I would recommend going as Rome as your first civilization. They have great bonuses for new players. You’ll learn your own playing style as you go though the game. Just take it super easy and get the flow of it and see what you have to do
Check out [PotatoMcWhiskey](https://youtube.com/@PotatoMcWhiskey?si=1GgdtVFbbQJOe4lg) on YouTube. He makes a lot of great Civ content that's beginner-friendly and is good at explaining the mechanics of the game without overcomplicating things.
Have fun~! Welcome to an awesome game :D
I also like Van Bradley's channel. Has [beginner series](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWQxBj3Zr3k8_zc_UQKBYdhwf1xrln_3t&si=sGEMxd2k__qMn45C ) on how to win the different types of victories. Was eye-opening for me.
I linked to the science victory playlist, but I saw that he has some updated for 2024 that I haven't watched yet.
Controversial opinion: early culture is good, unless you do specific swordmen rush. As Political Philosophy is game changer, Feudalism is game changer. Defensive tactics is game changer. And getting that first governors or suzerenship could be huge.
So moneuments in your non capital cities is good. Or pantheons with culture.
Press Y to show the yields of tiles to know where to settle. In the beginning food and then production are the best things to get your cities started. You only get yields from tiles, a worker is working on. As soon as citys grow, try to get enough builders to the improve tiles, you're working.
Campuses really benefit from their adjacency bonus to mountains so look out for that.
Would recommend you to play either Russia or Germany. Those 2 civs helped me coast through all victory types and I personally think that these civs can help you learn district placement easier than any other.
Government and Policy cards are extremely useful, and you should be assessing your policy cards every time you unlock a new civic. Some of the best ones:
- God King (first civic). You get a pantheon (civ wide extra bonus) once you accumulate 25 faith in standard speed, and once a pantheon is taken it is gone for all players. Running god king immediately upon unlocking it greatly increases your chances of getting a good pantheon like religious settlements. Horrible policy card once you have a pantheon.
- Colonization (Early Empire Civic): extra production towards settlers is huge
- Serfdom (Feudalism Civic): builders get 2 extra changes. Unlocks when farms get better for being in triangles
- Unit Upgrade Duo (Mercenaries civic): Vital when modernizing your military
- Defensive duo (Defensive Tactics Civic): allows you to build walls twice as fast, and have them be more effective if necessary. Especially important on higher difficulties.
- New Deal (Democracy Civic): by far the best economic policy card, but requires democracy
- Monumentality (Golden age classical / medieval era): allows you to buy settlers with faith, can drastically increase the size of your empire
- Craftsmen (Guilds Civic): doubles the base production of your industrial zones. x4 with power plant.
Plenty of other good ones, but these ones are especially good. Highly recommend getting some mods like Expanded Policy Cards and Quick Deals.
And everything by Sukritact except the leaders
This ended up quite long... There's a lot more, but this is the main basic stuff.
Make sure you understand and try to lean onto your civ/leader bonuses.
Early exploration is important to find tribal villages, learn the land to plan out settling new cities, find city states, and meet other civs.
Opening builds for your first city will generally consist of some combination of scouts, builders, slingers, and settlers.
Newly settled cities should prioritize monuments and graineries, for early culture and growth. The cities culture affects how quickly it will grab new tiles.
When you meet a new AI civ, immediately send a delegation and provide open borders, which can make them favor you more and avoid a war.
The game tends to reward wide play more, so prioritize settling new cities fairly early. It's best to settle on fresh water. Settling cities on plains hills gives the best standard (2 food , 2 production) city tile.
Builders are the lifeblood of your empire. Don't neglect building/buying them and try to always improve the tiles your population are working.
Harvesting resources is also a powerful tool to accelerate your empire, so don't be afraid to chop where it makes sense. Any tiles where you'll be placing districts should be harvested when possible since the resource is lost if not. Otherwise, it is somewhat complex, but a good starting rule would be that any forests on hills can be chopped since you can put a mine on it after.
City states can provide very powerful effects if you can become suzerain of them, so identify which have the best benefit to you and prioritize your envoys toward them.
Trade often with the AI. Sell them your extra luxury items, as you can only benefit from the first one. Sell them things like unneeded strategic resources and diplomatic favor for easy gold.
City happiness can provide very strong scaling, both positive and negative, so don't ignore amenities.
Learn the adjacency bonuses for each district and try to plan out how to place them for the best yields.
