Civilization VI review: Your next turn has submitted an extension request

The big picture

Civilization VI begins with a city location and develops into a national argument about land use. A promising tile could support a district, a wonder or something your neighbour has inconsiderately decided to want first. Firaxis's turn-based strategy game makes geography part of the machinery: cities spread across hexes, so the decisions you make leave a visible footprint. Sometimes that footprint explains your brilliant plan. Sometimes it explains why you now wish you'd founded the city slightly to the left.

Originally released in October 2016, Civilization VI still offers an appealing mixture of development, diplomacy, culture, technology and military pressure. The scale is grand, but much of the pleasure comes from small choices connecting. Its natural audience enjoys building a complicated plan and adapting it when the rest of the world declines to cooperate. The rest of the world rarely completes the courtesy of asking first.

Every tile would like to be considered

Districts, wonders and improvements occupy their own hexes, creating competing uses for space. A tile can meet an immediate need while also representing a future opportunity. Committing it to one purpose means thinking about what else the city might become, with incomplete information and a world that keeps developing without waiting for your final design approval.

That makes placement satisfying when a plan comes together. The physical city reflects your decisions, and its location matters beyond providing a suitable spot for a name. It also means an attractive idea can collide with an earlier choice you made while feeling considerably less informed.

Newcomers should resist treating every placement as a permanent verdict on their intelligence. Learn what the current position supports and let the first few attempts be experiments. You can acquire useful knowledge without first obtaining a postgraduate qualification in regretting hexagons.

Progress responds to what you actually do

Research boosts encourage activity, while the Civics tree gives cultural development its own direction. Exploration, expansion and economic preparation can therefore advance a larger plan. Diplomacy changes as the game proceeds, adding another reason to think beyond the immediate local problem. A promising neighbour may become a different proposition once both of you have developed ambitions and the equipment to express them.

The temptation is to chase every available bonus. That can produce an extremely busy empire whose overall strategy resembles several unrelated shopping lists. Multiple victory paths offer choices; they don't require you to supervise all of civilisation's possible achievements simultaneously.

Focus helps give actions meaning. Decide what your position makes plausible, pursue it and allow some opportunities to pass. Imaginary governments deserve the occasional chance to say “that sounds interesting, but we are already doing seventeen things.” Your next turn will find another issue soon enough.

The expansions add more ways for a plan to become complicated

Rise and Fall introduces loyalty, governors and changing ages. Expansion stops being solely a question of acquiring cities when keeping them attached to your empire becomes another concern. Governors give cities more individual purpose, while the added systems demand attention. Founding a settlement is satisfying; discovering that it has opinions about belonging to you is a different sort of development.

Gathering Storm adds natural disasters, power generation and climate effects, alongside the World Congress and diplomatic victory. Productive territory can carry risk, and industrial decisions can produce consequences later. The map becomes more active in a game already concerned with the long-term effects of your choices. Nature, it turns out, also has a turn.

These systems can enrich the experience, but more complexity doesn't automatically make a better starting point. Learn the base rules first if that feels comfortable. An expansion bundle is worthwhile when its ideas interest you, rather than because the longest content list looks safest. Purchasing additional decisions is optional; the base game has plenty available.

A large empire creates a long tail

Turn-based play removes the need for quick reflexes, but attention remains necessary. More cities, units and relationships mean more things to maintain. If tending a complicated plan is satisfying, that growth is part of the reward. If your favourite part is the opening exploration, the later administrative load may drag.

Smaller maps and focused goals can help you find the scale you enjoy. Multiplayer also benefits from agreeing on expectations. A leisurely historical epic and a brisk competitive session are different social plans, even if everybody initially describes themselves as relaxed. Decide how much evening the empire is allowed to annex.

Check the edition before expanding onto another device

Native versions include Windows, macOS, Linux, Switch, PS4, Xbox One, iOS and Android. PS5, Xbox Series and Switch 2 support their respective older-console editions. Steam Deck is Playable with text, prompt and keyboard caveats. Native Linux has specific supported-hardware and multiplayer-version limitations, so check those rather than assuming every desktop setup is equivalent.

Mobile purchases and features differ. Android lacks New Frontier Pass, while iOS uses separate purchases, touch controls without controller support, and LAN multiplayer. Cloud access is another service route, not a universal licence. Civilization VI rewards patient players who enjoy geography becoming a story of decisions. Just establish a stopping point before the next turn presents an extremely reasonable case for postponing it.