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Sid Meier's Civilization VI Game Guide

Sid Meier's Civilization VI Game Guide

Build your own civilization! The Sid Meier's Civilization VI guide contains a complete set of information explaining all the rules of gameplay in Civ 6 and Gathering Storm. It recommends the best strategies and describes the characteristics of each of the nations.

Last update: 24 March 2022

This unofficial guide for Civilization VI is a complete compendium of knowledge and a handbook which explains all the rules of gameplay. The advice provided here will help less experienced players to get started with this game and become successful in the multiplayer mode. Veterans of the series will find a detailed description of the new mechanics that creators introduced in the sixth installment of the series.

The guide explains the basic issues such as user interface, new game settings, game mechanics, system requirements and controls. What's more, you will find a chapter with tips for novice players, which will encompass all the key advice regarding every element of the game.

Important part of our guide is a detailed description of each of the nations available in the game with an emphasis on their unique characteristics, strengths and recommended style of gameplay. An integral part of the guide are illustrations: they help you to follow the content easily and underline the most important elements of the game.

In other chapters you will find a detailed description and advice on key mechanisms of the gameplay, such as: scientific research, wonders of nature, terrain types, gathering resources, the occurrence of city-states in the game, encountering barbarians, or types of buidings-infrastructure in various city districts.

Civilization VI is the sixth full-fledged installment of the cult series of turn-based strategy games. Firaxis Games is the studio behind the production; it's been associated with the series from the very beginning. The latest production brings into play a number of changes and improvements, which may be problematic for the veterans of the series. This guide will help both the experienced players and the newbies easily navigate the new features introduced in the sixth installment.

The Civilization VI game guide contains:

  1. Chapter with starting tips;
  2. Detailed description of the game interface;
  3. Extensive commentary of the available factions;
  4. Explanation of the basic mechanics of city management;
  5. Useful advice on technologies and political systems;
  6. Advice on diplomacy and foreign affairs;
  7. Detailed description of units and buildings;
  8. Description of system requirements and controls;
  9. Advice and information on religions;
  10. Key information about acquiring Great People and how it benefits us.

Civilization 6: New game - how to start?

When you start a new game, you have a number of choices to make - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

When you start a new game, you have a number of choices to make:

  1. First of all, you must choose the civilization you want to lead to victory in the game. All the civilizations available in the basic version of the game are described in detail in the chapter entitled "Nations". This should make it easier for you to choose a civilization according to your preferred style of play (e.g. emphasis on military action or scientific research).
  2. You have to choose the difficulty level of the scenario.
  3. You have to choose the length of the game, that is, the expected length of the scenario. You can choose, for example, a shorter campaign if you can't spend a lot of free time.
  4. You have to choose a general type of map, e.g. a map with large continents or a map consisting of islands.
  5. You have to choose the size of the world map. The bigger the map, the more areas there are to explore and more other civilizations you can encounter.

You can find more information about the available options of the new campaign in a separate chapter - Scenario Settings.

Civilization 6: How to win a game?

In Civilization VI, you can emerge victorious from the campaign in several ways. The main methods of winning the scenario are:

  1. Winning by dominance, namely, by depriving other nations of their capital cities.
  2. Scientific victory, e.g. by dispatching missions to the Moon or establishing a colony on Mars.
  3. Cultural victory, by attracting enough tourists.
  4. Religious victory, by spreading your religion all over the world.
  5. Point victory, by obtaining the most points upon the start of the year 2050.

Each of the above victory options in Civilization 6 is described in more detail in the How to win section of this guide.

Civilization 6: Quick starting tips

  1. You don't have a time limit when playing your turn. Thus, you can think through and plan your next moves. End your turn only when you're sure that you've performed all the possible activities.
  2. Consider choosing a lower difficulty level when completing the game for the first time. This will allow you to get acquainted with the gameplay basics especially, if it's the first Civilization game you've played either in your life or in a very long time.
  3. Read the information on the hexagons (world map tiles) before doing anything there, e.g. before you move a unit or start erecting a building there. A given hexagon might help you with some specified actions (e.g distance attacks by your units), as well as make other ones more difficult (like moving units).
  4. Choose the locations for your new cities well. It is important to have access to food and water in order to develop production for the city to be included into existing trade routes and be defendable.
  5. One field / hexagon cannot be occupied by more than one unit. This is worth remembering when moving and deploying units around your metropolises.
  6. Do not ignore diplomacy. Try maintaining amicable relations with other civilizations even if you plan to invade them in the near future. You can also rely on agenda to learn about other leaders' plans.

