The world of Civilization 6 is populated by more than just sprawling empires. Dotted across the map are city-states, autonomous powers that serve as strategic assets, diplomatic bargaining chips, and sometimes, kingmakers. In their current form, they offer valuable, if somewhat predictable, bonuses to the civilizations that earn their favor. But what if they offered something more? Imagine a game where every single city-state possessed its own unique technology, a secret of science, culture, or statecraft that it would share only with its most trusted ally. This single change would fundamentally rewrite the strategic DNA of the game, transforming the race for envoys from a simple numbers game into a high-stakes quest for game-altering advantages.
The familiar rhythm of settling cities, building districts, and marching armies would be punctuated by a new, critical question: which unique knowledge will you pursue? The answer would shape your empire as profoundly as your choice of leader, creating a dynamic and deeply customizable strategic experience. This is not merely about adding more bonuses; it is about weaving a new layer of narrative and decision-making into the fabric of every match.
The Current Landscape: City-States as Strategic Assets
To understand the magnitude of such a change, one must first analyze the current role of city-states. Player communities have long established that suzerainty—becoming the declared protector of a city-state by sending the most envoys—is a crucial element of high-level play. The bonuses are tiered, typically granting a small yield in the suzerain’s capital at one envoy, a boost to specific districts at three, and a more powerful empire-wide bonus at six.
These bonuses fall into familiar categories:
* Scientific: Typically boost science generation in the capital or in Campus districts.
* Cultural: Enhance culture generation in the capital or in Theater Square districts.
* Militaristic: Speed up unit production or provide unique combat advantages.
* Industrial: Increase production towards wonders, buildings, or in Industrial Zone districts.
* Economic: Bolster gold income, trade routes, or Commercial Hub districts.
* Religious: Augment faith generation or the strength of religious units.
While undeniably useful, analysis on forums shows that within each category, the bonuses are often variations on a theme. One scientific city-state might grant +2 science in every library, while another offers +15% science across the empire. The strategic choice is often one of quantity, not quality. A player pursuing a science victory simply wants more scientific city-states; the specific name is of secondary importance. This system, while functional, presents an opportunity for far greater strategic depth.
A New Paradigm: The Power of Unique Technologies
Now, consider the alternative. In this hypothetical redesign, becoming suzerain of a city-state doesn’t just grant a passive yield. It unlocks a tangible, unique piece of technology. This “tech” could manifest in several forms:
- A Unique Building: A structure with special yields or abilities that replaces a standard district building.
- A Unique Unit or Promotion: An exclusive military unit or a powerful promotion available to all units of a certain class.
- A Unique Policy Card: A special government policy card offering a powerful, situational bonus.
- A Unique Action or Project: A new action for a unit (like a spy or builder) or a special city project with a powerful one-time effect.
This approach transforms city-states from simple “bonus providers” into custodians of secret knowledge. The race for suzerainty is no longer about accumulating generic yields but about securing specific, often asymmetric, advantages that can define an entire era. Many professional gamers suggest this would make the diplomatic game far more aggressive and targeted, as denying an opponent a key city-state’s technology could be as important as taking one of their cities.
Scientific City-States: Unlocking New Paths to Discovery
Under this new system, scientific city-states would become the gatekeepers of revolutionary ideas. Instead of a flat science bonus, a suzerain might gain access to a paradigm-shifting innovation.
Example: Bologna
* Current Bonus: +1 Great Person point of the appropriate type from districts.
* Hypothetical Tech: “Scholastic Taxonomy.” Upon becoming suzerain, the player unlocks a unique building, the “Studium,” which replaces the University. The Studium provides the standard science and housing but also grants +1 Great Scientist point and allows the city to run a unique project: “Host International Symposium.” This project costs production but yields a large sum of gold and a significant boost of diplomatic favor upon completion, representing the prestige of hosting the world’s greatest minds.
Example: Geneva
* Current Bonus: +15% Science in your civilization when you are not at war with any civilization.
* Hypothetical Tech: “Neutral Arbitration.” The suzerain of Geneva unlocks a unique diplomatic policy card called “Geneva Conventions.” While this card is slotted, grievances you generate are reduced by 25%, and you gain +1 diplomatic favor per turn for every city-state you are suzerain of. This technology makes Geneva a cornerstone for players seeking a diplomatic victory, turning peaceful coexistence into a source of immense political power.
A New Scientific City-State: Samarkand
* Hypothetical Tech: “Celestial Navigation.” Suzerainty with Samarkand, historically a center for astronomy, would grant all naval and embarked units +1 movement. Furthermore, it unlocks the “Astrolabe” promotion for all naval raider-class units, which grants them the ability to see into coastal lowlands from the water, making coastal reconnaissance and raiding far more effective.
Cultural City-States: Forging a New Renaissance
Cultural city-states would offer the keys to unlocking new forms of expression and influence, providing tools to win the hearts and minds of the world.
Example: Nan Madol
* Current Bonus: +2 Culture for districts on or adjacent to Coast tiles.
* Hypothetical Tech: “Megalithic Engineering.” The suzerain of Nan Madol gains access to a unique builder action: “Construct Seawall.” This action can be used on any coastal land tile and creates a special tile improvement that provides +1 Culture, +1 Production, and acts as a permanent flood barrier for that tile. This technology would be invaluable for players on archipelago maps, allowing them to build tall, cultured, and defensible coastal cities.
Example: Mohenjo-Daro
* Current Bonus: Cities receive full Housing from water, as if they were all adjacent to a River or Lake.
