The unstacking of cities makes district and wonder placement key decisions at every stage of the game. Immediately, then, I'm having to decide whether to try to better my starting position or plump for where I am. Starting next to a river provides a decent bonus to housing in your capital, but coastal waters will do in a pinch. Access to fresh water is essential due to the growth of your population being dependent on housing. I'm one for founding my first city wherever my settler starts the game but in Civ 6 it's not just a case of checking that there's a decent mix of food and production and making do with that. To illustrate the point, let's consider the opening few turns of my own, admittedly woefully unoptimised, play style in Civ 5 versus what's been happening in Civ 6. Some of that joy is derived from the simple fact that it is a new game to get to grips with and some is delivered by the thematic grounding in the Age of Exploration.
The joy of discovery is alive and well in Civ 6. With a clear idea of how it scratches a very particular itch, it's been fascinating for me to compare the first 200 turns of Civilization 5 with those of Civilization 6. There's a lot that happens in between, of course, but those two points at opposite ends of that 200-turn scale bookend my most played period of the game and represent catalysts for much that I have loved about it over the past six years. Later, as the mid-game looms, that excitement of discovery returns once more with the unearthing of the Archaeology tech and the unveiling of sites of antiquity more goodies to seek out and gambles to take. It's an excitement borne from potential and of grand plans of making choices and standing at forks in the road.
Instead, it's the unhurried, exploratory forays in to the unknown that provide a joy of discovery that has remained undiminished across several games and countless hours of play time. I've seen some people claim victory in that time, though I am no such power player. There's always been something magical to me about the first 200 turns of a game of Civilization 5. In the meantime, here are impressions culled from a near-final build supplied earlier by 2K. Editor's note: Final review code for Civilization 6 was only supplied to Eurogamer late yesterday afternoon, and we'll be working to get a full review up on the site early next week.
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