The dawn of a new civilization is a momentous occasion, a blank map waiting to be inscribed with the annals of history. In Civilization 6, this grand journey begins on land, with intrepid settlers and warriors venturing into the unknown. The vast, perilous oceans remain a late-game frontier, their secrets guarded by the requirement of advanced cartographic knowledge. But what if this fundamental tenet of exploration was shattered? What if, from the very first turn, every galley, quadrireme, and caravel could brave the deep blue sea? This single, seemingly simple change would not just ripple through the game; it would unleash a tsunami of strategic recalculations, fundamentally reshaping the very rhythm and flow of a playthrough. The familiar cadence of early-game expansion, the calculated risk of coastal settlement, and the very definition of a “good start” would be irrevocably altered. Analysis on forums and among seasoned players suggests that such a modification would elevate naval strategy from a mid-game consideration to a day-one priority, forcing a radical rethink of how empires are born and how they conquer.
The End of the Early-Game Land Rush: A New Age of Exploration
According to the player community, the initial turns of a standard Civilization 6 game are a frantic scramble for terrestrial dominance. Players prioritize scouting for prime city locations, identifying nearby city-states, and securing continental resources. The oceans are little more than decorative boundaries, a feature of the map to be dealt with much later. With immediate ocean access, this paradigm would be shattered.
The Circumnavigation Race Begins on Turn One
The race to circumnavigate the globe, a feat that normally grants a significant era score and a burst of diplomatic visibility, would commence immediately. A player who prioritizes an early galley could potentially complete this journey before many civilizations have even founded their second city. This would provide an unprecedented intelligence advantage, revealing the entire world map, the locations of all other civilizations, and the distribution of continents and resources. The strategic implications of this are immense. Imagine knowing the precise location of every natural wonder, every resource-rich island, and every vulnerable coastline before your rivals have even ventured beyond their immediate starting area.
The Redefinition of “Scouting”
The role of the scout unit itself would be diminished in the face of naval exploration. While still useful for uncovering the interiors of continents, the true pioneers of this new age would be the humble galleys. A single naval unit could map thousands of tiles of coastline in the time it takes a scout to traverse a single mountain range. This would lead to a new meta where the first build order of many civilizations, especially those on the coast, would be a naval unit. The player community suggests that the “scout, scout, settler” opening would be replaced by “galley, galley, settler” for any civilization with coastal access.
The Rise of the Coastal Metropolis: A Shift in Settlement Strategy
In the current state of the game, coastal cities are often seen as a high-risk, high-reward proposition. They offer access to sea resources and trade routes but are vulnerable to naval attack and often have less workable land than their inland counterparts. Immediate ocean access would dramatically tip the scales in favor of coastal settlement.
The Unrivaled Value of a Coastal Capital
A capital city founded on the coast would become the most powerful starting position in the game. It would serve as an immediate launchpad for global exploration and a production center for the fleets that would dominate this new era. The ability to produce a galley on turn one and send it into the open ocean would be an advantage that no inland start could ever hope to match. Many professional gamers suggest that in a multiplayer lobby with this rule change, players would reroll their start until they secured a coastal capital.
The Strategic Imperative of Island Hopping
The early game would no longer be about consolidating a continental empire. Instead, the most successful players would be those who mastered the art of island hopping. Small, resource-rich islands that are currently ignored until the medieval or renaissance era would become prime real estate. A player could use a fleet of galleys to transport settlers to these distant shores, creating a sprawling, oceanic empire that is difficult for land-based civilizations to challenge. This would also lead to a much more fragmented and diverse geopolitical landscape, with civilizations establishing footholds on multiple continents from the very beginning.
A New Era of Naval Warfare: From Skirmishes to Open-Ocean Battles
Naval combat in the early game is currently a localized affair, confined to the coastal shallows. With the oceans open for business, this would change dramatically.
The Galley Becomes a Ship of the Line
The humble galley, currently a fragile and short-ranged vessel, would become the workhorse of early-game navies. Fleets of galleys would clash in the open ocean, vying for control of strategic sea lanes and resource-rich islands. The player community posits that a new “galley rush” strategy would emerge, where players would mass-produce these cheap and expendable units to overwhelm their opponents’ fledgling navies.
