Transition
The game unfolds across three Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern.
Antiquity revolves around establishing your empire and striving for a golden age victory. At this era’s conclusion, expect to navigate a crisis, such as a devastating plague or hostile independent city-states emerging near your territory.
The Exploration Age allows for deep ocean exploration, facilitating contact with civilizations from other continents and the collection of Treasure Fleet resources. Religion also becomes integral during this Age, and another crisis will arise at its end.
Finally, the Modern Age serves as the climax of your game, where you can achieve immense military expansion, engage in scientific space races, and attain cultural dominance through artifact management.
City Management and Resources
As your empire expands, so too do your borders, enabling the settling of new towns. However, towns don’t have a conventional production queue and must be upgraded to cities, a process that incurs a gold cost reduced by the number of buildings you’ve constructed in the town.
Town specialization is essential since the yields generated from towns revert to your cities. For instance, if you establish a new town near a fertile river, that town should focus on agriculture, while towns located in resource-rich areas should be oriented around mining.
Resource Management
In Civilization 7, resources function differently. During the Antiquity Age, there are three resource categories: city resources, bonus resources, and empire resources.
City resources fit within slots on the resource management screen, Bonus resources can be placed anywhere, and Empire resources benefit your entire civilization without needing to occupy a slot.
As you progress into the Exploration Age, you’ll gain access to Treasure Fleet resources, which can spawn Treasure Fleets when connected to a city after researching Shipbuilding.
In the Modern Age, you unlock Factories and corresponding factory resources that must be assigned within a Factory. After placing one factory resource, you can fill remaining slots with similar resources, significantly enhancing the specialization of your cities and towns.
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