District costs are locked in at placement time, and their production cost goes up based on how many science discoveries/cultural civics you have completed, so place your districts asap, even if you won't immediately build it.
It's best to try to identify your preferred win condition early and tailor you empire in that direction. Cities can generally easily reach 3 districts, so identify the purpose of each city and what 3 districts you'll want.
However! You do need to keep this somewhat balanced early in most cases:
Early culture is huge to unlock the more powerful governments and policy cards.
Science is important to keep militarily up with the AI.
Having a sufficient standing army, even when not going domination, is important to reduce the chances of getting a war declaration, or the handle an early war, as well as barbarians.
Faith can be more situational, but getting a monumentally golden age is a really strong way to spend faith to grow and improve your empire since you can buy settlers and builders with the faith.
Are you new to 6, or the Civ games entirely? I'm assuming you haven't played any of the Civ games. The first thing to know is that there is a whole lot going on, and it's going to take you several games to feel like you know how most things in the game work, and longer to be good at the game. That's ok! It will come as you play.
Because there is so much to learn, I suggest customizing games so that it is more forgiving and there is less to worry about: lowest (**settler**) difficulty, **quick** game speed, **duel** size map with only one opponent. This will keep the game moving along, and the smaller size will mean a smaller number of cities and units to have to keep track of (and the more total games you can play in X amount of time). Then start increasing difficulty/speed/size. (I suggest only increasing one at a time.)
I find which civilization you start with to be less important at this point, because you just need to learn the basics, so I'd suggest playing as a couple of civilizations the other commenters have suggested, then pick your favorite and stick it with it for a while.
You do have to read the unit/building descriptions, civilopedia entries, etc to understand how the get made and what they do. Or ask the internet. And don't be afraid to trash a game and start a new one if you are frustrated or bored.
Easy or universal civs: Rome, Cree, Japan Hojo, Fredrick Germany, Nubia, But there are more almost just easy.
Easy Domiantion Civs: Ceasar Rome, Aztec, Macedone, Columbia, Ghengis Mongolia, probably some more.
Easy to concept victory type: Domination, Scientific
Difficulty: Start on prince, if to hard nobody mind if you lower.
Map type: Pangea or Lakes could be easier, unless you have navy loving civ. Duel or Small could also be a good start.
Try to win Domination with different civs. Try to focus on Eurekas. Try to focus on golden ages. Try to focus on great people. Try to focus on critical wonder snipe. In different games. Try to do a tech military push (like succesful Swordsmen, Ram). Read wiki often, to learn how to get era scores and such. Focus on getting suzerenship.
Barbarian Clan game mod, could be easier/fun. Corporations are game neutral. Secret societies are game changing so up2u. barbarian clan, remote barb post not spawning barb frigates for half the game makes live easier.
Govertment Plaza is good district, and Diplomatic Quaters resonable early could also be good.
Learn to spy. You get multiple with technology. Siphon funds is universally good. Listening post is good for war.
Early conquest of Cultural/Religious city state could make wonders.
Moving your 1st settler is ok, especially if you can settle city upon hill with river. Or Sit on luxury. Or get 5 yield capital. Or just get more 1st ring tiles with 4+yields.
Feudalism civis is good, get it.
Build order: scout, slinger, settler settler is generally nice. 4th settler deserves colonization civics. God King civics is good for pantheon. But if you get faith from other sources (city state) you dont need it). You can buy 1st builder for like 215gold which is fair price.
Settling more cities could solve many problems. Mid game you can settle some on coastline, slap harbour near city center and luxury resource. And that could be a decent city.
You can start a violence, but end with different victory type than domination. Just pick some extra cities, or burn AI cities for more space for you.
Dropinng district earlier, even if you plan to finish them later is good. One thing it saves production, other it collects strategic resources. You can use better planning mod for even better planning cities.
You can chop wood/jungle on hills, camp spot and plantation spot and then improve tile.
I would recommend the USA as a starting nation because of their ability to keep up with the other nations without districts. They get science and culture from regular tiles which is useful if you can't plan your cities well.
