Hi,
I've started playing Civ5 a lot lately, and I'm a bit confused as to how you actually enable mods, as the game is very unclear on how it works, especially now that steam workshop has annoyingly taken things over. I've 'Subscribed' to the mods (As workshop has no 'Download' button) and in the 'Mods' window, it shows them as enabled, but I can't seem to actually activate or use them in custom single player games. I've ticked them to enable them, but things like custom civs, and custom maps are just nowhere to be found.
Thanks in advance
I've started playing Civ5 a lot lately, and I'm a bit confused as to how you actually enable mods, as the game is very unclear on how it works, especially now that steam workshop has annoyingly taken things over. I've 'Subscribed' to the mods (As workshop has no 'Download' button) and in the 'Mods' window, it shows them as enabled, but I can't seem to actually activate or use them in custom single player games. I've ticked them to enable them, but things like custom civs, and custom maps are just nowhere to be found.
Thanks in advance
Your winning strategy just got obliterated in Civilization 6as the Rise And Fall DLC arrives, adding in additional alliances, special events, ages, governors, and even whole new civs with completely different play styles!
As a long-overdue update that changes how civilizations interact with each other, any fan of the base game will want to try out the Civ 6 Rise and Fall expansion as soon as possible.
Sadly, many are unable to do so, as players keep experiencing Civilization 6 crashes as soon as the game loads, while others can get into the game but can't actually play with any of the new Rise And Fall content. If you've been experiencing Rise And Fall startup errors or bugs, follow the steps below to get up and running!
Civilization 6 Rise And Fall Startup Troubleshooting
Unfortunately, the Civ 6Rise And Fall DLC is not currently supported on Mac or Linux systems -- sorry folks, this one's Windows only for the time being! For some reason, the store page still allows you to buy the DLC, but you can't actually use it yet.
If you are using Windows and still can't get the game to load after downloading the DLC, there are some basic troubleshooting measures to try out first before getting into the more complicated possibilities.
Completely shut down and restart Steam, then click on the Civilization VI entry in your library. Scroll down to the DLC section on the right side of the frame and look for the 'Rise And Fall' entry. If it isn't checked, click the checkbox.
(Thanks to Satoru for the screenshot)
Next up, as with any Steam game, it's time to verify integrity of the files and re-download if necessary. Right-click the Civilization VI entry in your library and choose 'Properties,' then navigate to the 'Local Files' tab at the top of the screen.
Select the option to 'Verify Integrity of Game Files' and then follow the prompts. You may get an all-clear message, or you may have to re-download the game files if something is corrupt or missing. If everything was verified, there are more options to check next.
Enabling DLC
For those who can get into the game but can't get to any of the Rise And Fall content, choose the option to create a new game.
Open the 'rule set' drop-down menu, and make sure 'Expansion: Rise and Fall' is selected. If you don't see it there at all, then the DLC either hasn't been purchased through Steam, or you are using an OS that isn't supported yet.
Disable Mods
After the basic Civilization 6 error troubleshooting, it's time to move on to more specific fixes. In most cases, the Rise And Fall DLC won't work properly due to a conflict with an installed mod. All those old mods need to be updated to work with the new content.
If you aren't able to load the game at all, you will need to manually uninstall any mods. If you can get to the main menu, open up the 'Additional Content' section and ensure only the 'Community Created Content' option is checked, then select the option to 'Disable All' to turn off all mods simultaneously. Restart the game and, in most cases, you should be good to go.
Delete mods.sqllite File
For those still experiencing issues, a specific older mod file may be the culprit. Close down Civ 6 entirely, then open up a window explorer menu and navigate to the file path 'My DocumentsMy GamesSid Meier's Civilization VI.'
Look in the folder for a file either named 'mods.sqllite' or, in some cases, it may just be named 'mods' (with no obvious extension or ending). Delete that file and restart Civilization VI to try again.
Let's get started conquering the world and using new features like loyalty!
If you've found any other potential Rise And Fall expansion troubleshooting steps, let us know, and we'll get them added.
Finally able to play the game and ready to try out the new content? Check out our guide to playing Scotland the Brave in the Rise And Fall DLC!
