What if the foundational strategy of city specialization in Civilization VI was turned on its head? Imagine a scenario where your entire civilization, sprawling across continents, could only construct a single Campus, one Commercial Hub, one Theater Square, and so on. This limitation, a hypothetical constraint mulled over on strategy forums, forces a complete re-evaluation of everything from city placement to victory planning. It transforms the game from a race for sprawling, specialized empires into a tense puzzle of resource allocation and strategic foresight. Every district choice becomes a monumental, civilization-defining decision. This guide delves into the strategic ramifications of this ultimate test of planning, exploring how to navigate a world where every district is unique and irreplaceable.
The New Golden Rule: Hyper-Specialization of Cities
In a standard game, players create specialized cities—a science hub with multiple Campuses, a commercial powerhouse fueled by numerous Commercial Hubs. Under the “one of each” rule, this paradigm shifts from city specialization to civilization specialization, where each city is a cog in a much larger machine, performing a single, critical function for the empire.
Analysis on forums shows that this constraint elevates the importance of your capital and your first few cities to an unprecedented level. The placement of your first city is no longer just about good initial yields; it’s about identifying the long-term home for your most crucial district.
A popular strategy is to plan your empire in zones:
* The Core Zone: Your capital and the cities immediately surrounding it will house the foundational districts: the Government Plaza, a Commercial Hub or Harbor for economic stability, and likely your primary victory-oriented district (e.g., Campus for Science, Holy Site for Religion).
* The Production Zone: A city founded specifically to host the Industrial Zone becomes the manufacturing heart of your civilization. Its location should be chosen based on proximity to hills for mines and strategic resources like Coal and Iron.
* The Support Zone: Cities founded later will take on more specialized, secondary roles. One might be dedicated solely to housing the Encampment and producing military units, while another, in a breathtaking location, is reserved for a single, powerful National Park from a Neighborhood.
District Triage: Prioritizing Your Singular Choice
With only one of each district type available, the order in which you build them, and where you place them, becomes the central question of the game. Many professional gamers suggest a framework of “triage” based on your victory condition and immediate needs.
The Untouchables: Districts of Universal Importance
Regardless of your victory path, some districts are considered essential for the functioning of any civilization.
- Government Plaza: This is, without question, the most critical district in this scenario. Its inherent bonuses to adjacent districts are magnified when you only have one of each to cluster around it. The choice of building within the Plaza (Ancestral Hall for expansion, Audience Chamber for housing, or Warlord’s Throne for conquest) is a game-defining decision.
- Commercial Hub/Harbor: The economic engine of your empire. A single Commercial Hub, placed on a river and adjacent to your Government Plaza, can generate enough gold to sustain your entire civilization, especially when combined with the right policies. A Harbor is an even more powerful choice for coastal civilizations, providing not just gold but also food, housing, and production.
- Industrial Zone: The production from a single, well-placed Industrial Zone, supercharged with factories and power plants, can be shared across your empire. The key is to place it in a city that can maximize its adjacency from mines and an Aqueduct, and then build Workshops and Factories as quickly as possible.
Victory-Specific District Choices
Your chosen victory condition will dictate the next tier of priority.
- Science Victory: The Campus is your primary concern. You must find a location with maximum mountain adjacency. A +4 or +5 Campus is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. The city that houses this Campus will become your scientific capital, and all other decisions should revolve around feeding it population and production.
- Culture Victory: The Theater Square is your centerpiece. Its placement should be planned with future wonders in mind. A common strategy is to leave a diamond-shaped area open, with the Theater Square at one point and space for three wonders around it, maximizing adjacency bonuses.
- Religious Victory: The Holy Site is your first priority, even before a Commercial Hub in many cases. Securing a Great Prophet is a race against time, and a single Holy Site with high faith adjacency from a natural wonder is your only path.
- Domination Victory: The Encampment is your military heartland. While it doesn’t benefit from adjacency, its placement is still strategic. It should be in a city that can quickly produce units and project power towards your intended targets.
The Role of “Lesser” Districts
What about districts like the Entertainment Complex, Water Park, or Neighborhood? In this scenario, their value is situational but can be surprisingly potent.
- Entertainment Complex/Water Park: With only one source of amenities from a district, its placement is critical. According to the player community, the best use is to place it centrally, so its regional effects cover your most populous core cities.
- Neighborhood: While often overlooked, a single, well-placed Neighborhood in a breathtaking location can be a late-game culture bomb, providing a significant boost to tourism.
- Diplomatic Quarter: This becomes a surprisingly powerful tool. A single Diplomatic Quarter, built early, can provide a steady stream of diplomatic favor and influence, making a Diplomatic Victory a very viable path.
Civilization and Leader Synergies: Who Thrives?
This hypothetical constraint dramatically impacts the power ranking of civilizations. Those with flexible bonuses or unique improvements that don’t rely on districts gain a significant advantage.
- Germany (Frederick Barbarossa): Germany’s ability to build one extra district per city is nullified. However, their unique replacement for the Industrial Zone, the Hansa, with its powerful adjacency bonuses from Commercial Hubs and resources, makes their single Industrial Zone incredibly potent.
- Japan (Hojo Tokimune): Japan becomes a top-tier contender. Their Meiji Restoration ability, which grants a +1 adjacency bonus for districts next to each other, means they can create a “super-cluster” of districts around their Government Plaza, gaining more from their limited districts than any other civilization.
- Rome (Trajan): Rome’s free monument in every city provides a baseline of culture that is invaluable when you can’t build multiple Theater Squares. Their free roads also help connect their hyper-specialized cities.
- The Cree (Poundmaker): The Cree’s unique ability to gain visibility and trade routes from pastures is a massive advantage. Their unique improvement, the Mekewap, provides production, housing, and gold, reducing the reliance on districts for these yields.
- Aztec (Montezuma): The Aztec ability to build districts faster with builders is a game-changer. In a scenario where every district is precious, being able to construct them instantly is an unparalleled advantage.
Wonders and Great People: The New Focus
With district construction so limited, wonders and Great People become the primary means of generating yields and bonuses.
- The Oracle: This wonder is elevated from “great” to “absolutely essential.” The extra Great Person points it provides are your main source of scientists, writers, artists, and engineers.
- Kilwa Kisiwani: In a game where you can’t build multiple districts, leveraging the power of your suzerain city-states is critical. Kilwa Kisiwani, which provides a massive bonus to your entire empire based on the types of city-states you are suzerain of, becomes the single most powerful wonder in the game.
- Forbidden City and Potala Palace: The extra policy cards these wonders provide are crucial for fine-tuning your government to compensate for the lack of district yields.
- Great Scientists and Engineers: Great People like Isaac Newton (for science) and James Watt (for production) are no longer just helpful; they are the key to victory. Their bonuses, applied to your single Campus or Industrial Zone, have a civilization-wide impact.
A Test of Pure Strategy
The “one of each district” challenge transforms Civilization VI into a game of meticulous planning and strategic sacrifice. It forces a shift in mindset, from empire-building to puzzle-solving. The player who can best identify the optimal location for each irreplaceable district, who can leverage every advantage from wonders and Great People, and who can create a cohesive, functioning civilization from a collection of hyper-specialized cities will be the one who triumphs. This scenario, while hypothetical, reveals the intricate design of the game’s systems and offers a tantalizing glimpse into a different, more demanding way to play. It’s a challenge that strips away the safety net of redundancy and asks a simple, brutal question: how well do you truly understand the art of building a civilization?