* Hypothetical Tech: “Urban Grid Planning.” Suzerainty with Mohenjo-Daro unlocks a unique city project called “Public Works Initiative.” When completed, the city where it was built immediately gains +2 housing and +1 amenity permanently. Furthermore, the production cost of all future builders trained in that city is reduced by 20%. This tech provides a powerful tool for explosive urban growth.
A New Cultural City-State: Florence
* Hypothetical Tech: “Patronage.” The suzerain of Florence unlocks a unique ability on their Great Merchants. Instead of their standard trade mission, a Great Merchant can be expended in a city with a Theater Square to trigger a “Golden Age of the Arts.” For the next 20 turns, that city generates +100% Great Artist, Musician, and Writer points, and all Great Works of Art and Music in that city produce +4 Tourism.
Militaristic City-States: Redefining the Art of War
The technologies shared by militaristic city-states would revolutionize warfare, offering new tactics, elite units, and powerful logistical advantages.
Example: Akkad
* Current Bonus: Melee and anti-cavalry units do full damage to city walls.
* Hypothetical Tech: “Akkadian Siegecraft.” This technology grants all melee and anti-cavalry units a unique, free promotion called “Sapper.” A unit with the Sapper promotion can spend one turn adjacent to a city wall to plant explosives, dealing 100 damage to the fortifications on the following turn. This makes early-game city assaults possible without slow-moving siege equipment.
Example: Ngazargamu
* Current Bonus: 20% discount on purchasing land combat units with Gold in cities with an Encampment.
* Hypothetical Tech: “Mercenary Contracts.” The suzerain of Ngazargamu unlocks a new tab in the unit purchase screen: the Mercenary Market. Here, the player can spend gold to instantly hire unique mercenary units that are not available through standard production. These units might have unique promotions or slightly different stats, and their availability would change over time. This provides a flexible and powerful tool for players with strong economies to raise an instant army.
A New Militaristic City-State: Sparta
* Hypothetical Tech: “Agoge Training.” Suzerainty with Sparta unlocks a unique Encampment building, the “Krypteia,” which replaces the Barracks. The Krypteia provides less housing but grants all land units trained in the city a free promotion that gives them +7 combat strength when fighting within their own territory’s borders. This makes a Spartan-allied empire an incredibly tough nut to crack.
Economic and Industrial States: Fueling the Engine of Empire
These city-states would provide the means to build faster, trade smarter, and generate wealth more efficiently than any rival.
Example: Hattusa
* Current Bonus: Provides 2 of each strategic resource you have revealed but do not own.
* Hypothetical Tech: “Resource Prospecting.” The suzerain of Hattusa unlocks a unique ability for their builders. A builder can expend a charge on any unimproved tile to “Survey for Resources.” This action has a chance to reveal a new copy of a random luxury or strategic resource on that tile that only the suzerain can see and improve. The community of players has often theorized that such a mechanic would make exploration and expansion in the late game far more exciting.
Example: Birmingham
* Current Bonus: +2 Production per Industrial Zone. Your cities with a Workshop get +1 population on completing a unit.
* Hypothetical Tech: “Mass Production.” This technology unlocks a powerful new policy card, “Interchangeable Parts.” When slotted, all Industrial Zone buildings provide +1 additional production for each adjacent district. This encourages careful city planning and can lead to immense production yields in well-designed cities.
A New Economic City-State: Venice
* Hypothetical Tech: “Maritime Banking.” Suzerainty with Venice unlocks a unique building, the “Fondaco,” which replaces the Bank in the Commercial Hub. The Fondaco provides the standard gold yield but also grants +1 trade route capacity to the city. Furthermore, international trade routes originating from this city gain +1 gold for every luxury resource in the destination city.
Strategic Implications: A Complete Gameplay Overhaul
The introduction of unique city-state technologies would ripple through every aspect of Civilization 6, creating a more dynamic and strategically demanding experience.
- Targeted Diplomacy: The race for envoys would become a scalpel, not a sledgehammer. A player planning a naval assault would prioritize Samarkand for its “Celestial Navigation.” A cultural player would fight tooth and nail for Florence’s “Patronage.” This creates natural points of conflict and competition that are driven by strategic goals, not just proximity.
- Asymmetric Warfare: Wars would be fought not just over land, but over knowledge. A popular strategy would likely emerge where a player declares a “Suzerain War” with the express purpose of stripping a rival of a critical city-state technology, crippling their long-term strategy.
- Dynamic Victory Paths: Each victory condition would have a new set of “soft requirements” based on city-state techs. A science victory might feel impossible without the boost from Bologna’s “Studium,” while a domination victory could be significantly accelerated by Akkad’s “Siegecraft.” This adds a new layer of planning and adaptation to the game.
- Enhanced Replayability: The random distribution of city-states on the map would have a far greater impact on the flow of the game. A game with Florence, Nan Madol, and Mohenjo-Daro would feel vastly different from one with Sparta, Akkad, and Ngazargamu, forcing players to adapt their strategies on the fly and ensuring no two games ever feel the same.
In conclusion, transforming city-states from passive bonus providers into active sources of unique, shareable technologies would be a masterstroke of game design. It would deepen the strategic complexity, enrich the diplomatic landscape, and empower players to customize their empires in truly meaningful ways. The world of Civilization 6 would feel more alive, more contested, and infinitely more interesting. The question would no longer be simply if you engage with city-states, but which secrets you will choose to unlock on your path to victory.