Civilization 7: Exploration Age Explained

Civilization 7 takes plenty of inspiration from previous entries, but ultimately charts its own course. While fans of other turn-based strategy games should find plenty of features familiar, Civilization 7 is most defined by its newly-introduced Age System. Where many areas have been flatly improved, the Age System provides a little bit more room for debate.

Most notably, Age Transitions have completely changed the pace of the game compared to previous entries. Whereas games like Civilization 6 would follow one continuous campaign across the ages, Civilization 7 is essentially split into three different slices. The Exploration Age takes up the middle chunk of the game, and serves as a solid guiding hand between the beginning and end of history.

Civilization 7’s Exploration Age Lets Players Chart the Course for Victory

What Time Period Does the Exploration Age Span?

Civilization 7‘s Ages aren’t perfect replications of their historical counterparts, but this doesn’t mean they don’t come close. Civilization 7‘s Exploration Age covers roughly the same time period as the Age of Discovery, which is commonly defined as taking place between 1400 and 1600. This marks the era of colonialism spreading throughout the world, and is regarded as one of the most significant periods of change in humanity’s history.

What Civilizations Are Available within the Exploration Age?

Civilization 7‘s titular Civs and Leaders work dramatically differently compared to previous entries. Leaders used to be definitively attached to a single Civilization throughout the game, but can now be paired with a variety of different Civs from the jump. Likewise, players are no longer locked into a single Civilization’s lineage as they progress. Age Transitions begin with players jumping from one Civ to another, which allows them to pursue a unique build. However, their options aren’t completely unlimited.

Civilization 7‘s Age System generally restricts Civs to the era that their historical counterparts actually come from. Furthermore, many Civilizations are only available if players have met certain conditions to unlock them. Players are somewhat encouraged to follow the lineage a given Civilization has followed throughout the course of history, but they can technically diverge into any number of unlikely combinations.

Civilizations available during the Exploration Age:

• Chola
• Abbasid
• Hawai’i
• Inca
• Majapahit
• Ming China
• Mongolia
• Norman
• Shawnee
• Songhai
• Spain

Player Goals for Civilization 7’s Exploration Age

The Exploration Age is perhaps the most straightforward of the three in Civilization 7. A player’s goals are explicitly told to them from the very beginning, and following these goals shouldn’t prove as much of a problem. Civilization 7‘s tutorial is more than forgiving enough to keep players on track, and the goal of expanding out through the sea should be self-explanatory from the Age’s name.

Civilization 7‘s Distant Lands are the key to progressing in the Exploration Age. As soon as this Age begins, players should immediately dive into the newly available Cartography Technology. Distant Lands are defined as any area that was inaccessible before players researched Cartography, and hold a great number of resources that will prove invaluable to victory. True to life, the Exploration Age makes the entire world significantly more interconnected than before. As a fair bit of warning, this means that players can encounter just as much danger from one another while sailing on the path to brighter shores.

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Grand Strategy

Turn-Based Strategy

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Released

February 11, 2025

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