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Civilization 6 - The Best Civs for Each Victory Type

Jordan Baranowski — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 14:21:22 -0500

It's possible to have to spent hundreds of hours playing Civilization 6 without ever having reached a victory in a single playthrough. Some players get bored and want to start anew, some simply get out-strategized by the other players and/or AI, and yet others want that perfect game.

Each playable civ in Civilization 6 has its own strengths and weaknesses that make them best suited to certain victory types. Some, such as Korea, are obviously geared towards particular playstyles; but others, such as Russia, are a little more difficult to pin down.

Here we'll be going over the best civ choices for each victory type, and you may be surprised by some of them. Keep in mind that each playthrough is different, and that you do need to consider your opponents in some regard when choosing your civ.

Feel free to post your own opinions in the comments.

Note: These apply to the changes implemented in the Gathering Storm expansion. These may not be applicable in the base game.

Domination

Best Civ: Zulu

If you choose the Zulu as your civ, you're immediately tipping your hand that you'll be focusing on military. They offer no particular cultural, civic, or religious benefit, but they are really good at dominating on the battlefield.

Even if you can't completely secure your Domination victory when you start firing on all cylinders, the Zulu should be able to secure you enough advantage through the midgame to coast to victory however you see fit.

There are a few major factors that allow the Zulu to be militarily dominant, but the big one is their ability to gain Corps and Armies much earlier than other civs.

Nearly all the Zulu's unique traits revolve around building up powerful medieval armies and stomping everyone else.

Their unique unit, the Impi, is a monster against Knights, which are usually the dominant forces of the medieval era. Their Armies and Corps gain a strength bonus, can be trained earlier than other civs get similar units, and can be trained directly.

Finally, capturing cities upgrades a unit to a Corps and a Corps to an Army if you have the proper civics researched.

Many military civs are bogged down when they start trying to capture cities, but the Zulu can actually strengthen their army if they strategically capture. The Zulu military might can get out of control in a hurry if their opponents don't disrupt it.

Other good Domination options: Scythia, Greece

Science

Best Civ: Korea

Like the Zulu and domination, Korea will almost always be shooting for a science victory. Their ability to outpace the other civs on the tech tree make them formidable in other victory types if they can get far enough ahead, but it is tougher to pivot from the science path if it doesn't look like it will work.

The biggest boon to Korea's scientific success is their unique district, the Seowon. It provides a lot of science on its own, especially early on, and also grants a science bonus to adjacent mines. If you can find lots of hilly areas to abuse Seowons, you will be tough to catch.

In addition, Governors add even more science to your already massive output. The general plan for Korean victory involves getting so far ahead early on that you can basically turtle up and defend your cities against inferior units as you rush to build the spaceship.

Other good Science options: Arabia, Scotland

Culture

Best Civ: Sweden

This is one of the trickier ones, as lots of civs utilize culture in a variety of strong ways. However, Kristina's cultural abilities overall seem like the strongest, mainly because they can come online much faster than many other civs.

If you get out to a strong cultural jump, it can discourage other players and snowball into enough of an advantage that it doesn't matter who tries to catch you.

The first boon towards a culture victory comes from your leader ability. Kristina herself makes it much easier to theme your great works, granting you massive bonuses if you're able to find the right sets.

The Open Air Museum is where Sweden really shines, however. It can generate a massive amount of tourism for every city in your empire, and they can be built much earlier than tourism producers in other civs. Once you start getting them up and running, it might be too late to stop you.

Other good Culture options: Canada, China, America

Religion

Best Civ: Russia

Religion is another tricky one to judge, as there are a few different routes you can find success with when aiming for a religion victory. However, few civs can overpower others with prayer like Russia, as they can utilize multiple methods to spread their faith.

Russia's religious prowess begins with their unique district: the Lavra. They come online earlier than Holy Sites, and they provide a better boost.

The Lavra allows you to get the pick of your pantheons - considering Russia typically starts in colder climates, "Dance of the Aurora" is usually your best bet. You'll soon be generating more faith than you'll know what to do with, and can go about converting the world.

Peter the Great also grants bonuses to international trade routes, which can be another effective way to spread your religion to far away civs.

Other good Religion options: India, Spain, Georgia

Diplomacy

Best Civ: Canada

Ah, the black sheep of Civilization 6 victory conditions. In general, if you could win a diplomacy victory, you probably could have already won another way. That's neither here nor there, however: if you want to shoot for that diplomacy victory, Canada is your best bet.

Canada is all about sitting back and being friendly with everyone. They can't declare surprise wars or be the target of them, which goes a long way to keeping Canada on everyone's good side.

They also get massive boosts to their diplomatic favor by doing things you would otherwise be doing: generating culture and working against emergencies. Basically, if you can stay on everyone's good side, you will probably eke out a victory as Canada.

This passive, friendly playstyle also pivots very well into a culture victory, should you need to change your tactics. If you need to switch to a domination victory with Canada, you might be in trouble.

Other good Diplomacy civs: Sweden, Hungary

Every time you generate a map, adjust the difficulty, or add in new civs, you're going to change your path to victory in Civilization 6. That's part of the reason why the series has endured as one of the deepest and most replayable strategy games around.

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Check out our other Civilization 6 guides here on GameSkinny.

Civilization 6 Troubleshooting Rise And Fall DLC Startup Crashes & Bug Fixes

Ty Arthur — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 13:54:27 -0500

Your winning strategy just got obliterated in Civilization 6 as the Rise And Fall DLC arrives, adding in additional alliances, special events, ages, governors, and even whole new civs with completely different play styles!

As a long-overdue update that changes how civilizations interact with each other, any fan of the base game will want to try out the Civ 6 Rise and Fall expansion as soon as possible.

Sadly, many are unable to do so, as players keep experiencing Civilization 6 crashes as soon as the game loads, while others can get into the game but can't actually play with any of the new Rise And Fall content. If you've been experiencing Rise And Fall startup errors or bugs, follow the steps below to get up and running!

Civilization 6 Rise And Fall Startup Troubleshooting

Unfortunately, the Civ 6 Rise And Fall DLC is not currently supported on Mac or Linux systems -- sorry folks, this one's Windows only for the time being! For some reason, the store page still allows you to buy the DLC, but you can't actually use it yet.

If you are using Windows and still can't get the game to load after downloading the DLC, there are some basic troubleshooting measures to try out first before getting into the more complicated possibilities.

Completely shut down and restart Steam, then click on the Civilization VI entry in your library. Scroll down to the DLC section on the right side of the frame and look for the "Rise And Fall" entry. If it isn't checked, click the checkbox.

(Thanks to Satoru for the screenshot)

Next up, as with any Steam game, it's time to verify integrity of the files and re-download if necessary. Right-click the Civilization VI entry in your library and choose "Properties," then navigate to the "Local Files" tab at the top of the screen.

Select the option to "Verify Integrity of Game Files" and then follow the prompts. You may get an all-clear message, or you may have to re-download the game files if something is corrupt or missing. If everything was verified, there are more options to check next.

Enabling DLC

For those who can get into the game but can't get to any of the Rise And Fall content, choose the option to create a new game.

Open the "rule set" drop-down menu, and make sure "Expansion: Rise and Fall" is selected. If you don't see it there at all, then the DLC either hasn't been purchased through Steam, or you are using an OS that isn't supported yet.

Disable Mods

After the basic Civilization 6 error troubleshooting, it's time to move on to more specific fixes. In most cases, the Rise And Fall DLC won't work properly due to a conflict with an installed mod. All those old mods need to be updated to work with the new content.

If you aren't able to load the game at all, you will need to manually uninstall any mods. If you can get to the main menu, open up the "Additional Content" section and ensure only the "Community Created Content" option is checked, then select the option to "Disable All" to turn off all mods simultaneously. Restart the game and, in most cases, you should be good to go.

