I started playing Civ 6 on console about a year ago, and I’ve finally acquired all the expansion packs and additional leaders. (While I’m very excited about it, my SO’s response when they see me playing is usually “Ugh, not that CORN GAME” again 😂)
Now that I have all possibilities unlocked, my goal is to find a combination of game rules, options, and modes to give myself a good challenge while keeping it fun.
So far, I typically do Gathering Storm rules and enable Secret Societies and Heroes & Legends. Occasionally I’ll do Dramatic Ages. Barbarian Clans are a must. And usually I disable Diplomatic Victory.
What are your preferences? Do you have an “optimal” game setup you like to play? Are there any cool custom games that I should try out?
I’m a PC player. I have all the DLCs and love the Gathering Storm version. I usually turn off all but domination VC. I tend to play small maps due to older PC. I prefer Pangaea maps, but plt quite a few naval type maps, too. I tend to be a “builder” and play for fun and relaxation. I mostly play on king difficulty, because I don’t find deity to be fun.
Of the extra modes, I almost always use secret societies, occasionally corporations and tech shuffle; not much else.
I like to play Gathering Storms rules, with Secret Societies enabled and abundant resources.
I absolutely hate the Zombie Defense mode. I don’t know if I am playing it wrong, but it feels unbalanced and WAY too hard.
I usually disable the add on game modes like secret societies and such. They’re pretty unbalanced and don’t do much for me.
That’s fair! In what way do they feel unbalanced for you?
Like a lot of features in the game it just seems like the AI has no idea how to properly utilise them, meaning that all they do is give the player an even larger advantage than they already had. I’ve never seen the AI properly utilise monopolies or secret societies. Then there’s heroes and legends and the zombie mode which just don’t really fit with the feel of the rest of the game. As for Barbarian clans, it’s one of the better ones, but it results in way too many city states by the end of the game.
I enable Heroes and Legends because it’s an easy way to get superpowered military units early in the game, haha. I agree that the AI doesn’t do a great job with using the majority of the game modes. IMO, the AI in Civ 6 is lacking in general. I’m not sure if the other titles are better…
Barbarian Clans I like because it lets me stem the endless tide of barbarians trying to overtake my nascent cities in the Ancient Age. But by the end of the game, the map does get cluttered with city-states. I’m realizing now that this is probably why Diplomatic Victory seems so easy… you earn favour per city-state per turn, so it becomes easy to outpace the AI’s favours and get whatever you want in the World Council. Hm!
I play immortal with Monopolies, Barbarian Clans and Heroes turned on.
I find it keeps the game fun with a few twists. Favoring Culture victory but can push for Domination+Science if you’re up against another CIV with lots of culture/tourism.