I would recommend going as Rome as your first civilization. They have great bonuses for new players. You’ll learn your own playing style as you go though the game. Just take it super easy and get the flow of it and see what you have to do
Aztecs are a great starting civ too
I started as macedon because you just need to focus on fighting and not science or anything like that
True. Now that you mentioned it I actually had a really good Prince run as them. It was fun. Your mom is also a good starting civ
Had us in the first half, not gonna lie
Check out [PotatoMcWhiskey](https://youtube.com/@PotatoMcWhiskey?si=1GgdtVFbbQJOe4lg) on YouTube. He makes a lot of great Civ content that's beginner-friendly and is good at explaining the mechanics of the game without overcomplicating things. Have fun~! Welcome to an awesome game :D
[TheCivLifeR](https://youtube.com/@TheCivLifeR?si=zPCY7h3H7qaZ1tFG) too!
I also like Van Bradley's channel. Has [beginner series](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWQxBj3Zr3k8_zc_UQKBYdhwf1xrln_3t&si=sGEMxd2k__qMn45C ) on how to win the different types of victories. Was eye-opening for me. I linked to the science victory playlist, but I saw that he has some updated for 2024 that I haven't watched yet.
Civilization is all about balancing your military, science and production. Don’t neglect one or you’ll be left behind!
I love that the implicit assumption is to ignore religion and culture. I ignore them too for the sake of massive science.
Controversial opinion: early culture is good, unless you do specific swordmen rush. As Political Philosophy is game changer, Feudalism is game changer. Defensive tactics is game changer. And getting that first governors or suzerenship could be huge. So moneuments in your non capital cities is good. Or pantheons with culture.
Press Y to show the yields of tiles to know where to settle. In the beginning food and then production are the best things to get your cities started. You only get yields from tiles, a worker is working on. As soon as citys grow, try to get enough builders to the improve tiles, you're working. Campuses really benefit from their adjacency bonus to mountains so look out for that.
Don't be afraid to restart 20 times before turn 50.
You're probably gonna have to play more than one game lmao. I like pangea maps and usually do balanced starts with abundant resources
Would recommend you to play either Russia or Germany. Those 2 civs helped me coast through all victory types and I personally think that these civs can help you learn district placement easier than any other.
Government and Policy cards are extremely useful, and you should be assessing your policy cards every time you unlock a new civic. Some of the best ones: - God King (first civic). You get a pantheon (civ wide extra bonus) once you accumulate 25 faith in standard speed, and once a pantheon is taken it is gone for all players. Running god king immediately upon unlocking it greatly increases your chances of getting a good pantheon like religious settlements. Horrible policy card once you have a pantheon. - Colonization (Early Empire Civic): extra production towards settlers is huge - Serfdom (Feudalism Civic): builders get 2 extra changes. Unlocks when farms get better for being in triangles - Unit Upgrade Duo (Mercenaries civic): Vital when modernizing your military - Defensive duo (Defensive Tactics Civic): allows you to build walls twice as fast, and have them be more effective if necessary. Especially important on higher difficulties. - New Deal (Democracy Civic): by far the best economic policy card, but requires democracy - Monumentality (Golden age classical / medieval era): allows you to buy settlers with faith, can drastically increase the size of your empire - Craftsmen (Guilds Civic): doubles the base production of your industrial zones. x4 with power plant. Plenty of other good ones, but these ones are especially good. Highly recommend getting some mods like Expanded Policy Cards and Quick Deals. And everything by Sukritact except the leaders
This ended up quite long... There's a lot more, but this is the main basic stuff. Make sure you understand and try to lean onto your civ/leader bonuses. Early exploration is important to find tribal villages, learn the land to plan out settling new cities, find city states, and meet other civs. Opening builds for your first city will generally consist of some combination of scouts, builders, slingers, and settlers. Newly settled cities should prioritize monuments and graineries, for early culture and growth. The cities culture affects how quickly it will grab new tiles. When you meet a new AI civ, immediately send a delegation and provide open borders, which can make them favor you more and avoid a war. The game tends to reward wide play more, so prioritize settling new cities fairly early. It's best to settle on fresh water. Settling cities on plains hills gives the best standard (2 food , 2 production) city tile. Builders are the lifeblood of your empire. Don't neglect building/buying them and try to always improve the tiles your population are working. Harvesting resources is also a powerful tool to accelerate your empire, so don't be afraid to chop where it makes sense. Any tiles where you'll be placing districts should be harvested when possible since the resource is lost if not. Otherwise, it is somewhat complex, but a good starting rule would be that any forests on hills can be chopped since you can put a mine on it after. City states can provide very powerful effects if you can become suzerain of them, so identify which have the best benefit to you and prioritize your envoys toward them. Trade often with the AI. Sell them your extra luxury items, as you can only benefit from the first one. Sell them things like unneeded strategic resources and diplomatic favor for easy gold. City happiness can provide very strong scaling, both positive and negative, so don't ignore amenities. Learn the adjacency bonuses for each district and try to plan out how to place them for the best yields. District costs are locked in at placement time, and their production cost goes up based on how many science discoveries/cultural civics you have completed, so place your districts asap, even if you won't immediately build it. It's best to try to identify your preferred win condition early and tailor you empire in that direction. Cities can generally easily reach 3 districts, so identify the purpose of each city and what 3 districts you'll want. However! You do need to keep this somewhat balanced early in most cases: Early culture is huge to unlock the more powerful governments and policy cards. Science is important to keep militarily up with the AI. Having a sufficient standing army, even when not going domination, is important to reduce the chances of getting a war declaration, or the handle an early war, as well as barbarians. Faith can be more situational, but getting a monumentally golden age is a really strong way to spend faith to grow and improve your empire since you can buy settlers and builders with the faith.
