I was 100 turns intoSid Meier ’s Civilization VII , when I conquered almost the entire continent that I started on .
I began my hands - on preview meekly as Persia in the Antiquity Age before expanding through conquest , capturing more settlements than founding them myself . My power grew as the Antiquity Age crossed into the Exploration Age , and Persia evolve into Mongolia . I had amassed a giant army and waged several wars by the 100th round , and I ’d barely explored much of the new world . As someone who revel playing Civilization games quite aggressively , I ’m already lie with my meter withCivilization VIIand all of thecore changes to the formulathat it brings .
Civilization VII , found on February 11 , deftly eased me into the experience , with comprehensive tutorials to remind me of magnetic core systems , legacy path , and objective to keep up . While it feels overbalanced for military physical body and has some queerness with pacification treaty , I can already secernate that Firaxis created a strategy game I ’ll have no problem sinking twelve of hours into .
Expand and exterminate
civilisation VIIis a4X strategy secret plan . That subgenre gained its name because its gameplay loop see players search unknown lands , flourish their territory through conquest or by establish settlements , tap the resources in their land , and potentially exterminate any nearby opposer . I incline to lean into the expand and exterminate parts of 4X quite heavily .
Thankfully , Civilization VIIis very accommodating to that . Xerxes , King of Kings , quickly emerge as the clear best drawing card choice for me . His unique ability , “ Crusher of Rebellions , ” boosts my units while fighting outdoors of my dominion . Persia was a militaristic - focussed civilization that paired well with Xerxes , so I ’d chosen that and started a game in no time . Like its forerunner , Civilization VIIchallenges players to happen a settlement before easy expatiate it , hexangular tile by hexangular roofing tile .
I had no fuss relieve back into this formula thanks to my familiarity with the franchise , butCivilization VIIdoes a great job of thoroughly explaining everything in its tutorial and always giving me a clear counsel . I credit the legacy path system with this , as it reach player Culture , Military , Science , and Economic goal to discharge in each Age . As the Antiquity Age turn ticked on , I started build armed combat unit and researching any useful tech that the in - plot military adviser recommended .
I meet my neighbor chop-chop . My continent was home to three other loss leader : Machiavelli , Tecumseh , and Ashoka . By the destruction of turn 100 , two of these leader would be defeated and the other was a former friend turned enemy .
I was play quite aggressively , but Ashoka was too . He had also speedily expanded with a township to my northward while I focused on growing my capital . Although I had been planning to set on him , Ashoka got the jump on me and swiftly invaded Persia . This catch me unaware while my units were open out exploring the map , and I make out quite close to lose my uppercase and being kick out of the secret plan right away .
Weirdly , that ’s when Ashoka offered peace treaty and even allow me take the metropolis to the north as defrayment . I ’m unsure if that was a bug or an early - game AI oddity , but this dreadful repose deal for Ashoka ultimately set the microscope stage for my success . I used the additional settlement to increase the atomic number 79 , culture , and skill I fall with every play as I build an alliance with Tecumseh that further strengthen my saving . I retain researching more potent units and preparing for war , eventually fighting Machiavelli to the South .
Machiavelli did n’t put up much of a fight , so Tecumseh and I quickly wiped him out . At this point , Tecumseh and I were the continent ’s two superpowers , and we kept working together . After hold some fourth dimension to allow my unit bring around , bring some city - states into my culture with gold , and uprise the settlements I did own , I once again attacked Ashoka . This time , we were much more evenly matched , but his force were spread too lean . I took some of his southern settlements , enough to trigger an Age passage .
The Antiquity Age was about to become the Exploration Age .
The Exploration Age
As the Exploration Age began , I had to develop my civilization . I ultimately choose to rick Persia into Mongolia as Mongolia offer benefit when it came to fighting on my plate continent . I saw unit and building transform to notice the start of a Modern years , but my goal was still the same : take over the continent . I waged war with Ashoka again , and his losses continue . Before long , he had been wipe out .
The obvious thing to do now was to commit units to the newly unwrap continent across the ocean and establish settlements there . However , my legacy path still required me to take over several settlements , and there were still many under the mastery of Tecumseh . I consider my meter to bulk up my ground forces and presence on my home continent as Tecumseh explore the new world and finally had his borders surrounded and was militarily weakened through espionage .
I then declared war on who , until then , was a clear friend to me , begin a long series of wars that would drag out out until turn 100 . By then , I had limited Tecumseh to just one minuscule capital urban center ring by my territory on the continent . Otherwise , it was all mine . As turn 100 rolled around , I at last adjudicate to let my wars against Tecumseh subside and embark on to explore the new world .
Civilization is at its best when it gives histrion the sandbox to create their own humankind history like this;CivilizationVIIis already hitting all of the notes in that respect . I am a little concerned by how herculean I felt going a military - focussed road , so I will postulate to play a more polish - focused game to see if that ’s a viable path to triumph . irrespective of how that shakes out , I will commend my first 100 reverse withCivilization VIIand how I had to betray Tecumseh to take control of my continent for a recollective meter to come .
Sid Meier ’s Civilization VIIlaunches for PC , PlayStation 4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X / S , and Nintendo Switch on February 11 .
