We're right on the cusp of the release of Sid Meier's Civilization VII, but you don't have to wait to change history. In fact, I'd argue that with nearly a decade of patches and DLC, there has never been a better time to check out or revisit its predecessor, Sid Meier's Civilization VI. You can pick up the entire package on the cheap these days—even the Platinum Edition, which features all of the major expansions and scenario packs.

But if you're new to Civilization VI, you might find this deluge of content overwhelming. And if you're a returning player, you might feel like you've done everything there is to do in Civilization VI. Whatever your experience level, I've put together some interesting (and occasionally unorthodox) ways to enjoy (re)shaping history!
 

Scenarios

Let's start with something fairly straightforward. Civilization VI offers a handful of pre-made scenarios across all of its various DLC packs. Scenarios provide interesting spins on Civilization's basic mechanics, usually focusing on a much smaller slice of history, taking less time to finish, and featuring unique victory conditions.

My personal favorites are Gifts of the Nile, an Ancient Era one-on-one duel between Egypt and Nubia to control the great river, and Outback Tycoon, which is all about the colonization of Australia.

There's also a Viking scenario, one about Alexander the Great, and another about surviving the Black Death. These aren't all that hidden away, but scenarios have always been one of my favorite ways to play Civilization, and I'm always surprised how many people have never tried them.
 

Alternate Game Modes

If you're an advanced player, you're probably already familiar with at least some of Civilization VI's alternate game modes. Personally, I haven't played without Barbarian Clans—which gives you more options for dealing with barbarians (aside from pure violence) and even lets them eventually become city-states—since it was released. Another mode, Monopolies and Corporations, injects a little more capitalist flavor into the late-game and changes up how you manage your resources. But there are also some really wild ones that add zombies, vampires, or potentially both, letting you play a more fantastical campaign.

A lot of these are fun once or twice, for the novelty. If you're really in the mood for something different, you can even turn them all on at the same time and try to dodge meteors while Beowulf leads your armies to victory against a Lovecraftian cult.
 

Alternate Earths

Now we're getting further from Firaxis's curated experiences and more into making your own fun. Using the Advanced Setup rules, you have a lot of freedom to shape a Civilization campaign in interesting ways.

One thing I've always loved to do is imagine how human civilization may have developed on a very different sort of planet. Here are just a few to try out:

Arrakis

• Map Type: Pangaea
• World Age: Old
• Temperature: Hot
• Rainfall: Arid
• Sea Level: Low.

Unfortunately you probably won't get a worldwide desert like Dune—believe me, I've messed with these settings for a long time to try and make it happen. But it will feel much different from standard Civilization, especially with the limited access to water.

Primordial Earth

• Map Type: Primordial
• World Age: Young
• Temperature: Hot
• Rainfall: Wet

This will create a Jurassic-feeling jungle planet with lots of volcanism and rough terrain. You can imagine what it would have been like if we'd come along as a species a couple hundred million years earlier. Sadly, Civilization VI does not have dinosaurs.

Ice Age

• Map Type: Continents
• Temperature: Cold
• Sea Level: Low

Maybe the Jurassic is too far back for you. Humans were around for the last Ice Age, so what if we'd been a bit faster at creating complex civilizations? This is a chilly map with lower oceans, since so much more of the Earth's water would have been bound up in glaciers and the ice caps.

Save the planet…or doom it

The Gathering Storm expansion added climate change and atmospheric CO2 as a late-game challenge to Civilization VI, and this inspired two new self-imposed challenges I've enjoyed messing around with. One is to see if I can achieve victory without producing any CO2 at all, or just the bare minimum amount, as the ultimate eco-warrior.

This is difficult, since you won't be building things like factories that offer huge late-game production boosts until you unlock green energy, much later than everyone else. If you want to take it even further, you can also refuse to cut down any forests or remove marshes, and vow to conquer anyone who is producing greenhouse gases. Kupe of the Maori is excellent for this playstyle.

Or maybe you want to turn that completely on its head. Another challenge I've given myself is to produce as much pollution as possible, either settling inland or building flood barriers to make sure I don't suffer from my decisions—but my enemies do. How early in history can I melt the ice caps? What happens if I cut down every tree on Earth? Barbarossa is a good pick for this rather diabolical run.

There are more ways to play Civilization VI than I could possibly list here. But hopefully that gives you some ideas for your next campaign—maybe even some that you hadn't considered before.

Sid Meier's Civilization VI is available on the Epic Games Store, and the long-awaited follow-up Sid Meier's Civilization VII releases on February 11.