Hey fellow Civ fans, ever get that feeling you’ve seen it all? When winning on Deity feels more like following a script than playing a game? If you’re craving a real challenge that tests your brain, not just your build order, you’ve come to the right place. The secret isn’t just cranking up the difficulty; it’s about becoming the architect of your own ordeal right from the game setup screen.
Here are 8 tips I use to craft a truly strategic and memorable Civ 6 game.
Tip 1: Look Beyond Deity Difficulty
Our first instinct for a challenge is to set the difficulty to Deity. But let’s be real: Deity doesn’t make the AI smarter, it just gives them a massive, almost unfair, head start. The early game becomes a desperate scramble to survive rather than a strategic dance.
For a more strategic challenge, try setting the difficulty to Emperor or Immortal. The AI still gets significant bonuses and will be a major threat, but it won’t be so overwhelming that you’re forced into one specific survival strategy from turn one. This gives you the breathing room to make actual choices while still facing a tough game.
Tip 2: Choose a Map That Fights Back
Your map is more than just a backdrop; it can be your toughest opponent. To really shake things up, you need to ditch the predictable comfort of Pangaea and Continents.
- Highlands: This map is a logistical nightmare of hills and mountains. Movement is slow, good district spots are rare, and it forces you into brutal, defensive warfare.
- Seven Seas: Get ready to become a naval power. This map breaks the world into many islands, making a strong navy essential for exploration, trade, and expansion. It forces you to master a part of the game many of us neglect.
- Primordial: If you like a bit of chaos, this is for you. This younger, more volatile map has frequent volcanic eruptions and more coastal lowlands. It’s a dynamic world that forces you to adapt to constant environmental change.
Tip 3: Make Resources Scarce
This is one of the simplest and most effective changes you can make. Go into the advanced settings and change the Resources setting to “Scarce.” This one tweak has a massive ripple effect.
- Strategic Resources become incredibly precious. You’ll have to make tough decisions about your military and might even wage wars just for a single deposit of Iron or Oil.
- Luxury Resources become vital for keeping your cities happy and productive. You’ll need to expand strategically to get them, and trade becomes far more meaningful.
Tip 4: Hand-Pick Your Opponents
Don’t let the game randomly pick your opponents. You need to be the puppet master and curate the list of AI leaders to create a specific kind of challenge.
- Create a Theme: Want a war-torn game? Fill it with aggressive leaders like Montezuma and Genghis Khan. Going for a religious victory? Stack the game with other religious powerhouses like Saladin and Philip II to make it a real fight.
- Counter Your Strengths: If you’re playing a strong naval civ like Norway, add other naval powers like England to challenge your dominance on the seas. This prevents you from having an easy time with your unique advantages.
Tip 5: Crank Up the Disaster Intensity
If you have the Gathering Storm expansion, don’t be afraid of Mother Nature. Set the Disaster Intensity to its maximum level (4). This turns the map into a living, chaotic force.
This forces you to constantly weigh risk versus reward. Settling a volcano is dangerous, but the yields after an eruption are amazing. You have to be ready to adapt when a hurricane wrecks your trade routes or a flood destroys a district. It makes the world feel alive and unpredictable.
Tip 6: Activate Challenge-Multiplying Game Modes
The optional game modes are perfect for adding new layers of strategic complexity. I highly recommend turning on one or more of these:
- Dramatic Ages: This mode makes Golden and Dark Ages far more consequential. A Dark Age can lead to your cities rebelling and flipping, making Era Score a top priority.
- Secret Societies: Adds a fascinating layer of diplomacy and new strategic paths. The bonuses are powerful, but managing your secret allegiances adds a new challenge.
- Barbarian Clans: This makes barbarians more interesting than just an early-game nuisance. Their camps can turn into city-states, and you can interact with them in new ways, like hiring their units.
Tip 7: Ditch the ‘Legendary Start’
It’s so tempting to click “Legendary Start” to get a perfect opening location. I’m telling you, resist that urge. A perfect start makes the early game boring because there are no hard choices.
Choose a “Balanced” or even “Standard” start position. You’ll likely have flaws to overcome—maybe good food but poor production. This forces you to make critical decisions from the very first turn. You have to explore, adapt, and work for your advantage, which is the heart of a true strategic challenge.
Tip 8: Tweak the World’s Age and Sea Level
This is a smaller tweak that works great with Tip #2. In the map settings, play with the “World Age” and “Sea Level” options.
- Set the World Age to “New” to create a more mountainous and hilly world, making any map more difficult to traverse.
- Set the Sea Level to “High” to create smaller continents and more islands, which puts an even greater emphasis on naval power.
By combining these tips, you can stop playing on autopilot and start creating deep, engaging challenges that will test your Civ 6 skills in brand new ways. Enjoy the struggle!