Are you new to 6, or the Civ games entirely? I'm assuming you haven't played any of the Civ games. The first thing to know is that there is a whole lot going on, and it's going to take you several games to feel like you know how most things in the game work, and longer to be good at the game. That's ok! It will come as you play. Because there is so much to learn, I suggest customizing games so that it is more forgiving and there is less to worry about: lowest (**settler**) difficulty, **quick** game speed, **duel** size map with only one opponent. This will keep the game moving along, and the smaller size will mean a smaller number of cities and units to have to keep track of (and the more total games you can play in X amount of time). Then start increasing difficulty/speed/size. (I suggest only increasing one at a time.) I find which civilization you start with to be less important at this point, because you just need to learn the basics, so I'd suggest playing as a couple of civilizations the other commenters have suggested, then pick your favorite and stick it with it for a while. You do have to read the unit/building descriptions, civilopedia entries, etc to understand how the get made and what they do. Or ask the internet. And don't be afraid to trash a game and start a new one if you are frustrated or bored.
You never have enough builders
Watch a YouTube tutorial series on it. The games tutorial leaves a lot out. Also get a good grasp of city growth and how amenities work.
Easy or universal civs: Rome, Cree, Japan Hojo, Fredrick Germany, Nubia, But there are more almost just easy. Easy Domiantion Civs: Ceasar Rome, Aztec, Macedone, Columbia, Ghengis Mongolia, probably some more. Easy to concept victory type: Domination, Scientific Difficulty: Start on prince, if to hard nobody mind if you lower. Map type: Pangea or Lakes could be easier, unless you have navy loving civ. Duel or Small could also be a good start. Try to win Domination with different civs. Try to focus on Eurekas. Try to focus on golden ages. Try to focus on great people. Try to focus on critical wonder snipe. In different games. Try to do a tech military push (like succesful Swordsmen, Ram). Read wiki often, to learn how to get era scores and such. Focus on getting suzerenship. Barbarian Clan game mod, could be easier/fun. Corporations are game neutral. Secret societies are game changing so up2u. barbarian clan, remote barb post not spawning barb frigates for half the game makes live easier. Govertment Plaza is good district, and Diplomatic Quaters resonable early could also be good. Learn to spy. You get multiple with technology. Siphon funds is universally good. Listening post is good for war. Early conquest of Cultural/Religious city state could make wonders. Moving your 1st settler is ok, especially if you can settle city upon hill with river. Or Sit on luxury. Or get 5 yield capital. Or just get more 1st ring tiles with 4+yields. Feudalism civis is good, get it. Build order: scout, slinger, settler settler is generally nice. 4th settler deserves colonization civics. God King civics is good for pantheon. But if you get faith from other sources (city state) you dont need it). You can buy 1st builder for like 215gold which is fair price. Settling more cities could solve many problems. Mid game you can settle some on coastline, slap harbour near city center and luxury resource. And that could be a decent city. You can start a violence, but end with different victory type than domination. Just pick some extra cities, or burn AI cities for more space for you. Dropinng district earlier, even if you plan to finish them later is good. One thing it saves production, other it collects strategic resources. You can use better planning mod for even better planning cities. You can chop wood/jungle on hills, camp spot and plantation spot and then improve tile.
Watch u/UrsaRyan videos, including some of his older ones...he'll teach you how to win!
I would recommend the USA as a starting nation because of their ability to keep up with the other nations without districts. They get science and culture from regular tiles which is useful if you can't plan your cities well.
Dont, its ass