Delete mods.sqllite File

For those still experiencing issues, a specific older mod file may be the culprit. Close down Civ 6 entirely, then open up a window explorer menu and navigate to the file path "My Documents\My Games\Sid Meier's Civilization VI."

Look in the folder for a file either named "mods.sqllite" or, in some cases, it may just be named "mods" (with no obvious extension or ending). Delete that file and restart Civilization VI to try again.

Let's get started conquering the world and using new features like loyalty!

If you've found any other potential Rise And Fall expansion troubleshooting steps, let us know, and we'll get them added.

Finally able to play the game and ready to try out the new content? Check out our guide to playing Scotland the Brave in the Rise And Fall DLC!

Civilization 6: Rise And Fall Guide to Scotland the Brave

Ty Arthur — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 14:54:16 -0500

As the expansions and DLC arrive, Civilization 6 is finally becoming the powerhouse of options and expanded gameplay mechanics that fans have come to know and love from previous entries in the series.

The Rise And Fall DLC includes a host of new features that appropriately lead to civilizations rising and falling in different ways that will change your tactics towards hitting a win condition.

Notably, the loyalty of cities going up or down based on your behavior and where you build results in populations rebelling or being captured without having to fire a single arrow. There are also three new types of ages that arrive based on how you play, each with its own ups and downs. Furthermore, unexpected emergencies now occur in conjunction with momentous occasions -- like converting a religious city or dropping a nuke -- that can be capitalized on to get an advantage if you play smart.

Ready to try all those new mechanics as Robert the Bruce and see the Scots win independence and go onto global domination? Let's get started below!

Civ 6 Scotland Features

Scotland's addition to the Civilization VI roster offers a fairly versatile civilization option that can either go the war or science route due to some unique abilities. If you take advantage of these abilities, in addition to utilizing the various new governor types, you can get a huge advantage in the mid to late game.

Scottish Enlightenment

This is Scotland's primary new unique ability, and it can be a game changer if you focus on keeping your population loyal and satisfied. Any city that is either classified as happy or ecstatic gets additional science and production.

There's even more to this bonus, though, as cities generate extra Great Scientist points per campus and extra Great Engineer points per industrial zone. You can get ahead very quickly using these bonuses.

Highlander

While there aren't nearly as many kilts to be found as you might expect in the Scottish armies, there is a unique new unit called the Highlander, which acts as a reconnaissance unit and replaces the ranger.

Highlanders get bonuses when fighting in woods or on hills, so pick your battle locations wisely to take full advantage of the new Scottish unit type.

Highlander unit going to war

Bannockburn

Based so strongly around fighting for independence, Scotland is a civilization that's great at making comebacks after losing territory, which is embodied by the Bannockburn unique leader ability.

You have to research the Defensive Tactics civic first, and then Bannockburn lets Robert declare a war of liberation against a neighboring civilization. This type of war lets you attack a city previously captured from either you or your allies by another civ without getting the Warmonger diplomatic penalty.

You also get additional movement to units and production to cities during the first few turns of the war. If you plan properly prior to using Bannockburn, this can be a quick and overpowering way to recapture lost territory and suddenly gain a whole lot of ground.

Golf Course

I'll be honest -- I didn't realize golf was somehow tied to Scottish identity and had to Google that one. Thanks for sending me off for a random history lesson this Thursday morning, Civilization VI!

This unique improvement provides an amenity and gold to the Scotland civ, in addition to providing culture if placed next to a city center or entertainment district, so plan ahead when building!

Build yourself a fancy ancient golf course!

Those are all the basics you need to know to start playing as Scotland the Brave in Civilization 6! What feature are you most looking forward to trying out with Scotland's addition in the Rise And Fall DLC, and have you figured out any interesting tactics to try as Robert the Bruce? Let us know in the comments below!

Civilization 6: Complete Guide Collection

Auverin Morrow — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 11:03:07 -0400

There's a lot to do in Civ 6. With civs to build, wars to wage, wonders to create, and much more, it's easy to get a little lost along the way.

But luckily for you, we've been vigilantly creating guides to help you every step of the way during your Civilization play through. Whether you're looking for bug fixes and infinite loading screen solutions, need information on the wonders, or want the rundown on tactics for winning as each country, we've got the guide you're looking for.

Check out the list below for all the guides we have so far, and keep coming back to see what others have been added as we get farther and farther into the game!

Full List of Civilization 6 Guides:

That's all the guides we have right now! Have a question or problem that you want to see us write a guide for? Let us know in the comments!

Renaming Cities in Civilization 6 and Other Tips and Tricks

Ty Arthur — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 07:40:51 -0400

New game, new problems: there's predictably a decent number of bugs and issues yet to be quashed in the shiny new Civilization VI, from an inability to rename cities to a wonky AI that loves to denounce your civ for no apparent reason at any point in time. Below we cover how to handle some of the most common problems.

Looking for other Civilization VI guides? Check out:

Renaming Cities

Sadly, there's not a quick fix here, as this is a known bug just waiting on a patch. Yes, its lame that Civilization VI was launched with so obvious a bug that doesn't seem like it should take that much effort to fix, but it is what it is, and there's bigger issues to be resolved first.

Those who recently logged on might be leaping for joy seeing a 1 GB update is downloading... but sadly that is not actually the first patch. Instead its the 25th anniversary OST soundtrack files. Yeah, bummer. Good news is that the developer knows about the issue and a patch is slated to arrive soon though, so keep checking back.

Why Does the AI Randomly Denounce Me?

This is actually another known issue, but this problem isn't always caused by a bug, and other times comes from the Agenda feature. Each civilization's leader has a specific set of things they like and don't like independent of how you are treating them.

For instance Cleopatra likes civilizations with a strong military. Even if you aren't being aggressive towards Egypt or have been trading equitably, they can denounce you if you don't build up your military forces at all. At this point, it also seems that civilizations in general declare war far less often if you stay ahead on the military front.

Want to keep her happy? Carry a big stick!

Qin Shi Huang dislikes anyone who builds more wonders than China, and may denounce you randomly after building wonders even if you have gone out of your way to accommodate China up to that point. Arabia will denounce you if you follow a different religion or attack followers of the current Arabian religion.

Coming across any other bugs or baffling issues in Civilization VI so far? Let us know and we'll try to come up with an answer!

Civilization 6: Guide to the Wonders

ESpalding — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 00:05:31 -0400

One of the big things any civ should be striving towards in Civilization VI is to make sure you have discovered some Wonders in your civilization. They are one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-game buildings which are based on real-life buildings or landmarks and can give your civ a pretty big bonus.

To add Wonders to your civilization, there are many requirements you have to take into consideration. Not only do you have to factor in terrain and adjacency to other parts of your city, but you need to unlock certain Civics trees as well as the usual tech trees.

There are currently 30 Wonders in-game, so there are plenty of opportunities to get some in your civ before your opponents. Here is a list of all the Wonders in-game, their full requirements and the bonuses they bestow.

Big Ben

Alhambra

Real-life location: Andalusia, Spain
Tech / Civic Requirement: Castle
Tile Requirement: Alhambra is a castle, so it makes sense that it needs to be built on a hill which is adjacent to an Encampment district.
Bonus: +1 Military policy slot

Big Ben

Real-life location: London, England
Tech / Civic Requirement: Economics
Tile Requirement: Like its real position next to the River Thames, Big Ben must be built next to a river and needs to be adjacent to a commercial hub district with a bank.
Bonus: +1 Economic policy slot and it doubles your current treasury.

Bolshoi Theatre

Real-life location: Moscow, Russia
Tech / Civic Requirement: Opera and Ballet
Tile Requirement: Understandably, the Bolshoi need to be built adjacent to the theater district.
Bonus: Gives you two randomly-chosen free civics when completed.

