In the last game, influence with City States decayed over time and was hard to get, resulting in an ever-escalating race of diminishing returns for City State affection. Once again, a few small refinements from systems in Civ V totally transform how a mechanic feels. We’ve talked before about how cool the City State mechanics in Civ 6 are, but it bears repeating. Do you send your trade routes out to city states for a small bonus, keep them internal to boost growth and production, or go abroad for the biggest bonuses to culture, science and cash, while giving your opponent a road leading right to you? Domestic trade routes are also now much more viable, giving you-wait for it-yet another interesting choice to make. And the trade system now feels like a key part of your economy, rather than a tack-on. Of course roads spring up where there are trade routes. Traders build roads as they travel and rather than being an inconvenience, it feels organic and natural. The trade system expands and updates the one introduced in Civilization V: Brave New World and is integrated more closely into the game. That’s a good thing-there’s a ton of content to jump into right away. More importantly, it means the tech and civics trees will feel fresh every time, rather than just being a list of items to check off.Ĭiv 6 is chockablock with revamped and new systems, to the extent that the Twitterati have said the game feels more like a game that already has an expansion or two on top of it. If you’re a military power, you’ll probably lag in culture and the related bonuses, or vice versa. Almost every tech has these bonuses and it’s a built-in way for the game to reward civilizations based on what they accomplish. Building three archers halves the cost of the technology that gives you the Crossbowman building lots of Entertainment Districts makes it cheaper to discover sports arenas. Likewise, the tech tree-now split into separate trees for civics and technology-is designed to change based on how you play the game, in that accomplishing certain tasks halves the cost of specific technologies and civics. Such bonuses affect everything from Districts, to farms, to Natural Wonders, and as we all learn the game better those bonuses will become the critical factor in what makes a great Civ 6 player. The complexity of the game comes out in moments like when you realize that a certain city can either have an incredible Industrial Zone or an influential Theater Square, but not both. There’s nothing more satisfying than finding that rare spot with four mountains next to it, allowing for an incredible Campus.

Now, the bonuses and varying requirements for Districts and improvements add choice and strategy to city development at every step along the way. In previous games, the most important element of city development was simply where you placed cities in the first place. Really, the game-changing concept of adjacency bonuses, as seen most frequently with Districts, makes Civ 6 a far more complex game. In truth, it’s a simplification to say that Districts are the killer feature in Civ 6. Districts in 'Civilization 6' Photo: Firaxis Games

Civ 6 patch discussion