Civilization is such a long-running series that fans already know exactly what they want out of it. As such, the awesome modding community is on point with its additions to the content that’s already readily available within the game. Don’t want to sift through it all yourself? Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. Here are the best Civilization VI mods to download. These are the absolute must have Civ VI mods that you can’t play without.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Strategic Resource and Tech Tree Rebalance
This is a mod that helps with an issue players are having with AI technology not exactly matching the time period you’re in. You can find yourself with chariots and slingers during the 21st century, which isn’t very helpful. An adjustment to what the AI has access to in terms of resources and tech options solves this problem.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Maddjinn’s Tech Tree
This alternate tech tree helps with the timing of the eras and the points in which you gain new technology for a more realistic approach to your nation’s development (if you’re into that sort of thing).
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Tougher City States
Mods that help your city states do a better job to maintain your city states, are always a good thing. Tougher City States allows your city states to hold their own in battle. They can still lose, this isn’t some god mode cheat, but they’ll be better at holding off invaders and giving you time to adjust.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
AI+
The AI in Civilization VI is… less than stellar. They don’t often make the best decisions on your behalf when you trust them to take control, and the enemy AI is pretty questionable as well. Thankfully, there are several mods in the works to help solve this issue. While they are still early on in their development, since modders are waiting for better tools and the like, some, including this one, are already working wonders for players.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Restart Button
This is one of those simple Civilization VI mods that does exactly what the title says. It grants you a restart button that allows you to start a new game with the settings you’ve already chosen, making it a quicker and easier task to get a game that you want going.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
MOAR Units
This Civilization VI mod adds 12 unique units to the game that are balanced to fit in with the current offerings. If you’ve been looking for a bit more variety, then you should definitely check this one out.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Modern Buildings
Modern Buildings currently adds nine new buildings for you to build, each with different perks and stat boosts for your budding civilization.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Right-Click Close Leader
There are times in games when you just want to skip all of the dialogue options and just play. Most strategy games had a feature that allowed fans to skip the unnecessary fluff and get back to their game. While Civ VI didn’t have that nifty feature, this mod allows players to right-click anywhere on the screen to get back to the action.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Better Coastal Cities
Water can be a nuisance in the game, especially if you set your city near it. Unless you’re playing as Australia, there’s a good chance water can ruin your plans, Luckily, there is a mod that adds a few extra perks and resources to sea tiles so you won’t have to stress too much about them.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Tomatekh’s Historical Religions
The game comes with a few real, historical religions to choose from, or allows players to simply make their own if they don’t feel like picking any. This mod opens up more possibilities with the religious side of the game, adding more branches to Christianity and more.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Better Civilization Icons
Aesthetics plays a big part in Civilization VI, from creating your town down to even the smallest icons in the game. If you want to revamp your game’s icons, this mod touches up on some of the City State icons and removes the more bizarre ones.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Starting Scout
Starting the game with only a warrior can get a bit challenging, so this mod gives each faction a starting scout. Just keep in mind that this will even give the AI a free scout too.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Red Modpack
This mod adds RED from the previous game to make the military units smaller and more numerous. These changes will help these units look much more realistic and less intrusive on the battlefield if you prefer to play the game that way.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
CQUI
The Civilization 6 menus can be pretty complex and could take some time to getting used to, especially for first-time players. Those that want a more streamlined experience can download the CQUI mod, which packs the menu with more information at first glance instead of having to dig through the sub-menus.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Rebalancing Units
Those who want a more “fair” experience can download this mod that tweaks unit attributes. Some of these changes include a 33 percent reduced upgrade cost for all units and Military Engineers’ build charges doubled to 4. The mod should add a bit more realism to the overall gameplay if you are looking for a different experience.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Production Queue
Production has never been easier thanks to this mod that adds a production list on the upper left corner of the screen. You can use this to monitor and add things to the production menu and even rearrange the list by simply dragging and dropping.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
PhotoKinetik (Westeros)
If you prefer Civilization 5’s colors over 6, the PhotoKinetik (Westeros) mod is for you. This nifty mod not only gives the game a visual rehaul but also adds heavy depth of field for a tilt-shift effect. That said, you can always adjust the depth of field to how you see fit instead.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Better Trade Screen
Trading is one of the major features in Civilization 6, so the better trade screen mod should help you make smoother transactions during your playthroughs. Not only does it have a great “Repeat Route” checkbox, but there are also some new sorting options and other improvements that streamline the whole trading process.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Diplomatic Total
Keeping good relations with other leaders is one safe way to play the game, but it can get a little tricky when you don’t know why everyone is mad at you. With this mod, however, you can finally view the numeric relationships with the leaders on a 0 to 100 basis. Moreover, it will also tell you the reasons that influenced that number, making it much easier to maintain your political ties.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Fewer AI Tantrums
Even when you try your best to become the best leader you can, sometimes the AI will just straight up attack you. While the game might not have any control over their erratic actions, this nifty mod will help keep the AI pacified. The leaders will also react less violently against minor mistakes and will come off as more forgiving. Just keep in mind that this mod requires the Aztec DLC to work.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Rule With Faith
Those looking for a more in-depth experience in terms of politics and religion can download this interesting mod. Rule with Faith adds some new content to the game, like another religious plot complete with 16 new policies you have to take into consideration. Similarly, there are also three new added governments in the game.