Broadway

Real-life location: New York, America
Tech / Civic Requirement: Mass Media
Tile Requirement: As with the Bolshoi Theatre, Broadway needs to be built adjacent to the theater district.
Bonus: Gives a free random Atomic Era civic boost.

Colosseum

Chichen Itza

Real-life location: Yucatán, Mexico
Tech / Civic Requirement: Guilds
Tile Requirement: As you would expect, this Mayan construction needs to be built in a rainforest.
Bonus: +2 Culture and +1 Production to all Rainforest Tiles around the city.

Colosseum

Real-life location: Rome, Italy
Tech / Civic Requirement: Games and Recreation
Tile Requirement: The home of the Olympics must be built adjacent to an Entertainment Complex district.
Bonus: Grants +1 Amenity and +1 Culture for all cities in your civ.

Colossus

Real-life location: Rhodes, Greece
Tech / Civic Requirement: Shipbuilding
Tile Requirement: This giant statue of the Greek God Helios needs to be built on the coast and next to a harbor.
Bonus: Gives a free Trader unit.

Cristo Redentor

Real-life location: Rio de Janerio, Brazil
Tech / Civic Requirement: Mass Media
Tile Requirement: 'Christ the Redeemer' must be built on a hill.
Bonus: Doubles the tourism output from all seaside resorts across your civilization.

The Great Library

Eiffel Tower

Real-life location: Paris, France
Tech / Civic Requirement: Steel
Tile Requirement: Like its actual location in the heart of Paris, the Eiffel Tower needs to be big adjacent to the city center.
Bonus: All tiles in your civilization gain +2 Appeal.

Estadio Do Maracanã

Real-life location: Rio de Janerio, Brazil
Tech / Civic Requirement: Professional Sports
Tile Requirement: None.
Bonus: Grants a +2 bonus to amenities to every city in your civilization.

Forbidden City

Real-life location: Beijing, China
Tech / Civic Requirement: Printing
Tile Requirement: This grand palace needs to be built next to a city center.
Bonus: Gain a Wild Card policy slot.

Great Library

Real-life location: Alexandria, Egypt
Tech / Civic Requirement: Recorded History
Tile Requirement: Also known as the Library of Alexandria, this building needs to be built adjacent to a campus district with a library.
Bonus: Grants a boost to all Ancient and Classical era technologies.

Great Pyramids

Great Lighthouse

Real-life location: Alexandria, Egypt
Tech / Civic Requirement: Celestial Navigation
Tile Requirement: As with The Colossus, the Great Lighthouse needs to be built on the coast and next to a harbor.
Bonus: All Naval units receive a +1 to movement.

Great Pyramids

Real-life location: Cairo, Egypt
Tech / Civic Requirement: Masonry
Tile Requirement: The only requirement that is that it is built in a flat desert.
Bonus: Gives you one free builder and all builders in your civ can build an extra improvement.

Great Zimbabwe

Real-life location: Lake Mutirikwe, Zimbabwe
Tech / Civic Requirement: Banking
Tile Requirement: This ancient city must be built next to a commercial hub with a market and next to cattle.
Bonus: Grants +1 to your trade route capacity.

Hagia Sophia

Real-life location: Istanbul, Turkey
Tech / Civic Requirement: Education
Tile Requirement: To add this basilica to your civ, you must have a founded religion and it needs to be built next to a holy site.
Bonus: Allows missionaries and apostles to spread religion 1 extra time.

Huey Teocalli

Hanging Gardens

Real-life location: near present day Hillan, Iraq
Tech / Civic Requirements: Irrigation
Tile Requirements: The Hanging Gardens must be built next to a river.
Bonus: Increases city growth by 15%

Hermitage

Real-life location: Saint Petersburg, Russia
Tech / Civic Requirements: Natural History
Tile Requirements: This museum must be built next to a river.
Bonus: While there are no specific bonuses to building the Hermitage, it does yield +3 Great Artist points and +4 Great Works of Art slots.

Huey Teocalli

Real-life location: Mexico City
Tech / Civic Requirements: Military Tactics
Tile Requirements: This Aztec temple must be built on a lake tile next to an island.
Bonus: This grants +1 amenity to adjacent lake tiles, +1 food and production for each lake tile in your civ.

Mahabodhi Temple

Real-life location: Bodh Gaya, India
Tech / Civic Requirements: Theology
Tile Requirement: The two conditions for building this Buddist temple is that you must have founded a religion and it needs to be built in woodland next to a holy site with a temple.
Bonus: Gives 2 extra apostles.

Oxford University

Mont St Michel

Real-life location: Normandy, France
Tech / Civic Requirement: Divine Right
Tile Requirement: The real Mont St Michel Abbey is on an island commune so it makes sense that it needs be built on a marsh or floodplains tile.
Bonus: All apostles gain an addition ability which you can choose yourself as well as a martyr ability.

The Oracle

Real-life location: Delphi, Greece
Tech / Civic Requirement: Mysticism
Tile Requirement: Needs to be built on a hill.
Bonus: All districts in your city provide +2 Great Person points depending on their type.

Oxford University

Real-life location: Oxford, England
Tech / Civic Requirement: Scientific Theory
Tile Requirement: It needs to be built next to a campus with a university and on grasslands or plains.
Bonus: Gives two randomly chosen technologies for free when finished.

Petra

Real-life location: Ma'an, Jordan
Tech / Civic Requirement: Mathematics
Tile Requirement: Must be built on flat desert or floodplains.
Bonus: For all desert tiles within your city, you gain +2 food, +2 gold and +1 production.

Potala Palace

Potala Palace

Real-life location: Tibet, China
Tech / Civic Requirement: Astronomy
Tile Requirement: Needs to be built on hill next to a mountain.
Bonus: Grants one extra diplomacy policy slot.

Ruhr Valley

Real-life location: Ruhr, Germany
Tech / Civic Requirement: Industrialization
Tile Requirement: This heavy industrial wonder needs to be built next to an industrial district that contains factories and need to be alongside a river.
Bonus: You get +1 for each mine and quarry in the city.

Stonehenge

Real-life location: Amesbury, England
Tech / Civic Requirement: Astrology
Tile Requirement: Must be built on flat land next to stone.
Bonus: Gives you a free Great Prophet.

Sydney Opera House

Real-life location: Sydney, Australia
Tech / Civic Requirement: Cultural Heritage
Tile Requirement: This building needs to be on the coast next to a harbor. It cannot be built next to a lake.
Bonus: It doesn't have any bonuses but does yield Great Musician points and Great Works of Music slots.

Terracotta Army

Terracotta Army

Real-life location: Xian, China
Tech / Civic Requirement: Construction
Tile Requirement: To build this army, you need to place it next to an encampment district which has either barracks or stables. It also has to be built on grasslands or plains.
Bonus: This wonder grants a promotion level to all land based units and allows your archeologists to go into other nations lands without having been granted open borders.

Venetian Arsenal

Real-life location: Venice, Italy
Tech / Civic Requirement: Mass Production
Tile Requirement: It needs to be built on the coast and next to an industrial district.
Bonus: For each naval unit you train, this wonder gives you another.

There you have it. All 30 Wonders of the World in Civilization VI. So, tell us, how many have you managed to get so far? how many have to earnt in one game? Let us know below!

The Best Governments in Civilization 6

Ty Arthur — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 17:54:32 -0400

Whether you go with America, India, Sumeria, or anything in between, Civilization VI starts you out with the lowly Chiefdom government. This ineffectual means of governing offers only a single Military and Economic policy slot each, so you'll want to work through the Civics tree to unlock other forms of government.

Other forms have different policy slots, allowing you to gain bonuses on everything from naval production to extra Great Writer points to bonus Housing for cities with multiple Districts.

Best Government Options

Any government can potentially be useful in the right circumstances, depending on what victory condition you are going for or whether you are currently being aggressive or building up your cities. Governments are also now highly customizable with the policy slots.

Setting government and policy options

Don't discount switching governments over time, but pay attention to your various boosts: you don't want to build up an army using a government with tons of Military policy slots, only to then switch just before a war breaks out and find yourself needing those bonuses back.

First and foremost on the various combinations: America combines extremely well with any government option, as that civ automatically earns Legacy bonuses in half the time over every civilization.

For those seeking a religious victory, Spain combos well with a Theocracy, as that civ gets a combat bonus against units of opposing religions. The Arabian civ is another shoe-in for Theocracy with its cheaper Faith purchases.

Fascism can be an excellent government for any civ with its large number of policy slots, but is particularly useful if you need a large military and want to go for a Domination victory with a war-themed civ like Sumeria.

Civilization VI Governments

Government	Requirement	Legacy Bonus	Base Ability
Autocracy	Political Philosphy	Bonus Wonder Production	+1 Yield Boost In Capital
Classical Republic	Political Philosphy	Bonus Great People Points	+1 Amenity In Cities With Districts
Oligarchy	Political Philosphy	Bonus Combat Experience	Bonus Strength To Melee Units
Monarchy	Divine Right	Bonus Influence Points	Bonus Housing In Cities w/Medieval Walls
Theocracy	Reformed Church	Discounted Faith Buys	Faith Units Available And Gain Bonuses
Merchant Republic	Exploration	Discounted Gold Buys	Bonus Trade Routes
Democracy	Suffrage	Bonuses From District Projects	Great People Cost Less Gold
Communism	Class Struggle	Bonus On All Production	Land Units Gain Bonus Defense
Fascism	Totalitarianism	Bonus Unit Production	Bonus Strength To All Combat Units

Looking for other Civilization VI guides? Check out:

Fixing Common Civilization 6 Loading Screen Bugs and Errors

Ty Arthur — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:48:58 -0400

As expected, a new big name game comes with its fair share of bugs and crashes right at launch, and the 4X Civ series is no exception. Some of the most common (and frustrating) currently occuring are long Civilization VI load times or the game just not responding at all.

What's supported and what's not

The system requirements have taken a serious upward trajectory with this entry in the series. DirectX 11 is specifically required, so if your card doesn't support DirectX 11, you aren't going to be playing Civ VI without getting stuck at the loading screen. You'll also need to be running Windows 7 or higher, as XP and Vista are specifically not supported.

Before getting into any specific issues, be sure to also go through the standard Steam troubleshooting. To go about this process, right-click the Civilization VI entry in your Steam library. From there choose Properties, navigate to the Local Files tab, and select Verify Integrity Of Game Cache.

Before getting here, you may need to fix a few things

Windows 8 fix

Remember how Windows 8 is supported? Turns out that's only true if you install two separate, specific Windows updates. First download and install this one and then download and install this one second. For most Windows 8 users, those updates should resolve any issues.

Stuck at loading screen

If you have absurdly long Civilization VI load screens where it's just stuck loading forever in Windows 10, the most common issue seems to be with a critical game file being blocked either by Windows Defender.

To get around this issue, you can exclude the game's main folder so Windows Defender ignores it altogether. Type “Settings” in the search bar, select the Settings option and then click the Update & Security option at the bottom.

Select the Windows Defender tab at the left side, then scroll down to the Exclusions heading and click Add An Exclusion. Select the entire Civ VI folder (wherever you saved it when originally installing) to exclude all the files.

Adding Windows Defender Exclusions

Laptop graphics cards

As a final issue to check, there currently seems to be a common problem on gaming laptop setups requiring you to force Civilization VI to use your graphics card rather than the motherboard's built-in GPU.

Turning on this option will vary depending on your graphics card make / model. For NVIDIA users, right-click your desktop and select the NVIDIA Control Panel option. For AMD, instead right-click and select Catalyst Control Center.

The options will vary from card to card, but what you are looking for is a menu option titled Manage 3D Settings or 3D Application Settings. Under the Preferred Graphics Processor drop-down menu select your graphics card rather than the built-in GPU.

Users have also reported getting improvements by sliding the Performance and Memory Impact sliders all the way over as well.

More help

After going through these troubleshooting tips you should be back up and running, but let us know if you experience any other issues and we'll look for a solution!

Looking for other Civilization VI guides? Check out:

Civilization 6: Guide to Winning With Greece

ESpalding — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 02:00:01 -0400

There are so many civilizations available to play in Civilization VI. At launch, the game features a whopping 19 different civilizations to choose from, and each has strengths and weaknesses lending themselves to varying victory conditions. Want to win with India? Here's what you need to know!

For everything you need to know about winning as other countries, check out these guides:

Changes from Previous Games

Last time around, Civilization V, Greece had an ability called Hellenic League that evolved around city-state influence (how the population of a city-state feels about you or the civilization). It meant that it degraded at a slower rate and recovered at a higher rate. They were also a bit sneaky and had a hidden ability. It wasn't named but it meant that if Greek units end their turn within an unfriendly or hostile city-states borders, Greece would not lose any influence over them and it meant that they still healed as if they were in friendly territory.

Now, in Civilization VI, the Greek civ have an ability called Plato's Republic which simply gives an additional wildcard social policy slot, no matter what the current government type it is.

The last change from Civilization V to now is that Greece comes with two leaders.

The Leaders of Greece

At release, Greece gets two leaders in Civilization VI. Both of them have very different special abilities and preferred playstyles. Pericles celebrated General and responsible for uniting the independent states of Greece, and Queen Gorgo, wife of the legendary King Leonidas I.

Pericles brings a unique ability to the game is called Surrounded by Glory. This gives city-states a bonus to culture but only you are the Suzerain of it.

Gorgo's leader ability is called Thermopylae. This ability gives a bonus to culture points gained when an enemy is defeated.

Unique Greek Districts / Units

Both leaders receive the same unique buildings and unit. The Hoplite is a melee unit which replaces the Spearmen unit. Each Hoplite unit will gain an additional bonus if there is unit Hoplite unit adjacent to it.

The Acropolis is Greece's unique district, replacing the Theatre Square, and it provides a bonus to Great Person points (Musician, Writer, and Artist). It can also have a big impact on Culture as it will generate additional Culture points when adjacent to a Wonder, another District or the City Center. The Acropolis must also be built on a hill.

Greece Victory Conditions

If you want to win as Greece, you need to make sure you get your Acropolis and Hoplite as early on as possible. The Hoplite units will make sure you have strong enough units to defend against any early era troops and the Acropolis if placed correctly, will generate enough culture points to see that you progress faster than any other civ. As you can progress through the tech trees quicker, you can gain more envoys, quickly create friendships with city-states which will increase culture points even quicker. You are sure to do well with whatever victory condition you strive for.

As you can see, Greece is very versatile with regards to how you want to play. With all the victory conditions viable for Greece, which ones have you played and won? We'd love to hear how you did it!

Civilization 6: Guide To Winning With Sumeria

Ty Arthur — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 01:00:02 -0400

Sumeria might be one of the earliest cultures in recorded history, but its still a somewhat "new" civ, as it hasn't been around lately in the Civilization series. Less well-rounded than Rome, this civ has a much more specific focus and should be played in a more streamlined way to achieve victory.

Looking for other Civilization VI guides? Check out:

Changes From Previous Games

Not actually appearing (well, outside of mods anyway) in Civ V, Sumeria last appeared in Civilization IV and now makes a triumphant return. With the Epic Quest special ability, defeating barbarian outposts becomes even more lucrative, as you get a tribal village reward each time.

This ability means there should be an early focus on military might and patrolling your borders, and every time you engage in combat with barbarians, you are giving yourself a bigger advantage over other civs.

Send those troops out early and often!

Sumeria's Leader

The apocryphal Gilgamesh offers up the Adventures With Enkidu ability, which is all about engaging in war with an ally.

You (and your ally) share in rewards and experience with any unit within 5 hexes that engages in combat while you have a joint war going.

With such a lucrative bonus available to you and whatever civilization you've hooked up with, you should always have an ally and always be combating other civilizations alongside that ally.

Unique Sumerian Buildings / Units

Sumeria gets the devastating War Cart, and unlike other mounted units, it doesn't suffer penalties from anti-cavalry forces and any unit wielding spears.

With bonus movement when starting on an open terrain hex, War Carts are excellent for both scouting and long range engagements early in the game.

The biggest advantage is that unlike nearly all other unique combat units, you don't have to research anything to get a War Cart - they are available immediately, so you should be pumping them out straight away.

War Cart

Going a total opposite direction of most of Sumeria's other play style mechanics, the unique Ziggurat building offers bonus Science and Culture when placed next to a river.

Ziggurat

Sumerian Victory Conditions

Sumeria is strongly focused on allied warfare in Civilization VI, meaning you probably want to go Domination and eventually turn on your ally. The ally is the key though - Sumeria isn't meant to be played solo as a civilization forging its own path.

You can go other routes however, like using your two-pronged war to keep all the other civilizations at bay while you work steadily towards a Cultural or Science victory with your Ziggurats.

Civilization 6: Guide To Winning With Rome

Ty Arthur — Sun, 23 Oct 2016 16:42:07 -0400

Haven't decided which civ you want to play yet in Civilization VI? For an excellent starting point with lots of early game advantages, Rome is among the best you can pick.

Looking for other Civilization VI guides? Check out:

Changes From Previous Games

Rome's special ability is similar to what was offered in Civilization V, but with a bit of a twist. Rather than gaining bonus Production towards buildings in your capital, now in Civilization VI you get the aptly titled All Roads Lead To Rome.

This ability automatically starts you off with a Trading Post in any new city, and furthermore automatically creates a road to any new city within trade route range of your capital, netting you extra Gold. Be sure to have traders passing through as many of these Posts as possible for maximum Gold increase.

When combined with the unique Roman leader ability, anyone picking Rome as their civ is going to have a huge infrastructure advantage. As in the previous game, the capital is still your solid foundation, but expansion becomes a bigger focus.

Let's get started conquering the world!

Rome's Leader

The less historically-heralded figure Trajan offers the Trajan's Column ability, granting one free building in the City Center, which becomes more and more useful as you expand.

You get a Monument instead while playing the ancient era, meaning you are going to have a leg up on working through the Civics tree over your opponent.

Unique Roman Buildings / Units

The Legion is very similar to the past game, replacing the Swordsman (and costing more to boot). This unique unit is stronger however, and offers the utility of building roads and forts - meaning you will have advance access to forts over other civs. Although limited compared to regular builders, Legions don't die after completing construction.

Legions preparing for war

The Baths becomes available when you developing the Engineering tech and replace the standard Aqueduct building. As with many Roman features, this building is all about expansion.

If you build the Baths in a city not adjacent to fresh water, you get a huge Housing bonus so your population will keep going up, in addition to a small Amenity boost to keep citizens happy.

Roman Baths

Roman Victory Conditions

One thing to keep in mind for any victory is that the All Roads Lead To Rome ability is more useful on a single land mass than a map with lots of sea routes.

Other than that consideration, this is an excellent civ for people just getting into the game. Rome doesn't lean super heavily towards any of the victory conditions, but does offer strong early game bonuses and extra Gold.

Rome does lend itself to expansion, as you want to consistently have more cities, but you don't necessarily have to go the Domination route. With Cultural and Science victories very strong possibilities considering your bonuses to Civics and Gold.

Civilization 6: Guide to Winning With India

ESpalding — Sun, 23 Oct 2016 16:40:11 -0400

Want to check out our other Civilization VI guides? Follow the links below:

Changes from Previous Games

In Civilization V, India's special ability revolved around unhappiness. The ability was called Population Growth and caused higher unhappiness with more cities. India favored a few larger cities until they reached a certain size.

There has been a shift away from this ability in Civilization VI as now India's civ ability is all about religion. The Dharma ability allows the player to receive all the follower beliefs of all religions present in their cities.

Time to make a pilgrimage to Calcutta?

India's Leader

Returning as India's leader is Gandhi. He is loved the World over for his passive resistance movements and was one of the big voices in India's independence away from the British Empire.

His passive resistance movements inspired his special ability in-game called Satyagraha. For each civilization that India meets, that has founded a religion and is currently living in peace, India gets a substantial bonus in faith. Any opposing civilizations fighting India receive a happiness penalty for fighting against Gandhi.

Unique Indian Buildings / Unit

India's unique unit is the elephant-mounted Váru. They are ready to stomp over enemies, reducing their combat effectiveness by 5 when on an adjacent tile. If more than one Váru unit is near an enemy, the count is cumulative.

The Stepwell is a unique tile improvement for the Indian civ. It provides both food and housing. If it is built next to a farm, then it will provide additional food and if it is built next to a holy site then it will generate more faith.

Elephants were used because they terrified horses

India's Victory Conditions

As expected, Gandhi's agenda is as a peacekeeper. You will want to try and befriend any civ which wants to keep the peace. You don't want to declare war on anyone and you need to steer clear of warmongers. With all the bonuses gained from being at peace and accepting of all other world religions, you will want to make sure you keep everything calm and. At the end of the day, you will benefit from extra housing resulting in higher production and higher population.

Do you think you can conquer the World without resorting to war? The peaceful general will win the campaign for India. Have you played with this civ yet? Was it hard to play without resorting to violence and keeping everyone happy? We would love to know so leave your comments below!

Civilization 6: Guide to Winning With England

ESpalding — Sat, 22 Oct 2016 18:25:05 -0400

For guides to winning with other countries, be sure to check out:

Changes From Previous Games

In Civilization V, England had a very nifty ability, called Sun Never Sets, which gave bonus movement to naval units and, in the Brave New World expansion, received an extra spy. But in Civilization VI there has been a step in a different direction for England's bonuses ability.

This time around England benefits from an ability called British Museum which gives archeological museums double the slots for artifacts and each museum generates more archeologists.

Given the change in special ability, could it be that England's in-game focused has shifted from military to cultural? Let's find out.

Naturally, you start with London as your home city

England's Leader

One of the most loved monarchs from English history is leading England in Civilization VI. Queen Victoria, England's longest ruling monarch, saw the expansion of England's global reached with the establishment of the British Empire. Victoria's ability is called Pax Britannica.

All cities, founded or conquered, which are away from your home continent, receive an extra melee unit.

The ability also allows for England's unique land unit to be discovered through Military Science research.

Unique English Buildings / Units

Requiring Celestial Navigation technology, the Royal Naval Dockyard is England's unique building. It replaces the Harbour district. It gives movement bonuses to any unit built in the Dockyard as well as extra gold when built away from your home continent. It also generates one Great Admiral point per turn.

England gets unique units for both land and sea combat. At sea, there are Seadog units which are combat ready boats which are able to capture enemy ships.

On land, we have the Redcoats. These legendary solider units are strong when abroad (ie. on a continent away from home) and can also disembark without using up a movement point.

The Redcoats.

England Victory Conditions

So, you actually have two routes you can go down to win when playing as England. First off, you could build up your Navy to explore the map and create many cities in different continents creating a win through expansion and dominating the map. This takes advantage of the Redcoats swift transition from sea to land and the perks gained from the Dockyard.

Alternatively, you could take the Cultural route and utilize the bonuses to Culture England gets through the museum ability and sending your archeologists out into the World to find all those artifacts.

So which victory condition do you think you will be going for? The nice and laid back cultural route or the most aggressive domination / expansion route? Let us know which works out best for you!

Civilization 6: Guide To Winning With America

Ty Arthur — Sat, 22 Oct 2016 12:30:32 -0400

At launch, Civilization VI features a whopping 19 different civilizations to choose from, and each has strengths and weaknesses lending themselves to varying victory conditions. Want to win with America? Here's what you need to know!

Looking for other Civilization VI guides? Check out:

Changes From Previous Games

Last time around, America got a bonus to military unit sight and a discount when purchasing tiles. Not so in Civilization VI, as a very useful new ability replaces those bonuses.

Instead we've got Founding Fathers, which results in government legacy bonuses being gained in 50% of the normal time. These bonuses can be incredibly helpful, from unit experience with an Oligarchy to increasing production with Communism.

In Civilization 5, America excelled at a Domination victory, but now things take a strong Cultural slant, as you'll see below.

Ready to make Washington the center of the world?

America's Leader

Leading the charge is Teddy Roosevelt, who has the Roosevelt Corollary ability, which offers a ton of bonuses.

First up is a bonus to combat strength to units fighting on their home continent, which obviously is a much bigger boon on a Pangaea map (check out our breakdown of all map types here).

Next, you get + 1 Appeal for all tiles in a city containing a National Park, which will help out big with Tourism. Finally, Roosevelt grants a powerful unique combat unit detailed below.

Unique America Buildings / Units

The Rough Riders are granted by Roosevelt and become available after researching the Rifling skill in the Industrial Era. They grant extra Culture with every kill, and deal extra damage on hills, making them useful for a Cultural or Domination victory.

Considering the high movement rate and low Gold maintenance cost, Rough Riders can be a better option than more technologically advanced military units.

Rough Riders

On the aerial front, the P-51 Mustang replaces the Fighter aircraft and gets a bonus against those units, making it useful for destroying enemy air units.

Finally, the Film Studio replaces the Broadcast Center and is the building you absolutely want if you are going for a Cultural victory, giving you bonus Culture, Citizens, and Great Artist points every turn, in addition to giving a huge influx of tourists.

America Victory Conditions

It should be obvious there's a clear slant towards a Cultural victory between the late-game Film Studio and the special abilities of the Rough Riders. The Appeal granted from Roosevelt's Corollary also leans you towards a Cultural victory.

Don't discount Domination as a viable substitute though, especially if you pick a government that provides a military legacy bonus increased through the Founding Fathers ability.

That's all you need to know to get started building an empire with America! What strategy did you use and which victory condition have you found to be easiest so far?

All the Map Types Available in Civilization 6

Ty Arthur — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 11:24:19 -0400

For long-time series fans, there are some changes in the map setups to be aware of from previous Civilization titles. There are five main map types available in Civilization VI, plus a Shuffle option for more random generation that includes features from all map types.

Each of the six main map setups also feature a horde of different options -- from size (2 player Duel to 12 player Huge) to specifying what types of terrain are found across the map. Other than choosing the type, you can also specify World Age (amount of hill and mountain tiles), Rainfall (amount of forest tiles), Temperature (amount of desert and tundra riles), Sea Level (water tiles), and the amount of resources present, from sparse to abundant.

Aside from changes in map setup, the new Districts system also significantly modifies how you build cities while expanding and conquering. Check out our guide to the Districts right here.

Looking for other Civilization VI guides? Check out:

Continents

Missing the “Earth” maps from previous Civilization titles? This is the closest thing currently available (until some modders get us a real one or more map types arrive in DLC anyway). You get a smattering of larger continents along with some smaller land masses to expand into with your naval forces.

Continents map

Inland Sea

A central water area dominates the map, with land masses surrounding on the top, bottom, and sides. Keep in mind when choosing this map that it doesn't actually wrap around like a globe would, as the top and bottom are impassible borders.

Inland Sea map

Fractal

Similar to Shuffle, this map setting creates patterns across the world but can give you either a single landmass or several large ones spread across a sea.

Pangaea

As the name implies, this map setting creates a super land mass with all the continents connected. Although there's one primary landmass, you can still get small island chains on the edges.

Pangaea map

Island Plates

The opposite of Pangaea, this map spreads all the landmasses out across a large ocean and doesn't give you a huge central area.

Island Plates map

Shuffle

Don't give a flip which map type you get or want something really randomized to keep games exciting? This is on the you want, as you're going to be surprised every time. The image below is obviously just one option - you could get anything.

Shuffle map

What do you think of the base Civilization VI map selections, and what kinds from previous games are you hoping will eventually make their return?

Civilization 6 Districts Overview Guide

Ty Arthur — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 08:27:35 -0400

Civilization VI is here and with it comes the new districts system, which has you building away from your city's heart and sprawling out in a wider hexagonal pattern.

Below we break down all the districts in a sort of cheat sheet, grouped together by type, and explain what buildings they aid in creating. You can use this list to build smart by placing districts adjacent to map hexes that provide big bonuses.

You should also customize your district building experience based on what win condition you are seeking. For instance, when going after a cultural victory you probably don't need to focus on military districts.

Keep in mind the name of the district can differ slightly between civilizations, as a few have unique iterations. For instance, Rome has a Baths district rather an Aqueducts, while the Hansa district replaces the Industrial Zone for Germany.

District	Available Buildings	Adjacency Bonuses
City Center (Core)	Walls Granary Monument Water Mill Sewer	Starts a city
Aqueduct (Housing)	None	Must be placed next to city center
Neighborhood (Housing)	House Villa Apartment	+2 housing Natural Wonder +1 housing Coast +1 housing Forest
Holy Site (Religion)	Shrine Temple Synagogue Gurdwada Mosque	1 Great Prophet point/turn +2 Faith Natural Wonder +1 Faith Mountain +1 Faith per two Forest
Campus (Science)	Library Research Lab University	1 Great Scientist point/turn +2 Science Mountain +1 Science per 2 Forest or District
Spaceport (Science)	Science Project	Cannot be built on Hills Required for Science victory
Theater Square (Culture)	Ampitheater Muslims Broadcast Center	1 Great Artist point/turn + 1 Culture Wonders + 1 Culture per 2 Districts
Encampment (Military)	Armory Barracks Stable Military Academy	Can't be built next to Center 1 Great General point/turn Land military units spawn here
Harbor (Gold)	Lighthouse Seaport Shipyard	1 Great Admiral point/turn +1 Gold Coastal Resourcess +1 Gold per 2 Districts
Commercial Hub (Gold)	Bank Market Stock Exchange	1 Great Merchant point/turn +2 Gold River +2 Gold Harbor +1 Gold per 2 Districts
Industrial Zone (Production)	Factories Power Plant Workshop	1 Great Engineer point/turn +1 Production Mine/Quarry +1 Production per 2 Districts
Aeorodome (Aircraft)	Air Units Airport Hangar	Can't be built on Hills
Entertainment (Amenities)	Arena Stadium Zoo	Grants bonus Amenity to keep population happy

That's all the basics you need to know with Civilization 6 Districts! Let us know how you built your empire and achieved victory, and what civ you picked to get started with!

Ready to dive into creating a civilization?

Looking for other Civilization VI guides? Check out:

Civilization 6 Leaders, Units, and Abilities Overview

ESpalding — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 08:19:58 -0400

As the gaming world eagerly awaits the arrival of the latest installment in Sid Meier's Civilization series, Civilization VI, on October 21st, developers Firaxis are keeping fans on their toes as they gradually release the details of all of the different civilizations. They have been releasing information about them since the original announcement trailer three months ago.

To help you decide which civilization you want to play as I have written this brief overview of each leader and unique aspects they bring to the game.

(Please note, this list of civilizations is correct as of 10/05/2016 and will be updated as and when more factions are announced by Firaxis).

Russia

Peter the Great is the leader for the Russian civlization. He was reasonsible for modernizing Russia during the 1600s. He reformed education, made changes to the countries calendar to mirror the European calendar, boosted trade relations and a greatly investing in industry. His special ability, The Grand Embassy, enables Russia to gain science or culture from trade routes to more advanced civilizations.

Unsurprisingly, Russia's special unit is the Cossacks. These horseriders are replacements for the cavalry unit and are still able to move after they have attacked.

The unique building to the Russian civ is the Lavra. When using a great person in a city with a Lavra, a tile is added to the cities culture border.

Given Russia's colder temperatures, they are used to living and working in the tundra so it makes sense that Russian cities receive additional bonuses to faith and production when built on tundra tiles. In addition, when a city is founded, it receives an increased territory boundry.

Arabia

The great and well-known ruler of Arabia, Saladin, was the first ruler of Egypt and Syria and led the Muslim forces during the Crusades. Upon his death bed, he gave away all his riches and wealth to the people he ruled which immediately elevated him into the history books as one of the most respected and honorable rulers of all time. Saladin's special ability is called Rigtheousness of the Faith and it allows Arabia's faith buildings to be built with very little faith cost and gives bonuses to science, faith and culture.

Arabia's special ability is called The Last Prophet. This ability is triggered whenever the next to last Great Prophet is claimed by any other civilization, Arabia will claim the last one.

Known throughout history for their horses, it is no suprise that Arabia's unique unit is a mounted division. It is called the Mamluk and it will heal at the end of every turn regardless whether it or did not attack that turn.

Generating more science that the university building, the Madrasa is Arabia's unique building.

Sumeria

Little is know about Gilgamesh. What is generally known about him comes from scholars and the poem called Epic of Gilgamesh. It is believed that he was a King who ruled over the city of Uruk. He was said to be part man and part God. Adventures with Enkidu is his special ability. This means that when he is fighting a joint campaign, pillage rewards and combat experience is shared with the closest allied unit.

The War Cart is the unique unit given to Sumeria in game. It is a strong unit which is available in-game surprisingly early and it suffers no against penalties against anti-cavalry units and spearmen.

The unique building for Sumeria is called the Ziggurat. If placed next to a river, it is give a bonus to both science and culture but it cannot be built on a hill.

Sumeria's special ability is called Epic Quest and this gives a tribal village reward every time one of your units captures a barbarian outpost.

Rome

What would a Civilizations game be without the Roman Empire? Well, in Civilization VI, the Romans are being led by the man responsible for most of the Roman Empires spread across the European continent -- Trajan, the 13th Emperor of Rome. Trajan's Column is his special ability and this gives all new cities a free building in its city centre.

The Legion is Rome's unique unit. To be honest, it wouldn't be the Roman army if it didn't contain the Legion. In its time, the Roman Legions were massive armies consisting of hundreds and hundreds of men. In game, Legion units are able to build forts and roads.

The unique building to the Rome civ is the Bath. These replace the aqueduct and provides more housing and aminenties.

All Roads Lead to Rome is the name of Rome's special ability. This means that all cities start with a trading post and new cities within trade route range of the captial city start with a road going to them.

Greece

While there were many heroes who could have been chosen to lead the Greek civilization in-game, Pericles. A famed statesman and a commander of the Greek army, Pericles was responsible for unifying the Greek states and helping to bring on an age of economic and cultural growth. The special ability Pericles brings to the game is called Surrounded by Glory. This gives city states a bonus to culture but only if Greece is its suzerain.

Another bonus to culture comes in the form of Greece's unique building, the Acropolis, which is a replacement for the theater district. It must be built on a hill.

As Greece was known for its great minds, it is no surprise that it's special ability is named after one of them. Plato's Republic gives players an extra "wild card" slot, no matter what kind of government they choose to run with.

Responsible for introducing the World to the Phalanx formation of troops, Greece's unique unit is the Hoplite. Each unit gains an additional bonus when they are next to another unit.

Greece also has another leader, Queen Gorgo of Sparta. She was the great warrior Queen of the Spartan people and wife to King Leonidas I and ruled along side him during the persian invasions led by Xerxes.

When playing with Gorgo, you still get the Acropolis unique district and the Hoplite unique unit but she has her own leader ability and preferred gameplay.

Gorgo's leader ability is called Thermopylae. This ability grants a bonus to culture point gains during conflict. She also has her own agenda and will never do deals with other Civs who have yielded in battle, have never engaged in battle and will never give up items in a peace deal.

Norway

Joining the fray from Scandinavia is King Harald Hardrada from Norway. He is known as the Last Viking. He had a troubled history with his country resulting in his being exiled to Constantinople. He returned to Norway 12 years later and began to rule to country jointly with Magnus I eventually becoming the sole ruler of Norway when Magnus died. He, himself, died at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in his attempt to take the throne of England. Hardrada's ability is called the Thunderbolt of the North which allows all his melee naval units to perform coastal raids.

In true Viking style, his unique units are the Viking Longship and the Berserker.

Norway's unique building is the Stave Church. Aside from all the usual benefits of a temple, the Stave Church also gets a bonus to faith if it is positioned next to a wooded area.

Kongo

The Kongo nation is led by Mvemba a Nzinga, also known as King Afonso I. He is most famous for attempting to spread Christianity throughout his kingdom and for forging alliances with Portugal. As Mvemba only converted to Christianity, players will be unable to build any religious sites but will benefit from any follower beliefs from the majority religion in your cities.

The Kongo's special ability is called Nkisi, and it allows more food, production, and gold to be gained from discovering relics, artifacts and great works or sculptures. The Kongo also gets more Great Artist and Great Merchant points each turn.

The unique unit for the Kongolese is the Shield Bearers or Ngao Mbeba. Given that they are used to living in forests, no forest or woodland impedes their movement.

The unique district is the Mbanza. It is neighborhood district and provides housing, food, and gold. Each time you finish building a Mbanza or a theater district, you receive an extra apostle of that cities religion.

India

Mahatma Ghandi is loved the World over for his passive resistance against such things as poverty, women's rights, promoting religious harmony and was the main driving force behind India's independence from Great Britain. His unique ability in-game is called Satyagraha (which was also a term coined by Ghandi meaning "holding onto truth" and is a passive form of resistance). For each civilization that India has met, which has founded a religion and is living in peace, India gets a substance bonus in faith. Any opposing civilizations fighting India receive a happiness penalty for fighting against Ghandi.

India has a very religion-guided special ability called Dharma. This allows the player to receive all the follower beliefs to all religions present in their cities.

Just incase peace doesn't prevail throughout the land, the unique elephant-mounted Váru unit is ready to stomp over enemies, reducing their combat effectiveness.

The Stepwell is a unique building which provides faith and housing. If it is built next to a farm, then it will provide more food and if it is built next to a holy site then it will generate more faith.

Spain

King Phillip II of Spain was the ruler of Spain for 48 years during the 16th century and his empire was massive. He was behind the Spanish Inquisition and sought about taking down the Ottoman Empire halting their conquest across the Mediterranean at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571. Phillip's special ability that he bestows on his troops is called El Escorial and it gives a combat bonus when fighting opponents from other religions and allows his inquisitors to remove heresy one extra time.

Treasure Fleet is Spain's special ability which gives extra yield between Spanish controlled continents and they can combine ships into fleets before the other civilizations.

The special unit is the Conquistador which gets a bonus when there is a Missionary, Apostle or Inquisitor on their tile and if they are next to a city when it is conquered, that city converts to whatever is Spain's majority religion.

