Civilization 7 Makes Some Bold Changes, and They're Probably for the Best | Push Square

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Sid Meier’s Civilization has remained a constant across its 33-year run; each of the mainline games has been at the very least pretty great. Even spinoffs like Civilization Revolution were excellent for what they were. But there is an argument that when you’re that consistent, it’s pretty easy to play it safe, and the jump from Civ 5 to Civ 6 was a bit too similar for our tastes at the time it launched.

Naturally, when Civilization 7 was announced, we were of course keen for what is likely to be another great game in a great series, but after being invited to a presentation from the developers at Firaxi and a hands on session at Gamescom, it has shot itself way up our most anticipated list.

Civilization 7 has flipped the formula on its head in many ways. First off, you can pick the leader of your civilization and that’s it. Leaders are no longer tied to a single civilization, allowing you to jump in and play as Augustus of Rome leading the Ancient Egyptians, for example. Naturally, leaders will have some amount of synergy with their actual civilization – but this change adds a new layer of depth and strategy before you even load into the game. Plus, leaders are no longer just political figures, with leaders from art, science, and philosophy (the developers specifically named Benjamin Franklin) fleshing out the roster. While this on its own isn’t exactly mind-blowing, the change leads to some bigger things down the road.

The eras of previous games (bronze age, modern era, etc.) have been ditched in favour of three distinct Ages: the Age of Antiquity, the Age of Exploration, and the Modern Age. While the eras signified your progress in the game, the Ages represent a huge overhaul to the gameplay loop. At the end of an age, you’ll be faced with crises such as war and revolution (as well as being given crisis debuffs to add to your civilization, like reduced gold each turn). But once you pass through to the next age, you rebuild anew, which leads to another major