Civilization VI, unsurprisingly, is a notch higher than previous releases in the series. There’s no doubt it’ll cement its place as the most fantastic digital board game. It features familiar mechanics of building sprawling cities, fighting unscrupulous elements, and winning victory prizes. Yet, the game’s design gives an exciting new badge of greatness.

The game gives you an opportunity to turn every challenge into advancement. Take, for instance, the group of barbarians bent on bringing your place to ruins. That pushes you – in a good way – to develop formidable military equipment for defense. What about the intimidating environment and landscapes that seem to swallow you? You get a rich resource to build your empire without stress.

Civilization VI, therefore, takes the Civ series to another level. There is so much to learn in this new instalment, but knowledge from previous games in the series will make the journey smoother. So in Civilization VI, you get a multiplayer board game that features military training, city expansion, and warfare.

The Map: Where Everything Begins

Civilization VI gives you so much to do in one game. Although that can feel inundating, it eliminates any possibility of a being a  bore. The first thing you’ll notice is that Civilization is far more complicated than its forerunners. There are new Districts with the task of expanding your cities and a technology tree where everything about your government grows roots.

However, everything comes together on the map. While the game doesn’t reflect the best of art styles, the map is strikingly exceptional. Looking at the expansive cities, massive iron miles, and famous squares will leave you in awe. Take the incredible animations of the tiles that save you the stress of pulling to what’s going on.

While the landscapes are truly breathtaking, they offer more than a pause in your breath. Like in previous Civilizations, the landscapes and tiles are very critical in gameplay. You can build districts in every tile and monitor what’s happening in each district by looking at the streets’ bustle.

The tech tree is the hotspot of your world’s technological developments. It serves as the research hub for pushing your technological boundaries. However, the position you begin on the map will determine the extent of your technological speciality. There’s also the Eureka moment that boots your access to certain technology when you execute specific tasks.

It Takes More to Build a City

When you look at the map, you have many barren lands with breathing potential. But planning a city is more complicated than it seems. At first, there’s a driving ambition that you could turn every tile into a special district. But it doesn’t take too long to discover it takes more than ambition. There has to be a lot of intuition.

Imagine keeping a particular tile to construct a site for rocket launch; then later discover it’s the only tile you can use for building a theater. You get into a fix that – if not properly managed – lands you into an unending web of wrong decisions. But that’s what civilization is all about – a process of hit and miss. Many a time, it takes more errors than hits to succeed.

Another tasking decision is building unique districts that stand on their own. The frustrations that come with getting it wrong so many times only make you a better planner. In my first gameplay, I built a Holy Site in a place that was a better fit for a university campus. I also made the terrible mistake of destroying mesmerizing nature that would have served huge National Park centuries later. Of course, I didn’t know this until centuries later.

I did wish there was a way I could figure out where everything was going to be. But where’s the fun in that? After running a few campaigns, you’d have learned a thing or two to help make better city planning decisions.

Conflicts and Conferences: Another Area the Game Excels

Civilization VI doesn’t lose touch with the series’ fundamentals of war and diplomacy. What you’ll find is a better depiction of this signature feature. Now, AI leaders have objectives to fulfill. Interestingly, you can also build an excellent relationship with them using the information on their likes and dislikes. The goal, eventually, is getting your empire on the rise.

Of course, you can’t completely avoid conflicts. When they do arise, Civilization VI has an unprecedented warfare setup. You can have a medic giving support to a combat unit right on the same tile. The game also allows you to create Corps from two units of fighters. Add a third unit, and you have an army. This feature, however, is only available during later parts of the game.

We all know how music is essential to every gameplay, and Civilization VI doesn’t come short. Several beautiful pieces of music spread throughout the game. The most exciting part is that the music selection grows with civilization. What starts as medieval-themed music in England transitions into orchestral music when we get to the Modern Age.

Conclusion

When you complete a campaign, the sight of the map is stunning. Not only are you overwhelmed with the satisfaction of building something so marvelous, but the history that reflects is also intriguing. This turn-based strategy game allows you to build a world power from scratch, passing through several civilizations in a stretch of millenniums. With four extensions – Rise and Fall, Gathering Storm, Red Death, and New Frontier – added so far, Civilization VI continues to offer new levels of satisfaction.

There’s a reason to believe Civilization VI will remain – for a long time to come – the most daring strategy game by Sid Meier.