C i v i l i z at i o n VI

Sid’s sixth societal simulation seems sound

his is the quinquennial Civilization game. Since 1991, Sid and friends have cooked up a slice of history every five years and each time the old hands at Firaxis have been invigorated by a new lead designer, with a new big idea. Erstwhile boardgame creator Ed Beach was responsible for the salvation of the shonky Civ V, so he’s been called in for this one.

TAs Phil described in issue 294, this time around the design change is about unstacking cities the same way that CivV unstacked armies, so that mature conurbations sprawl across much of the map. It’s obviously inspired by Endless Legend, as producer Dennis Shirk seems to admit to me: “This is something Sid’s always harped on about—never be afraid to say that there are good ideas out there.”

Getting hands-on with the game, those influences came to the fore. I was playing as the fantastically bearded Pedro II of Brazil, who gets adjacency bonuses from jungle tiles, a special battleship and a special district called the Carnival. It’s a faction better suited to focusing on the new culture tech trees, as opposed to the research side.

That’s partly because the Carnival allows Brazil to recruit Great People, at a much greater rate. Like EndlessLegend’s heroes, Great People are treated like Wonders—they’re available to anyone who has enough of the right kind of culture, and they all have different prices. This is one of many changes that seem targeted

it’s much easier to read and play, given the massive UI improvements