Civ 5 Gameplay Concept Guides
Strategy Guides to Game Features and Mechanics
The following are Strategy Guides on specific game concepts, compiled to condense the site's navigation and provide a nice summary of the various articles I've written to help players new to the game. Guides to major gameplay features are found in the left navigation panel. You can also find helpful information throughout the Guide by using the site's Search function, found on the top left. The following Civ 5 articles are available, with several more planned in order to cover every aspect of gameplay. New articles are featured in the Site's news, at the top of the screen:
Read First - Newbie Guides
The following two Guides are must-read for New players. These will introduce you to concepts that you can read more on later, but will immediately help you if you're playing on Prince or below, but may help King+ players who have neglected to learn about other areas of the game. The City Guide itself is five pages of content, while the Early-Game Guide will help players with the first 100 turns of the game. The first is most important of these, because you need to know about managing your Cities. Doing well early on can set you up for success. Once you've read these, you can move on to other areas and learn in-depth information about each subtopic. Putting them all together and playing to your Civ's strengths will make you a better player and help you to bump up the game difficulty. In fact, you'll want to once the game lacks challenge on Settler-Prince or King! Playing Emperor and Immortal are a pleasure, as they do not require you to use cheesy tactics to win and are very satisfying to win for the first time.
Cities and Citizen Management
This is another must-read article for Newcomers to Civ 5. Learning how to manage your Cities is a big deal. They're the backbone of your Empire, and managing them will is important. Learn about City Connections, Happiness, Food and Growth, Science Output, and all the other means Cities can contribute individually to make your Civilization strong.
Early Game Help: Beginner's Guide
A Guide to the beginning of the game and how to proceed. Gives tips on early build orders, how to deal with Barbarians, when you should Settle new lands, and avoiding War. This is a must-read for players new to the game, as it will introduce you to many concepts that are covered in-depth in other areas of the Guide.
Gameplay Concepts for Learning Civ 5 Mechanics
Population and City Growth: Making Big Cities
This Guide is focused on how you can use Citizen Management, Workers, and internal Food Trade Routes to help your Cities climb to Populations 40+ and even much, much higher depending how well you do. Overall, this is a key Guide to read if you are struggling with Science and Production in your Cities.
Barbarians
Barbarians are a nuisance, but turning them off feels like cheating. They are best left on, for their presence early on can give your Units valuable Experience points toward their first two Promotions and allow you to complete City-State Quests. Learn about handling them in this Guide!
City-States
City-States are self-governing bodies found in quantity on most maps. These individual mini-Civs will help you when you attain a level of Friendship or Ally with them. Learn about the five types and the Bonuses they provide in each era - Religious, Maritime, Cultural, Militaristic, and Mercantile.
Diplomacy: Civ Politics, Trade Deals and Diplo Boosts/Penalties
Learn about interacting with other Civs. Civilizations are able to trade resources among one another, but also may be pressured to Declare War, change Votes in the World Congress, or be demanded not to Settle new Cities near you. This Guide will also help you understand why Civs get Hostile, Deceptive, or go to War as Diplomatic Boosts and Penalties are covered. You can learn the various means of pleasing a Civ to get a Declaration of Friendship or avoid them going to War with you.
Food, Luxury, and Strategic Resources
Not updated for BNW
This page will be updated to reflect all the new types of Luxury, Strategic, and Food Resources introduced with the Gods and Kings and Brave New World Expansion Packs. For now, it features Resources from Vanilla Civ 5.
Great People
Great People provide powerful bonuses to a Civ, whether a Great Scientist planting an Academy to provide +8 Science per Turn, a Great Engineer allowing you to finish a World Wonder in 1 Turn, or Great Artsy-types allowing you to produce Great Works that generate Culture and Tourism each turn. Learn about Great People here, means of boosting their birth rate, and how their abilities function. Each Great Person has its own individual page for sharing Tips related to them.