More tips for beginners can be also found in the General Tips and Gameplay sections.

Civilization 6: The best technologies

In Civilization VI, you can develop new technologies from the tree. This topic is thoroughly described in the Tech tree section of our guide:

  1. Basic tech info - you can learn how to unlock new technologies, plan your tech development, and how to invent new technologies faster.
  2. Technologies in Civilization 6 in the Ancient Era
  3. Technologies in Civilization 6 in the Classical Era
  4. Technologies in Civilization 6 in the Medieval Era
  5. Technologies in Civilization 6 in the Renaissance Era
  6. Technologies in Civilization 6 in the Industrial Era

Civilization 6: World map

When exploring the world map in Civilization 6 it's worth to remember several important things. They are all described in the following section titled In-game world:

  1. Barbarians - You can learn how to avoid them, as well as what are the types of barbarians, and how to efficiently deal with them.
  2. Tribal villages - You can learn about the tribal villages you might encounter and about their significance in the game.
  3. The lie of the land - We prepared the area types that might by covered by the hexagons (map tiles). You will learn how a given area type affects e.g. moving and recruiting units.
  4. Natural Wonders - We've prepared the list of the main Natural Wonders with the information on each one and the bonuses they provide.

Civilization 6: Resource management

When playing Civilization VI, you are bound to deal with different types of resources. The Economy section lists the most important ones:

  1. Base game resources - This page includes tables with the strategy, luxury, and bonus resources.
  2. Strategy resources - You can acquire them if you have the Gathering Storm expansion installed.

Civilization 6: The most important buildings

The Infrastructure section of this guide describes the most important district types you'll find in the cities you develop. Additionally, we've prepared a building list for each district with information on their unique features and usefulness.

  1. Central district - City Center
  2. Campus
  3. Aqueduct
  4. Commercial Hub
  5. Encampment
  6. Harbor
  7. Holy Site
  8. Theater Square
  9. Industrial Zone
  10. Neighborhood
  11. Spaceport
  12. Entertainment Complex
  13. Canal

Civilization 6: Is the game a long game?

Yes and no. A single playthrough at the normal difficulty level with default settings should take 10 to 20 hours. This might be misleading, though, as the game encourages you to complete scenarios multiple times in order to "test" other nations, learn from mistakes, and fight for a different type of victory.

You can find more information in a separate section titled How long does it take to complete Civilization 6?

Civilization 6: The best expansions

Civilization VI received a lot of paid DLCs, however, most of them do not introduce a lot of significant changes regarding e - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Civilization VI received a lot of paid DLCs, however, most of them do not introduce a lot of significant changes regarding e.g. adding new nations and scenarios. We recommend purchasing two large expansions to Civilization VI, namely:

  1. Civilization VI: Rise and Fall - the list of available changes includes adding major eras, governors, expanding diplomacy options, increase the number of buildings and wonders, as well as introducing 8 new nations together with 9 new leaders.
  2. Civilization VI: Gathering Storm - The list of available changes includes the increase the role of the environment, adding new projects, strategy resources, World Congress, developing the tech tree, as well as adding 8 new civilizations along with 9 nations' leaders.

Civilization 6: Does the game have a season pass?

Yes - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Yes. In May 2020, Civilization VI season pass was revealed. It is titled New Frontier Pass and works as a pass to 6 DLS packs that are to be released between May 2020 and March 2021.

Civilization 6 Season Pass offers 8 new nations (including Mayans and Ethiopians), 9 new leaders, and 6 new gameplay modes. It is worth mentioning that playing some new modes required you to own the Rise and Fall and/or Gathering Storm expansions.

Civilization 6: Does the game have microtransactions?

No, there are no microtransactions in Civilization 6. In many other games, they allow players to progress faster (e.g. with xp boosters) or make the game easier. Apart from 6 major expansions, there are numerous small DLCs to Civilization VI which offer unique content and should not be treated as microtransactions .

Civilization 6: Does the version from Epic Games Store include DLCs?