Smoother Difficulty
The latest entry in the Civilization series decided to amp up the difficulty a bit by giving the AI more units and bonuses. If you want a more laidback experience, you can try the Smoother Difficulty mod which evens the playing field. While you might have a better chance against them in battle, the enemies make up for it production-wise. This is perfect for those who don’t want an easy game, yet don’t want to stress too much regarding combat.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Simplified Gossip
Gossip is one of the best ways to gain some interesting intel on the other civilizations, but it’s a bit underwhelming and underutilized in the game. To make the most out of the feature, you can download this mod that basically simplifies the gossip history log and removes any fluff and unnecessary messages. Each message also has its own category, making it easier to track a certain civilization at a glance.
Policy Change Reminder
With so many factors to consider in the game, you might have forgotten about your civilization policy cards. With this Policy Change Reminder mod, you never have to worry about forgetting to change your policies when you have the chance to do it. The game will prompt a useful message when trying to click the next turn, but you have the chance to make any necessary changes.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Punt Civilization
The Punt Civilization mod adds an interesting twist to the game in the form of a new civilization. The civilization is spearheaded by Queen Ati, and the mod presents players with useful stats and bonuses, such as an additional economic government slot, more flexible floodplains, and workers gaining an additional charge.
Sukritact’s Simple UI Adjustments
Another UI mod, Sukritact’s Simple UI Adjustments aims for more minimalistic changes instead of a major overhaul like CQUI. This mod improves things such as city info panels and city banners while also revealing how religious pressure works, greatly improving that aspect of gameplay. This mod is perfect for those who want to spice up their playthrough without losing the game’s original flavor.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Map Tacks
This Map tacks mod adds, well, better map tacks to the game for easier tracking. Using this mod makes district planning much easier because of the district-specific pins, and this also patches the annoying map pin bug. It also includes a scrollable map pin list and fixes some of the styling problems in the game.
More Lenses
This mod takes lenses to the next level by adding even more to the game. It adds some extremely helpful lenses, such as barb camp highlighting, Builder lens, and even resource highlighting. Overall, this mod will help with empire management and even fixes some bugs, too!
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Unique District Icons
Another little piece of eye candy, the Unique District Icons mod doesn’t exactly add any game-changing features. Instead, it swaps all the vanilla District icons with designs that have a bit more pizazz. There’s nothing wrong with changing how the game looks from time to time, making this a pretty useful mod for those who want something different.
Harder AI
There are times when the game’s AI feels a bit strange as it will occasionally random around the field without attacking and make some strange decisions. If you feel like the game is a bit too easy, you can download this mod to turn the difficulty up a notch. The enemies will feel a bit smarter and will definitely kill your units if you aren’t paying attention.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Unit Report Screen
Managing several large armies can be tough, especially when you need a breakdown of what everyone is doing. Using this Unit Report Screen mod, you can get a quick summary of your troops at a glance. Moreover, it also simplifies how you can order your army around and breaks them down into categories.
