Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
25 years on, the strategy ruler returns once more
$59.99 Developer Firaxis Games, aspyr.com Requirements OS X 10.11 or later, 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 6GB RAM, 1GB graphics card/Intel Iris Pro
Civilization, celebrating its 25th anniversary, has never strayed from its expansionist spirit: turn by turn, tile by tile, build units and structures to grow your empire and fight (or engineer) your way to victory. The sixth entry arrives with a colorful if slightly cartoony art style, a new way to win, and a refreshed focus on city administration.
Of the four victory conditions available in Civ VI, Domination, Science, and Culture remain unchanged, while a Religion victory replaces V’s Diplomacy route: found a religion and proselytize more than 50% of the cities in each nation. These four paths to victory seem discrete, but no single decision is separate from the spider-web of strategic choices that came before and after. Even a straightforward Domination victory relies on a campus district to keep stay ahead of the constant technological arms race.
Districts may be the biggest change facing long-time Civ players. Instead of cramming everything into the city center, specialized buildings – theaters, harbors, barracks –
now occupy their own tile on the map, conferring a host of empire-wide benefits. The hexagonal tiles introduced in Civ V take on greater importance, since districts receive
bonuses based on their surroundings. Squeezing the most out of your Russian Lavra means reserving a tile flanked by mountains and forests, and because districts can’t be razed or rebuilt, Civilization VI demands purposeful, long-term strategy.
This extends to international diplomacy as well. Each rival leader sets “agendas” that guide their behavior and relationships – move a knight too close to Delhi, and Gandhi won’t hesitate to threaten nuclear winter; destroy too many wetlands and face the ire of environmentalist Hojo Tokimune.
Sadly, AI leaders remain cartoonishly over-reactive and trigger-happy, despite their aversion to sound military tactics. This would normally tarnish a strategy game of Civilization’s pedigree, but online and hotseat multiplayer effectively mitigate any AI clumsiness, and Civ VI’s new look skews any expectations of realism or finesse: when the Hanging Gardens of Babylon are built in downtown Birmingham, does it matter that Cleopatra is grumpy? the bottom line. Civilization’s subtleties reveal themselves over dozens of games. If history is any pointer, future expansions will build on this rich foundation.