No, Civilization VI offered for free by Epic Games between 21-28 May 2020 is only the base game. This means that in the free version from EGS you get only the base content which does not include, among other things, new attractions and changes introduced by Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm expansions .

Civilization 6: Does the game have a battle royale mode?

Yes, Civilization VI has a mode which is a variation on the battle royale formula, namely the Red Death mode, which was released as a free add-on in September 2019.

In the Red Death mode, 2-12 players enter a special, post-apocalyptic map. Each player can choose a faction with unique skills. Their task is to defend the civilian unit - losing it means being eliminated from the game. The player who survives until the end escapes from Earth onboard a spaceship, which is the equivalent of the end of a single game. Interestingly enough, in Red Death, apart from players fighting each other, there also are hostile units commanded by the AI. Another twist is added by the titular Red Death, which is gradually spreading across the in-game world forcing the players to avoid it.

Civilization 6: Is the console version a full-fledged game?

Yes, Civilization VI for PlayStation 4, XboxOne, and Nintendo Switch doesn't lack anything compared to the PC version of the game. Console editions offer the same difficulty levels and content. Obviously, the controls are different, however, all detail settings, commands, and stats are still available.

Civilization 6: The most important controls

Below, you'll find the list of the most important controls in Civilization VI. The complete controls scheme for Civ VI can be found in a separate chapter.

Global actions

Icon

Function

Cursor movement - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Cursor movement

Selecting units / interface windows - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Selecting units / interface windows

Giving orders to units - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Giving orders to units

Change camera - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Change camera

Game menu - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Game menu

Next action - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Next action

Quicksave - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Quicksave

Quickload - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Quickload

Unit actions

Icon

Function

Attack - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Attack

Ranged attack - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Ranged attack

Automatic exploration - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Automatic exploration

Fortification - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Fortification

Skip turn - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Skip turn

Move to - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Move to

Delete a unit - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Delete a unit

Sleep - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Sleep

Start a city - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Start a city

User Interface

Icon

Function

The Civics Tree - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

The Civics Tree

The Tech Tree - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

The Tech Tree

City-state menu - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

City-state menu

Religion menu - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Religion menu

Trade routes menu - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Trade routes menu

System menu - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

System menu

Great Work menu - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Great Work menu

Intelligence menu - Sid Meiers Civilization VI Game Guide

Intelligence menu

Civilization 6: Does the game have high system requirements?

No, the minimum system requirements are not very high, namely:

  1. OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 - 64- bit
  2. CPU: Core i3 2.5 GHz / Phenom II 2.6 GHz
  3. RAM: 4 GB
  4. GPU: GTX 450 / HD 5570
  5. HDD: 12 GB
  6. GPU memory: 1 GB

One should note, though, that weaker hardware might result in the game slowing down on large and complex maps. They might be even more frequent in the later stages of a playthrough, when each nation on the map gets a chance to grow significantly. More information can be found in the System requirements section of this guide.

Civilization 6: Does the game spy the user?

No, the developers of Civilization VI quit using the controversial Red Shell app. Just as a reminder, this program was installed and operated without the knowledge of the user to collect anonymous data on players and their system configuration. Red Shell was deleted from Civilization 6 in July 2018.

Civilization 6: Can I play as Poland?

Yes, Civilization VI offers the option to play as Poland as one of the available nations. One should note, though, that Poland is not one of the basic nations - you need to purchase a DLC Poland Civilization & Scenario pack for 4,99€.

Poland is led by "king" Jadwiga who as a leader, can spread her religion on nearby cities. The DLC in question includes the winged hussars as a unique unit or the ability to erect Sukiennice adding bonus to production on external trade routes as well as gold on the internal ones. In Civ 6, the unique ability of Poland is the Golden Liberty, allowing players to conquer new territories and even stealing the occupied ones by building forts and Encampments.

About Sid Meier's Civilization VI Game Guide

Author : Lukasz "Keczup" Wisniewski for gamepressure.com

last update :

Guide contains : 59 pages, 233 images.

Use the comments below to submit your updates and corrections to this guide.

Hot Topics of Sid Meier's Civilization VI Game Guide

Sid Meier's Civilization VI Video Game

  • genre: Strategy

  • developer: Firaxis Games
  • publisher: 2K Games
  • platform: PC

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