Released on February 6, 2025, for those who pre-ordered it, and set for a general release on February 11, 2025, Sid Meier's Civilization VII is the highly anticipated sequel to a game series that first debuted in 1991.
In this new installment, the developers at Firaxis have chosen to modify many aspects of the game, which may unsettle players, whether they are veterans of the franchise or newcomers. In this guide, we will look at how to start a game in Sid Meier's Civilization VII successfully.
A Beginner's Guide to Civilization VII
At the start of a game, some things remain unchanged: you must place your capital near resources. One of the most crucial aspects at the beginning of the game is exploration. It is often a good idea to train one or two Scouts, who will explore the surroundings of your capital in search of “goodie huts” (ruins, camps…). Be careful: in this installment, there are multiple types of goodie huts, and you will not receive a notification when your scout encounters one. Additionally, automatic exploration is not yet implemented, so you will need to manually explore and stay vigilant. In this regard, the “Scan the zone” option will reveal the nearest goodie huts and natural wonders.
From a scientific perspective, it is generally wise to research Pottery or Animal Husbandry first. Sailing, on the other hand, is rarely useful early on unless your starting position is coastal. When choosing other scientific research paths, observing the resources around your capital is a good way to determine which technologies to prioritize. You may exploit them without the adequate tile improvement, but researching in the tech tree will bring you much better yields. For example, if the resources near your capital require plantations, you may want to research Irrigation in the tech tree; similarly, Masonry will improve quarries on marble or kaolin. You will also have the ability to master certain technologies, enhancing their base effects.
Districts and City Management
Your population will soon begin to grow, which brings us to one of the first major changes in the game: districts. Builders are gone, and all constructions now take place automatically from the city center. There are two types of districts:
- Rural districts develop resources and create a "culture bomb", claiming all surrounding tiles.
- Urban districts can each contain two buildings.
Urban districts can replace rural districts, and their placement is particularly important. The cumulative effects of buildings and tile improvements can lead to significant resource yields, making strategic placement essential.
In this case, improving the cotton tile, on the right, seems the ideal choice.
Some buildings can be constructed in all eras (and their bonuses will apply throughout the game), while others may only be built in certain eras but retain their effects afterward. Others, however, are era-specific and will become obsolete in later eras. Fortunately, obsolete buildings can be replaced with more modern structures later on.
There are now two types of settlements: Cities and towns. Cities, like your capital, can produce units and buildings, whereas towns use all their production to generate gold. You can specialize your towns and cities based on their strengths or establish an urban network where smaller cities support the demographic growth of larger ones by supplying them with food.
Note: At the end of an era, all your cities revert to towns, except for your capital. Only an economic Golden Age prevents this.
New threats
Although barbarians are no longer present in this new game, you should not remain completely unarmed. Independent powers now take their place, and some will be outright hostile from the beginning. Others, neutral or friendly, should pose fewer problems. Thus, don't forget to train a few soldiers in your capital to deal with potential neighborhood conflicts.
Note: Yes, hostile Independent powers can conquer your capital! Do not underestimate them.
Independent powers may have no mercy.
Independent Powers can evolve into City States if you spend enough influence points on them. By doing so, you can also become their suzerain, thus pacifying them. To do so, you will have to double-click on the Independant power central tile - a pretty non-intuitive system, to be fair. As in previous Civ game, becoming the suzerain of a City state can bring you noticeable bonuses that this time you can choose.
Stacking your influence points to become the first suzerain of a nearby City State can be a good path. You can spend points to slowly become their friend, and make Independant Powers turn into City states. You can also spend more influence points to increase by one per turn the “friendship bar” as they will faster turn into City states. Don’t waste them all on diplomatic interactions with other civs too early. When you become their Suzerain, you can also spend more points to integrate them as Towns in your empire.
Note : City states are reset at every era change. So don’t waste too many influence points on them either, except if they are integrated as towns.
Three eras, three Civilizations, one leader
One of the major changes in this installment is that games are now divided into three eras. You will keep the same leader throughout the game, but when transitioning to a new era, your civilization will change.
This era shift is a crucial moment, and there are a few key details to be aware of to avoid making simple but costly mistakes.
The developers designed these transitions as major turning points:
- All civilizations will change.
- Some era-specific buildings will become obsolete, yielding fewer resources.
- You will be at peace with all your neighbors, with neutral diplomatic relations.
- If you have too many military units, they will simply be disbanded!
Note: When changing eras, you can only keep one unit per city, plus as many units as your army commanders (or Legatus for Rome) can contain. Any excess units will be destroyed!
Beyond the Oceans!
While you remain close to your capital in Antiquity, you will gain access to much more territory in the Age of Exploration. During this period, you will explore the New World by sending ships into ocean tiles. Unlock Shipbuilding in the tech tree to start producing Treasure Fleets.
In this New World, treasures will appear approximately every 5 turns on ressources like cotton or gold. You can bring them back to your capital by transporting them in your ships, or steal them from other players. Piracy is just beginning!
Note: Ocean tiles are dangerous for landlubbers—expect to lose some of your ships to weather events. Fortunately, ships can be repaired, even outside your own territory.
Follow the Objectives
Depending on the quests and choices you make, different opportunities will arise, shaping your gameplay direction. Completing objectives related to your chosen paths will grant significant bonuses.
Each legacy path gives quests and objectives. Following and achieving them will provide you significant bonuses for the next eras, and lead you to victory.
You most likely won’t be able to complete every objective of every path ; and even if you complete the three objectives of multiple paths, you will only be able to choose one single legacy.
You will NOT conquer the World! (at least, not too quickly)
This is perhaps the biggest mistake beginners make: because military unit production times are relatively short, it is tempting to train as many soldiers as possible and conquer every opponent.
Note: When capturing a city, you must take not only the city center but also all its walled tiles!
Be careful, as each era has a limited number of cities you can establish. This is not a hard cap, but exceeding this limit will result in happiness penalties that can severely impact your empire’s efficiency. In the worst cases, several uprisings may trouble your empire.
Avoid rapidly conquering all nearby cities, or you may suffer severe happiness penalties across your entire empire. Be sure to research cultural policies that allow you to have more cities and maximize your population’s happiness if you choose an expansionist strategy.
And What About Memories?
You won’t have access to memories in your first game, but let’s discuss them briefly. They act as permanent bonuses that you choose at the start of a game alongside your leader.
This system functions like a global XP system: actions performed in past games will unlock new memories for future playthroughs. This mechanic encourages replayability while rewarding past achievements.
Whether you're a newcomer or a Civilization veteran, this new installment brings plenty of surprises and new mechanics to explore!