Goals are fickle things, especially in Civilization VII. What starts as a peaceful bid by Harriet Tubman's Egyptian empire for cultural supremacy in the ancient world ends up devolving into an intercontinental conflict. A single Egyptian soldier accidentally crossed the border into Charlemagne's Greece, and Roman tyrant Benjamin Franklin responded with a declaration of war. So much for that plan.
Such instances of pseudo-historical ridiculousness are common in Civilization games. After spending 15 hours with a full round and its three major ages, though, what stands out about Civilization VII is how many options developer Firaxis provided not just for handling conflict, but for approaching every aspect of its grand strategy game.
Take a round's overall goal, for example. As in previous entries, Civilization VII has victory conditions for reaching specific cultural, scientific, military, or economic milestones over the course of several in-game centuries. Actions that didn't further progress toward these goals were wasted opportunities in older games, which pushed players toward a small number of viable methods and discouraged inventive thinking. Unlike its predecessors, Civilization VII adopts a more relaxed approach toward how players go about achieving their stated aims.
Each age begins with a choice of legacies that provide useful bonuses in certain areas and a bit of policy advice. Pursuing culture in the exploration period, for example, comes with the recommendation to establish piety and spread religion around the world. A civilization that completes these optional objectives earns legacy points for the next age, which unlocks additional bonuses and makes achieving victory in a specific category easier. However, Civilization VII is unbothered if those goals remain unmet.
In fact, it encourages blended strategies. Building certain wonders in the antiquity era promotes culture in that period, but after the transition to the age of exploration, building certain districts near those wonders also promotes science improvements. Pursuing trade is important not just for establishing an economic legacy, but also for funding a war machine or expansionist efforts. It makes influencing allies easier if war breaks out, too.
Influence as a tool has greater purpose in Civilization VII than it did when Firaxis introduced the concept in Civilization VI. In the previous game, it determined how a civilization interacted with any city-states brought into its orbit. But in Civilization VII, influence is also a currency for spending on diplomatic actions with other major international powers. These actions range from basic collaborations, such as sharing military aid, to more strategic maneuvers, like creating an extra trade route. They're surprisingly few in number, which made interactions with leaders feel emptier than in previous Civilization games so far. That said all endeavors come with trade-offs that have potentially important consequences as turns pass.
Rather than having big, setpiece moments where leaders clash or make friends, international diplomacy plays out in small ways every turn. It manifests in deciding whether resources gained from a new trade route are worth enriching a potential rival, if a new settlement's proximity to international borders might spark an unwanted conflict, and which friendships might prove most useful later on. This increased attention to detail gives a welcome sense of significance to every action, and the civilization in the modern era is the culmination of hundreds of little decisions made across the centuries. Creating a well-rounded civilization and society with open-ended possibilities that reward experimentation seems like the least a strategy game could strive for. However, it's the first time Firaxis actually has done that, and so far, the series is much better for this new approach.
Civilization VII launches on Feb. 12, 2025, for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch.