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How Civilization 7 Could Right the Wrongs of Civ 6's Districts

Published

1 month ago

October 24, 2024

With each Sid Meier’s Civilization game, Firaxis aims to shake up the experience considerably with new gameplay mechanics, a new style, and brand-new civilizations to control. As the release date for Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 nears, players are slowly getting to see just how this entry will do that. From a brand-new Age feature to an overhaul of the core civilization feature, fans may be in for an exciting treat. Perhaps one of Sid Meier’s Civilization 7‘s biggest changes comes with its approach to city districts.

Introduced in Sid Meier’s Civilization 6, city districts helped make the game’s many cities far more than simply production sites. Through districts, cities spanned multiple tiles, with each district devoted to serving the civilization in special ways. While that did greatly expand how players interacted with their cities, it also felt very limited, especially when compared to reality. So, instead of forging ahead with that model, Firaxis is shaking it up considerably with Sid Meier’s Civilization 7. Although it remains to be seen if it works, so far, things are looking bright.

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Table of Contents

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Civilization 7’s Districts Seem to Be Changing Things for the Better

Civilization 6’s Districts Were A Nice Change of Pace

Up until the release of Civilization 6, the franchise’s cities were nothing more than one-tile hubs. These hubs served as the center of power, with players using them to construct everything they could ever need. However, because they only occupied one tile, there was only so much that players could do with this feature. Luckily, Firaxis seemed to understand this problem, so it completely overhauled the way cities work in Civilization 6.

Now, cities are far more than one simple tile. Civlization 6 players actually have to construct specialized districts that service different purposes, like providing science or religious gains. Each district takes up a neighboring tile, with some tiles offering special bonuses to certain districts. Once they are placed, players can then expand them with special buildings exclusive to said district. Additionally, cities can only have a certain number of these districts, which depends upon their population size and available space. So, it is up to players to pick-and-choose to ensure that they have the correct districts for the victories they are aiming for.

Civilization 7 is Seemingly Making This System Even Better

Even though Civilization 6‘s districts were nice, they were also fairly limited. Unlike in real life, these districts could only have buildings associated with whatever specialization they had. So, religious districts could only support church-like buildings, science districts’ sole purpose was to provide science gains, and commercial districts only helped to build up the civilization’s treasury. This meant that players have very little flexibility in how these districts operated, which held them back from creating the civilization they wanted to build.

Civilization 7 will be overhauling a lot of features, including Civilization 6‘s districts. Now, there will only be two types of districts for players to choose from: Urban and Rural. Urban districts can hold two buildings at the start, with more slots being unlocked as the game goes on. It is up to the player what buildings they choose to build within, which gives them full control to specialize them how they wish. Rural districts essentially replace tile improvements, without the need for Civilization’s Builders.

While it remains to be seen if this new approach succeeds, the changes do sound extremely promising. Players will no longer be locked out of building certain buildings in these districts, and instead, they will have virtually free rein to construct their cities how they wish. Of course, there will always be a meta that players will likely strive for, but even with that, it will be nice to have a bit more flexibility in how they go about that.

The award-winning strategy game franchise returns with a revolutionary new chapter. Sid Meier’s Civilization® VII empowers you to build the greatest empire the world has ever known!

Rule as one of many legendary leaders from throughout history. Establish your civilization, construct cities and architectural wonders to expand your territory, conquer or cooperate with rival civilizations in pursuit of prosperity, and explore the far reaches of the unknown world. Will you build an empire that stands the test of time?

Sid Meier’s Civilization® VII is a 4X strategy game developed by the legendary team at Firaxis Games, developers of the Civilization and XCOM franchises.

Grand Strategy

Turn-Based Strategy