Research Time
If you ever feel like the research time feels a bit too quick, you can use this mod to adjust how long you want the time to play out. That said, you can prolong the research time for a longer playthrough if you want to continue enjoying the game.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Civic Time
The Civic Time mod acts basically the same way as the Research Time mod, except it works for Civics. You can adjust the Civic time rate if you feel like the game runs the clock a bit too fast for your liking.
Multiple Unit per Tile
With this useful mod, you can now deploy multiple units on a single tile without having to swap out. The best thing about this is that you can edit how many units can fit on a single tile, making it a bit easier to carry out your plans in the field.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Additional Buildings
The Additional Buildings mod does exactly what it says – add more buildings to the game. The mod adds 50 new structures to fit your city’s specializations and they even give various bonuses and maluses depending on what you build. That said, it’s best to study your options and use these new buildings to your advantage.
Magil’s Wondrous Wonders
Wonders are loosely based on real-life locations that grant certain bonuses but can feel really underwhelming and a waste of space. This mod aims to improve this feature by adding more bonuses and even brings back the National Wonders from Civilization V.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Updated Fortified Alert
This mod adds a new unit command, “Guard,” which places selected members of your army on guard duty. When enemies begin invading, units on guard duty will be the ones to alert the army instead of you having to manually wake them up individually. Not only will this save you plenty of time, but it can also save your civilization.
Quick AI Combat and Movement
If you like playing on large maps, sometimes fights can be a little sluggish since units can take a while to mobilize and attack. To avoid any unnecessary delays, the Quick AI Combat and Movement mod help speed up the action to get it over with as soon as possible.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Larger Worlds
Civilization VI contains some pretty detailed and extensive worlds, but there’s always room to expand it. This mod gives you the option to create even bigger map sizes than before if you feel like you want more space in the game. This gives you an option to expand your Civilization and place more buildings.
Sink Those Transports
Naval warfare might sound pretty exciting, but sea vehicles usually have a big disadvantage against embarked land units. Luckily, the Sink Those Transports mod adds a -20 combat strength modifier to land units during naval attacks. This should make it easier to take down units on the land and even the playing field.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Settlers Retreat
Those who don’t like how they can capture their enemies’ settlers in the game can try downloading this mod. Once you defeat your enemies, the settlers will flee to the nearest city instead of being captured.
Machine Gun with 2 Attack Range
This simple mod gives the machine gun an extra attack range, making it a more viable option during fights.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Free Rotation
Camera angles are extremely important in games like Civilization VI, and this Free Rotation mod gives you more options with the camera. Using this mod gives you three additional map rotations and even lets you pan the map using the WASD keys.
Tundra Farms
Farms are some of the staple structures in the game that provide some good resources. This mod allows players to build farms on tundras and even tundra hills, assuming they already have the civil engineering civic.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Xenoblade Chronicles Civilization
Fans of the JRPG Xenoblade Chronicles can bring a part of that world into Civilization VI through this mod. It adds a new civilization based on the first game, with protagonist Shulk acting as the leader. Key mechanics like Chain Attacks and Anti Mechons fall under their features and abilities.
Current Time of Day
Immerse yourself in the game with this real-time day-and-night cycle mod. It doesn’t affect gameplay per se and acts as a great way to get some new atmosphere during your playthrough.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Detailed Worlds
If you find the worlds a bit bland, this mod improves and polishes the map for a more engrossing experience. Some of the basic features include larger desert maps without adding desert tiles and better rainforest placements.
Resourceful
This mod expands the resources in the game, adding more variety to mines, quarries, and lumber mills. Resourceful adds items such as Rubies, Platinum, Lapis, Lead, Granite, Limestone, Maple and more to the game. All that said, this is a must-have mod if you are looking into changing up your playthrough.
Best Civilization VI Mods (Must Have Civ VI Mods)
Starting Builder
Those who want to skip the slow burn of beginning a new game can use this Starting Builder mod to speed up the process. With this, you can focus on improving your land and starting creating all the buildings you wanted instead of having to gather your units and worry about improving your tiles.
Real Great People
If you want a bit more realism in your game, the Real Great People mod changes up some of the icons in the game to reflect images of actual people. This slight altercation is great for those who like to roleplay mid-game, adding a slight touch of immersion.