Happiness Guide: Golden Ages & Countering Unhappines
By knowing sources of Happiness and where Unhappiness comes from, you can better manage your Empire and plan ahead. Get tips on managing Cities and learn the best ways to increase Happiness. Also covers Golden Ages.
Ideologies
Ideologies are adopted once your Civ has either reached the Industrial Era and built 3 Factories, or advanced to the Modern Era. Being first allows you to adopt 2 Tenets, which are like super-charged Social Policies. Ideological differences can set Civs apart and turn Friends into Enemies. Learn about how Ideological Pressure is calculated via Tourism, and how you can prevent your Civ from growing Unhappy because of different Ideologies. Inside, you'll find guides to Freedom, Order, and Autocracy Ideologies, their differences, individual tenets, and the benefits those provide to your Civilization.
Social Policies
Social Policies help you to customize your Civilization and receive Bonuses. They are earned through Cultural Output, with each costing more Culture than the next. Opening a Tree will generally allow you to build a special Wonder that is only accessible that way, while finishing it gives powerful bonuses related to that type of play and generally gives you the ability to purchase Great People with Faith starting in the Industrial Era. Read this Guide to learn about Tradition, Liberty, Honor, Piety, Patronage, Aesthetics, Commerce, Exploration, and Rationalism - the game's 7 types of Social Policies.
Specialists
Specialists boost a City's output of Science, Gold, Production, or Culture. Working these through Citizen Management and manually setting them is a part of learning to play the game effectively. Using Specialist Slots early and in quantity can help your Civilization to birth Great People who have powerful abilities. In general, the more Specialists you work, the more Great People will be born throughout the course of the game. Working a particular type will let you have more of that kind. Specialists are particularly important for Scientific Output, particularly in combination with the Rationalism Social Policies, which can allow each Specialist to produce +2 Science.
Spies
Spies first appear in the Renaissance Era and are available when any Civ in-game first reaches that Era. They have a variety of uses, described in this guide. They are able to Steal Technologies from other Civs, Rig Elections in City-States or stage Coups to steal Alliances, or function as Diplomats to help your Civ gain Votes in the World Congress.
Tall and Wide Empires
Tall and Wide are terms commonly seen throughout Civ Communities. Read this Guide to learn the difference in playstyles, the Social Policies that help, and their strengths and limitations. Tall play is generally fewer Cities with higher Population, while Wide can be any number of Cities (but generally 6+) with a few High-Population centers supported by many smaller Cities. Civs may begin either way, then change in direction through conquest of other Cities. Your Tall Empire on Turn 100 could be very Wide by Turn 200 if you engage in many Wars.
Trade Routes
When Brave New World released, the Game Developer removed Gold from River Tiles and introduced Trade Routes. These are now the primary source of income for most Civs, and the single best thing you can use to boost your Empire's Gold per Turn. Learn about Trade Routes, how their incomes are calculated, and how you can determine the best Routes to set up between your Civ and others'.
Unique Units
Every Civ in the game features at least one Unique Unit, sometimes two. Some of these Units are so powerful that the entire Civ relies on them for optimal use, such as the Zulu Impi or Hunnic Horse Archer. Learn about their unique abilities, the Unit it upgrades to, and what Promotions are carried over when you upgrade the unit later. Knowledge of this can help you to plan which Promotions to select for your Units, and whether you should be spam-building as many of them as you can when they are available.
World Wonders
A full list of Wonders in the game, along with a description of their bonuses and the Great Person Points that come with building them. Constructing an early Wonder can ensure that a Great Person is born 100 turns or less later. Each Wonder has its own page, so that players can share tips on using them to maximum effect.
World Congress Resolutions & Voting
The World Congress is a powerful means of manipulating other Civs' attitude toward you, and control of it will give you immense power to change the course of the game. Learn about all the various Resolutions, how you can get them passed, and the Delegates awarded in each Era.
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