Spain's unique building is the Mission. When built it gives a bonus to faith and gives a further faith bonus if it is built on a different continent to the home city. Additionally, it gives a bonus to science when built next to a campus.

Germany

The Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany, Frederick Barbarossa leads Germany in Civilization VI. He is famed for bringing peace to a warring German empire, and he is remembered throughout German folklore. Some say that he will return one day bringing Germany into a golden age. His military prowess continues on in-game where he grants an additional military policy slot and gives his troops a bonus when fighting city-state units.

Germany's Free Imperial Cities bonus allows for one extra district tile than the usual population limit would allow, and they gain a unique district called Hansa. This replaces the normal industrial district and gives bonuses when built neighboring a commercial hub, resources or adjacent districts.

The unique unit for Germany is the modern U-Boat submarine.

Scythia

Little known about this formidable nomadic Queen but Queen Tomyris was responsible for killing King Cyrus of Persia. She grants her units the ability to heal a little when defeated a unit and receive an attack bonus when engaging damaged units.

The ability People of the Steppe creates two units when building light cavalry or the Scythian unique unit the Saka Horse Archer. These mounted troops have a movement bonus and, oddly, don't require any horse resources to build.

The Kurgen is a unique district tile to Scythia. It cannot be built on a hill but gets a bonus when built next to pastures. It provides both faith and gold.

Brazil

A new addition to the Civilizations roster is Brazil. In Civilization VI, the Brazilians are lead by Emperor Pedro II. He is known throughout history as the man who turned Brazil into an emerging international power and for his support for the abolition of slavery. His unique ability in-game allows points to be recouped when recruiting or patronizing a great person. The name of this ability is Magnanimous, which was also the Emperor's nickname.

Brazil can build a unique district called Carnival. Once built, it allows for the construction of the carnival city complex which turns production points into extra amenities. This replaces the entertainment district.

The unique unit for Brazil is called Minas Geraes. It is a naval unit which has a great ranged attack.

Given that Brazil is famed for its rainforests, it makes sense that its special ability reflects this. You will get bonuses for building adjacent to rainforests.

France

Vive la France! Catherine de' Medici leads the French campaign in Civilization VI. She was the wife of King Henry II and mother to three Kings of France. She was famed for her tenacity in securing the crown of France for her family after her husband's death. Catherine had a keen interest in espionage and had a network of ladies-in-waiting who worked as her spies. They were called The Flying Squadron. It is this network which gives Catherine her special ability in-game. She gets extra diplomatic information from every leader she meets, and once you have researched Castles, she gains an extra spy.

The unique building France has is the Château. They must be built next to a river and give a boost to culture points especially if placed near a wonder.

France's special ability is called Grand Tour, and it grants a bonus when constructing mid-game wonders and extra tourism points for every wonder constructed.

The Garde Imperiale are France's unique unit. They are musket men and they receive a bonus when fighting on the home continent and receive Grand General points for kills.

Aztecs

Although their time in the real-world has long since passed, the Aztecs are a force to be reckoned with in Civilizations VI. Led by the legendary Montezuma, the Aztecs built one of the greatest cities in the World, Tenochtitlan, and developed aqueduct systems throughout the region. Montezuma's gift to you, should you wish to play as Aztecs, is Gifts for the Tlatoani. It increases the amenities given to cities from luxuries and also gives troops an increase in power if a luxury is improved in their territory.

A unique building addition to the entertainment district called the Tlachtli grants faith, amenities and Great General points.

The Eagle Warriors are an upgrade to basic warrior units. When they defeat other units, they can turn them into builder units. This unique ability works well with the Aztecs special ability which grants a building speed bonus when building districts (at the time of writing this, this ability is unnamed. Check back soon to find out its name!).

China

A Civilization game would only be complete with China's involvement. The leader of China in this installment is Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. He unified China and was the ruler responsible for building the Great Wall of China, an extensive road network across the country, and he built the great mausoleum which holds the famous Terracotta Army. The First Emperor bestows the ability for builders to be used more than once and they can be used to speed up the construction of Ancient and Classical wonders.

As already mentioned, Qin was responsible for having the Great Wall of China built, so it makes sense to have that as China's unique building. It is built in segments, and each one uses up one builder. When you start constructing it, the Wall gives a gold bonus and greater defense. As times move on, it also boosts tourism and culture.

The unique unit for the Japanese forces is the Crouching Tiger Cannon which is highly powerful and needs no additional resources to create it.

The special ability unique to China is called Dynastic Cycles. This means that China gets a larger boost from Eureka and Inspiration events than other civilizations

Japan

Hojo Tokimune is the leader for the Japanese people in Civilization VI. He is known through Japanese history as the ruler who beat back the invading Mongol army and helped the spread Zen Buddhism. He is also responsible for Bushido, the "way of the Warrior" in Japanese warriors. In the game, he grants a special ability called Divine Wind. This ability gives a bonus to land-based troopers near the coasts and gives a combat bonus to any naval unit near a coastline in shallow waters.

Japan's special ability is called Meiji Restoration. It helps Japan make big and powerful cities by granting bonuses to districts built next to each other.

It is no surprise that the unique troop to Japan is the Samurai. This legendary unit will fight as if they are at full strength even when they are damaged.

The unique building to the Japan civilization is the Electronics Factory. It makes sense to have the in-game Japan mimic the real-life electronic superpower. It replaces the basic factory in an industry zone and grants a bonus production and culture to surrounding cities as well as its own city.

Egypt

The leader of the Egyptian civilization in Civilization VI is none other than the beautiful Cleopatra. She was the last pharaoh of Egypt before it became a part of the newly formed Roman Empire. She committed suicide after her lover, Mark Antony, had done the same shortly after losing at the Battle of Actium. The ability she grants her civilization is a boost to all trade routes. Any trade within her cities give out more gold and the ones coming in from other civilizations gives more food to the originator's city and bonus gold to Egypt.

The Egyptian civilization wouldn't be the same without seeing the great Sphinx. This unique landmark gives a bonus to culture and faith as well as giving an added bonus when it is placed next to a Wonder.

The unique unit for Egypt is the swift and accurate Chariot Archer.

Egypt's special ability is called Eteru. This grants the player a speed bonus when building districts and wonders next to rivers.

England

Queen Victoria is leading the charge for England. She sat on the British throne for a total of 63 years and not only was she the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, but she was also the Empress of India. She was responsible for much of the way the British government operates today. During her reign, there were many developments in culture, science, military organization and saw the great Industrial Revolution of England (which began around 1760 until the mid-1800s).

Given the advancement of the military, it is no surprise that England has a unique military district in-game. The Royal Naval Dockyard offers a whole host of bonuses, like any naval unit built at the dockyard receives bonus movement points, dockyards on other continents generate bonus gold and players will receive a Great Admiral point.

The specialist units for this army are the infantry unit known historically as the Redcoats and a naval unit, the Seadog.

England's special ability is called British Museum which gives archeological museums extra slots for finds and each museum also has more archeologists working there.

America

The American forces in Civilization VI are being led by the 26th president Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. He is still the youngest person to become President and is responsible for founding the United States Forestry Service in 1905, his efforts in conservation are still felt today. Given his love of nature, those of you who wish to play Teddy will receive a bonus to your National Parks which make them more resilient than parks of other civilizations.

The in-game specialist units for America are the P-51 Mustang aircraft and the Rough Riders (1st United States Volunteer Cavalry). Another bonus you will receive playing as America is a combat bonus to fights which take place on your home continent.

The unique building to the American civilization is the Film Studio which gives a massive cultural bonus when in the modern era.

Founding Fathers is the special ability for America. This means that you get a reduction in the length of time it takes to gain government bonuses.

I hope you have found this guide useful in choosing which civilization you want to play. There will be many more guides concerning Civilizations VI so make sure you check back with GameSkinny often!