Civilization 6 has had two expansions since 2016, and unsurprisingly that means it's a bigger and better game than it was at launch. Even if there are no more expansions in store for the future, that doesn't mean there's nothing new to check out. The modding community has pulled out all the stops tweaking graphics and gameplay, adding new civs and new units, and even improving the UI.
Here's our definitive list of the best mods for Civilization 6, updated to take 2019's Gathering Storm expansion into account.
Installing Civilization 6 mods
With the addition of Steam Workshop support, installing many mods is easy: simply subscribe to the mod on Steam. Steam will automatically download the mod, which can be enabled or disabled from the 'Additional Content' menu.
Mods that aren't on Workshop can be installed by creating a folder called ‘Mods’ in your Civilization 6 user directory: DocumentsMy GamesSid Meier's Civilization VI.
Extract mods to your new Mods folder (with each mod in its own subfolder) and then enable them from the ‘Additional Content’ menu in-game. Some mods may have extra steps, which I’ll describe in their individual entries.
If you want to make changes to Civ 6’s files yourself, the simplest way is to make direct changes to the files in Civilization 6’s install directory (after backing up the originals, of course). First, find Civ 6’s install folder. If you don't know where it is, you can right-click on the game in your Steam library and select Properties > Local Files > Browse Local Files. The default install location is Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonSid Meier’s Civilization 6. Identify the file you want to mess with, save a copy, and go for it—just don’t forget what you’ve changed.
Civ 6 Mods Not Showing Up Windows 10
For help with the more elegant and shareable approach—a mod which can be installed in the Mods folder and toggled in the menu—check out and Gedemon’s .
GRAPHICAL MODS
Environment Skin: Sid Meier's Civilization V
One common criticism of Civ 6 is that it’s a bit too bright and cartoonish, as compared to the more realistic look of previous games in the series. This mod, released by a Firaxis dev, strikes a really nice balance between this Civ’s visual style and that of its immediate predecessor. The saturation has been turned down and almost every basic tile type and decal has been altered in some way. It even adds new, more naturalistic models for ground clutter like trees. Pair this with something like the R.E.D. Modpack (above) to get rid of the Clash of Clans-looking armies and you’re in for a much more immersive, less board game-y feel.
Mappa Mundi
Gathering Storm added labels for major geographic features on the map, which was a really cool touch. But if you play a lot, you’ve probably seen the same ones over and over. Mappa Mundi can basically eliminate that problem forever, adding over 15,000 new names of real world rivers, deserts, mountains, and more. It’s also seamlessly compatible with a lot of the most popular mods that add new civs to the game, so your Taino or Icelandic empire can put their own linguistic stamp on the map.
R.E.D. Modpack
Gedemon brings us a Civ 6 version of one of our favorite Civ 5 mods. The R.E.D. Modpack rescales units to make them a little more like miniatures, a little less like cartoon giants stomping over the hills. Check out the mod's collection for versions that are compatible with all of Civ 6's expansions.
MAPS
Detailed Worlds
Graphics mods can make certain things look more realistic, but if you want the world layout itself to feel a bit less game-y, this is the mod for you. In addition to adding more coastal detail to replicate all those little coves, bays, and fjords we expect to see on a globe, it also makes the placement and size of deserts, rainforests, and marshes much more true-to-life. And if you’re all about that Nile Valley life, it improves food placement along rivers running through desert tiles as well. It comes with seven different map scripts, including Continents, Pangea, and Islands.
Yet Not Another Map Pack
Yet Not Another Map Pack is another map pack from well-known modder and bundler Gedemon. YNAMP for Civilization 6 includes Earth-shaped maps with the correct start locations for each culture. If you’re tired of playing a landlocked Norway, this is your chance to create a proper Viking empire. The pack also adds new, bigger map sizes (one of which is so big it might take five or so minutes to load).
When starting a game, you’ll have new map types and size options available. Head to the post on Civfanatics for more information on how to use YNAMP, as well as known bugs and issues.
