Sid Meier’s Civilization VII: 5 revolutionary changes that redefine the series

With Sid Meier’s Civilization VII, developer Firaxis Games is making fundamental changes to aspects of the series that have remained the same for more than 30 years. If you're a player who likes a little chaos in your strategy game, there's a lot to be excited about.

While your overall aim—taking a nation from its first settlement all the way through to the space age—remains the same, Civilization VII now splits this progression into three separate Ages, each ending in a world-threatening catastrophe. You're also given more freedom and choices than ever before, pairing leaders with any civilization you'd like, letting you seek out powerful combinations of abilities, units, and technologies. It's about time we saw how Cleopatra would lead the United States against a Gandhi-ruled China.

A lot of changes are coming in this long-awaited sequel, so read on to learn about the key differences.

 

Civilization VII's campaign is broken into three parts

As mentioned, the most significant change in Civilization VII is that the campaign is no longer a continuous journey from prehistory through the space race. It's instead broken into three Ages, acting as chapters in a campaign.

Each Age has a distinct aim and flavor. In the first Age, Antiquity, your focus is on establishing settlements in your home continent and battling with other nations and independent powers (the new name for barbarians) for a foothold in this undeveloped land. It's only when you enter the second Age, Exploration, that you develop the ability to sail to and settle other continents. In the final chapter, the Modern Age, the surviving players race to complete all the milestones in the scientific, cultural, militaristic, or economic Legacy Paths. Once a path is complete, they activate a final objective, such as launching a space mission. Completing that mission ends the game.

Running in the background of each Age is a progression meter that gradually fills as you end turns and complete scientific, cultural, militaristic, and economic milestones. Once the meter is full, the current Age ends for all surviving players, and you begin the transition to the next chapter of the campaign.

Ages end in a world-changing crisis

As you near the end of each Age, the world is gripped by a global catastrophe that all players must face. At the conclusion of the Age of Antiquity, for instance, there will be a bloom of Independent Powers looking to seize your land and destroy your cities, akin to the tribes that rose against Rome in its final days.

When the crisis first emerges, it has a global effect that impacts every player in the same way. The people of the Independent Powers are excellent fighters, and players will find their military units are less effective against them than before the crisis began.

Along with global destabilization, each player chooses an additional effect from a set of cards. Banditry, for instance, sees every imported good cost an additional five gold, while Barbarian Mercenaries sees the upkeep of your military units double. The closer you get to the end of the Age, the more cards you have to select, which makes surviving each Age's conclusion a genuine challenge.

The players who manage to survive the crisis will transition to the next Age, where the progress meter will reset—only to begin filling again.

 

You pick a new civilization in every Age

For the first time in a Civilization game, you'll have to change civilizations during your campaign. Much like the Roman Empire fell and new nations grew in its ruins, when you move from one age to the next, you leave behind the mantle of one civilization and choose the unique attributes, technologies, and units of another.

Each era has its own roster of historically appropriate civilizations, and upon transitioning to a new Age, you'll be able to choose from a small number of them. A number of factors determine the nations in your pool—the leader you're playing, the civilization you played in the previous Age, and how you played them.

For example, if you choose the leader Hatshepsut, you can play as either Egypt or Aksum in the Age of Antiquity. If you choose Egypt, then you can pick the Songhai nation when you reach the Exploration Age—or, if your lands include more than three horse resources, you can pick Mongolia. In this way, each campaign can branch in different directions based on your choices and the lands you inhabit.

When you move into a new Age, you retain all of the cities and units that survived the climax of the last Age, so the nation you pick (with its unique strengths and weaknesses) will be applied to those lands. You'll need to think carefully about your selection and how you intend to play in the coming chapter. If you don't plan on leaning into horse technology, for instance, perhaps you should choose Songhai over the Mongolians.

 

Legacy milestones earn you new powers

Your actions in Civilization VII can earn you points in one of four different Legacy Paths—scientific, cultural, militaristic, and economic. If you earn enough points in a particular discipline, you'll complete a milestone in that path, unlocking buffs and powers you can activate for the next Age. In this way, how you behave in one Age can dramatically change your circumstances in the next.

This new Legacy Path system means you can shape your campaign, leaning into particular playstyles for powerful benefits. For instance, if you focused on militaristic accomplishments in the Age of Antiquity (by building armies and fighting wars with your neighbors), then when you move to the Exploration Age, you can cash in those milestones for rewards. These new powers may allow you to train your armies more quickly or give you points to cash in for free infantry armies.

This Legacy Path system is also key to your eventual success. In the final Age, you must complete all the milestones in one discipline to unlock a final capstone objective (like launching a space mission if you're going for a scientific victory). The first player to complete a capstone objective wins the game.

 

Golden Age and Dark Age powers

If you focus on a Legacy Path and complete all its milestones, then you will unlock a Golden Age power you can activate at the next Age, receiving a huge boost in that discipline.

One example is Pax Imperatoria, a Golden Age power you can earn by completing the Roman military Legacy Path. When you activate this power, you'll find a free military unit in every one of your settlements when you enter the Age of Exploration. It's a powerful boost to continue your conquests at the start of the next Age.

Civilization VII doesn't just reward enlightenment, though—ignorance can be a blessing too. If you don't progress a Legacy Path at all, you can unlock and activate a Dark Age power at the end of an Age. These powerful cards have significant negatives and positives. For instance, if you ignore the scientific path entirely and barely invest in research or technology, you can activate a power that prevents you from developing your ability to sail in the Age of Exploration. This does mean you won't be able to reach other continents and expand your empire abroad, but in return for that sacrifice, you receive powerful bonuses to your settlements at home.

Either way, through advancement or decline, you can shape your civilization to lean into a particular playstyle in the next Age.

Firaxis is making dramatic changes to Civilization VII, ensuring that every campaign has peaks and troughs of intense strategic action. Will you be able to survive all the way to the final Age? Find out when Sid Meier's Civilization VII launches on the Epic Games Store on February 11, 2025.