The Importance of Naval Chokepoints
The geography of the map would take on a new strategic dimension. Straits, channels, and narrow seas would become critical chokepoints, the control of which could determine the fate of empires. A civilization that could fortify a key strait with a few well-placed naval units could effectively cut off its rivals from entire sections of the map. This would lead to a new style of “naval trench warfare,” with fleets blockading and skirmishing over these vital sea lanes.
The Barbarian Threat Goes Global
The barbarian threat would also be amplified in this new naval-centric world. Barbarian galleys, no longer confined to the coast, would roam the open oceans, preying on undefended settlers and trade routes. This would force players to invest in naval defense from the very beginning, adding another layer of strategic complexity to the early game. A popular strategy is to use your own naval units to hunt down barbarian encampments on distant shores before they can become a threat, turning the barbarian problem into an opportunity for naval experience and plunder.
The Shifting Fortunes of Civilizations: Who Would Rule the Waves?
Not all civilizations are created equal, and this rule change would dramatically favor those with a natural affinity for the sea.
The Unquestioned Dominance of Naval Civilizations
Civilizations like Norway, Phoenicia, and England would become god-tier powers in this new era. Norway’s ability to raid coastal tiles and its powerful Viking Longship would make it an early-game terror. Phoenicia’s ability to move its capital and its cheap harbors would allow it to establish a sprawling coastal empire with ease. England’s Royal Navy Dockyards and Sea Dogs would give it an unrivaled mid-game power spike. Analysis on forums shows that these civilizations would be the top picks in any game with this rule change.
The Plight of Landlocked Civilizations
Conversely, landlocked civilizations like Russia, Mali, and the Inca would be at a severe disadvantage. Their inability to participate in the early-game naval race would leave them isolated and vulnerable. While they could still dominate their home continents, they would be unable to project power on a global scale and would likely fall behind in technology and culture as the naval powers reaped the rewards of global exploration. Many professional gamers suggest that these civilizations would need significant buffs to remain competitive in this new environment.
The Ripple Effect: How Other Game Mechanics Would Change
The impact of immediate ocean access would not be limited to exploration and warfare. It would have a cascading effect on many other aspects of the game.
The Devaluation of Cartography
The Cartography technology, which currently unlocks ocean travel, would become almost entirely useless. Its primary benefit would be nullified from the start of the game. This would necessitate a rebalancing of the technology tree, perhaps by moving the benefits of Cartography to another technology or by giving it a new, more relevant bonus, such as increased naval movement or combat strength.
A New Economic Reality
The global economy would also be transformed. Trade routes would be established much earlier and over much greater distances, leading to a more interconnected and dynamic global market. The value of coastal cities and their ability to generate wealth through trade would be amplified, further increasing the disparity between naval and landlocked powers.
A Faster, More Volatile Game
The overall pace of the game would be significantly accelerated. The early game would be a whirlwind of exploration, expansion, and naval conflict. The mid-game would see the rise of powerful naval empires, and the late game would be a global struggle for supremacy between these maritime superpowers. This would lead to a more volatile and unpredictable gameplay experience, where a single naval battle could have far-reaching consequences.
A Sea Change in the World of Civilization
The ability for all naval units to enter ocean tiles from the start of Civilization 6 would be more than just a minor tweak; it would be a fundamental reimagining of the game’s core mechanics. The familiar rhythms of the early game would be replaced by a new, naval-centric paradigm, where control of the seas is the key to victory. The balance of power would shift dramatically, elevating naval civilizations to new heights of dominance and leaving their landlocked counterparts in their wake. The game would become a faster, more dynamic, and more unpredictable experience, a true testament to the power of sea power in shaping the course of history. While such a change would require a significant rebalancing of the game, it offers a tantalizing glimpse into an alternate reality, a world where the age of sail begins not in the Renaissance, but at the dawn of civilization itself.