GAMEPLAY MODS
Catastrophic Disaster Intensity
The highest disaster intensity in vanilla Civ 6 is called 'Hyperreal.' If that’s just not enough for you though, this mod let’s you crank it up to basically Just Plain Ridiculous. The description states that some kind of disaster will happen somewhere on the map just about every turn, and the severe versions are made more common. There is no longer any such thing as a dormant volcano. And in the late game, the number of coastal lowland tiles that can flood from climate change has been increased from the vanilla 33% all the way up to 75%. Mother Nature is coming for you and this time she’s not gonna play nice.
To Hell With The Devil: Religious units fight Rock Bands
This mod is so great we wrote an entire article about it. The premise is pretty simple: Rock Bands, Civ 6’s new, late game 'culture nukes,' can now engage in theological combat with religious units. For the pious, you can send apostles to keep these long-haired hooligans from corrupting the hearts and minds of your people. For the sacreligious, you can cast down the sanctimonious clerics of the Demiurge and make sure all the world gets to hear your tasty riffs and the good word of our Lord, Satan. This mod is so much fun that I have a hard time playing late game Civ 6 without it.
Zee's Fewer Trade Offers
The struggle of having to tell Victoria you’re not interested in her weird trade proposals constantly is real. This mod forces the AI to give it a rest once in a while, whether it’s pestering you for your gems or begging for their lives in a war. The AI cooldown for trade offers is increased from 10 turns to 50, peace offers in war from 3 turns to 10, and offers of friendship from 5 turns to 30. Maybe now you can finally enjoy some peace and quiet while you plot their ultimate demise.
Adjust starting units, techs, and more
While I was messing with Civ 6 to try to play a game , I found that all the player and AI starting conditions are stored in a file called Eras.xml. You’ll find it in the Civ 6 install directory, under BaseAssetsGameplayData.
Using what’s there as an example, it’s not hard to copy and paste to add starting units, or limit the AI’s unit bonuses on harder difficulties. Just make sure you backup Eras.xml before you start tinkering in case you want to revert to the defaults.
INTERFACE MODS
Better Trade Screen
The 'Repeat Route' checkbox alone makes Better Trade Screen worth it, but it brings lots of improvements, such as new sorting options to the Trade Overview screen. It's one of those quality of life improvement UI mods we'll keep checked forever.
Radial Measuring Tool
One of the most poorly-explained mechanics in Civ 6 is the fact that certain districts, like Industrial Zones, grant their benefits to all city-centers within six tiles. (I’ll pause for the gasps of everyone who has played hundreds of hours and still didn’t know that.) What makes it even more annoying is that there isn’t an easy way to figure out which cities are close enough—you have to count out tiles individually while bouncing your cursor along. At least, there wasn’t an easy way until now. This mod adds a tool that makes it very easy to quickly display the range of these effects so you never waste land on a redundant district again.
CIVIGraphs 2
If you love data visualization and miss the demographic graphs from previous Civs, you’re in luck. CIVIGraphs 2 adds a Civ 5-style demographics panel that lets you see info on things like army size and population for you and all of your rivals over time. Simple, lightweight, but very useful. TPS Report cover sheet not included.
Real Era Tracker
Rise and Fall brought us the concepts of Era Score, Golden Ages, and Dark Ages. But there was one glaring problem: You’re never really told what actions will give you Era Score. So until you memorize all of the mini-achievements that do so, it’s a lot of guesswork and hoping. It can be even harder to keep track of which world firsts are still available. But no more! This mod adds an objective list of ways to earn Era Score, and even lets you know which moments are no longer available once they’ve been claimed by another civ. This makes it much easier to stack up those Golden Ages and let the good times roll.
NEW CIVS
Durkle’s Anangu
Australia finally got some representation in Civ 6 after long being the only populated continent to never appear in the series, but they’re represented by the British colonizers that came along pretty recently. This mod adds an Aboriginal Australian civilization, the Anangu, under Tjilpi with two unique units, a unique tile improvement, and bonuses to setting up specialty districts in arid regions akin to their Outback home. They also benefit greatly from finding and building near natural wonders. If you own the Australia DLC, which the mod creator recommends, they will use Australia’s music tracks for added thematics.
