Civilization VI — First Principles
The opening
- A typical start: Scout, Slinger or Warrior, then Settlers. Explore for tribal villages and city-states.
- Aim for six or more cities early. In Civilization VI, more cities is almost always right.
Districts
- Plan district spots when you found a city: Campus next to mountains, Holy Site next to mountains and woods, Commercial Hub on a river or next to a Harbor.
- Districts get more expensive the more technologies and civics you have — build them in new cities as early as you can.
Boosts
- Read the Eureka and Inspiration conditions and chase the cheap ones: each one takes a large share off a research cost.
Government and policies
- Classical Republic or Oligarchy early, depending on your plan, and swap policy cards whenever a new one helps.
Defense
- Barbarians are dangerous early — keep a few units at home and build walls in frontier cities.
Strategy and balance change with patches and mods. For current tier lists, guides and the Better Balanced Game rules, see the Civilization tab of our Useful Links page.