CIVITAS Vlad III
Vlad the Impaler leads Romania in this appropriately bloody addition, and he’s all about causing chaos for his enemies. His unique unit is basically a crossbowman with the movement speed of a cavalry unit, which is already pretty crazy. But even more interesting is his unique ability that damages enemy units adjacent to a tile that’s being pillaged and sends out a wave of disloyalty to nearby cities when he captures a city, which can result in a chain revolt if you use it in the right place at the right time. You’ll need to download the Romania civ separately, which gives even more unique bonuses like a free technology for being on the winning side of an Emergency.
'A Song of Ice and Fire:' Rise and Fall of Usurper
This mod adds NINE(!) new civs based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, the basis of the television show Game of Thrones. These include Rhaegar Targaryen of the Crownlands, Eddard Stark of the North, Tywin Lannister of the Westerlands, Robert Baratheon of the Stormlands, Mace Tyrell of the Reach, Jon Arryn of the Vale, Hoster Tully of the Riverlands, Doran Martell of Dorne and Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands. Each have unique units and bonuses appropriate to the lore. And yes, of course, you can train dragons.
TOTAL CONVERSION MODS
Anno Domini
This is one of the most involved mods I’ve ever seen. It basically takes Civ 6’s gameplay and zooms way in on the Ancient and Classical eras 'from the Dawn of Time to the fall of Rome,' keeping the same game pace and roughly the same number of civics and technologies to unlock. This sharper focus allows Anno Domini to model things that would normally be outside the scope of a Civ game, including new Historical Moments and new government types.
Sounds cool already, but who can you play as, you might ask? Well, these beautiful, crazy bastards have gone way above and beyond to bring us THIRTY distinct leaders (some being alternates for the same civ), including Ashurbanipal of Assyria, Sargon of Akkad, Hannibal of Carthage, Hatshepsut of Egypt, Arminius of Germania, Boudica of the Iceni, Zenobia of Palmyra, Leonidas of Sparta, Helen and Hector of Troy, four new Roman emperors, and reworked versions of some vanilla favorites like Pericles, Qin Shi Huang, and Chandragupta.
You can play Civilization 6 without ever founding a city—not even with your first Settler in the Ancient Era—but only kind of. I first tried this without modding Civ 6 at all, hoping that if I acted fast enough, I could level up my starting Warrior by finding settlements, and then successfully siege and take a city-state. This did not work.
As you can see in the screen above, Brussels easily defeated my Warrior, took my Settler, and I lost on turn 16. I hope that's a record. But I was determined to find a way to play Civ 6 without founding any cities, because once I decide on a stupid self-imposed rule there's no giving up. So I allowed myself only a slight change: I modified Eras.xml so that I would start in the Ancient Era with two Warriors and an Archer. I cheated, but only just enough to get off the ground. It's hardly even cheating, if you think about it, but please don't think about it.
Within minutes I had done it: I started a game, and without founding a city I captured a capital, Toronto. This is pretty impressive, considering I didn't cheat even a little bit. Not at all.
As a Canadian, I should probably be offended that Toronto is a city-state and not part of the great Canadian civilization. Really, I'm more bothered that they chose Toronto and not Quebec City or Montreal, both of which have greater history. But who cares: Canada is Aztec country now.
This whole scenario gives me an idea: what about a game where everyone starts with two Warriors and an Archer, but no Settler at all? The only way forward for each civ would be to capture a city-state as its capital. Sounds fun, though I'm doubtful the AI can handle it. I try it anyway.
On first attempt, it doesn't work at all. I forgot that when I conquered Toronto, I was playing as the Aztecs, who have a special Eagle Warrior unit that replaces the Ancient Era Warrior. With two regular Warriors and an Archer, there was no way I could capture a city state: my Archer could only do 15-21 damage per turn, and the city regenerated 20 health per turn. My Warriors, meanwhile, couldn't attack without losing most of their health and needing several turns to heal.
If you're wondering why that image is so orange, I was playing at 1 am (naturally, it's Civ) and forgot I had Flux on. You should use it. But also turn it off for screenshots. Anyway, I went back to mucking with Eras.xml to see if I could start with no Settler, two Warriors, and two Archers to make this work, but no matter what I did Civilization 6 seemed insistent on starting me with only one Archer. Eventually I got frustrated and just pasted a bunch of units in—and that's when it decided to work.
Well this is nice, isn't it? I have no problem taking a city-state as my capital with this army: in just nine turns, I capture Nan Madol. Unfortunately, the world rankings suggest my AI opponents aren't so clear on how to proceed. I lead in every victory category because they haven't captured cities. I give it a few more turns, but no luck. I'm the only one who knows how this game is played.
So let's go back to my first game, where everyone started with a Settler but I just chose not to use it. I may be dead broke (units cost upkeep money even if you don't have a city generating gold) but I've captured Toronto, and now I have my sights set on Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aries falls easily. I like that unprotected cities aren't a huge deal to take early on in Civ 6. But with all my troops scattered as I seek out new states to conquer, I become worried that I may be subject to the same treatment: my neighbor to the east, Egypt, randomly got in touch to tell me that my army is puny and I'm dumb. Or something like that. The point is that it was rude, and greatly displeased the people of Aztec-Canada.
Without declaring war, Cleopatra beings amassing troops near the border of Toronto. With my starting Settler still nestled in the city—which is sort of annoying because it means I can't hide Builders there during wartime—I begin moving troops to confront my Egyptian foes. It's time to see if, despite being behind by several turns of production and research, I can make an Ancient Era civilization mine.
Egypt only has two cities, Shedet and the capital, Râ-Kedet. I march toward the weaker city of Shedet, and thanks to my Archers and Aztec Eagle Warriors, I capture it without much trouble—even before my brand new catapult makes the trek from Toronto. Buenos Aires, meanwhile, is being defended from Civ 6's more aggressive Barbarians by a single Archer, which is a pain in the ass, but I manage to complete the Hanging Gardens there anyway. Things are looking pretty good for my no-city-founding playthrough.
I was always irked by how Civilization 5 discouraged conquering with revolts and unhappiness—not that bombarding a city with arrows and then marching in with axes wouldn't cause those things, but it was such a pain I typically installed puppet governments or razed cities when what I really wanted to do was expand my empire while keeping it under my creative control. To a degree, I think it was Civ 5's wording that turned me off—captured cities didn't really feel like mine, even if I got them up and running again.
I'm glad Civilization 6 simplifies this: Keeping a city no longer suspends its production, instead making it less productive until the war is over and it's negotiated for at the peace table. It's lost a bit of Civ 5's nuance—eg, installing a puppet government until the war is over, and then annexing only the best cities when you can afford to buy courthouses to cheer everyone up (when have they ever done that?)—but I feel much more encouraged to expand through war if that's what I want to do. And with my rule that I won't found any cities, it's the only way forward.
Instead of settling things at the peace table, though, I've decided to smash the peace table with an axe. Every few turns Cleopatra offers me a deal, even offering to let me keep Shedet, but I ignore her and march toward Râ-Kedet. Despite all her big talk, she didn't have much of an army at all (this was on Prince difficulty, so not too hard). Egypt falls to the Aztecs.
I never took an aggressive approach in Civ 5, preferring to expand on my own and turtle. But I was always annoyed by city-states hogging land I wanted, so much that I started turning them off altogether. Now that early wars aren't quite so much of a drain, though, I'm really enjoying being an all out warmonger in Civ 6. I would make a terrible world leader.
If you want to muck with the starting conditions yourself, it's pretty easy. Find your Civilization 6 install folder, which if it's in Steam's default location will be C:Program Files (x86)SteamsteamappscommonSid Meier's Civilization VI.
From there, navigate to BaseAssetsGameplayData and find Eras.xml. Make a copy of it to back it up, then open it in a text editor. Scroll down to the 'MajorStartingUnits' section and you'll find a bunch of lines which define which units players start with depending on the starting era, some with extra variables, such as 'AIOnly' which gives the AI extra units at harder difficulties.
If you want to start an Ancient Era game with an archer, for instance, you'd add the line:
I had to do some experimenting because as I mentioned, it mysteriously refused to accept my changes for a while (which probably just means I introduced a typo somewhere), but using the existing lines as examples you should be able to set up any starting units you like. Scroll further in the file and you can define starting buildings, governments, civics, and techs as well.
If I manage to win this game without ever founding a city, I'll let you know. But more likely, because it's what I always do with Civ, I'll get to the Renaissance Era and decide to start over with a new stupid rule.