The latest entry in the venerable Civilization series is out, but mixed reviews have many people considering trying its predecessor instead, So whether you’re a newcomer looking to test the water or a returning veteran, here’s a look at whether Civilization VI or VII is more worth your time.
Note: For the sake of clarity, we will be using 6 and 7 to refer to the games from this point forward, rather than their proper, roman numerals.
Is Civilization 6 or Civilization 7 worth getting?
If our review didn’t sway you, lets break things down to better compare both Civilization 6 and Civilization 7. Many of these will be subjective, but laying them out should give you a better idea of how each game compares to the other.
Price
Since 7 just released, you’ll naturally be looking at a higher price point than the nearly decade-old 6. It’s maybe unfair to compare them that way as media, but as a value proposition it’s absolutely fair game. Civilization 7 currently goes for around $69.99 unless you managed to swing some discounts, but while 6 is only around $10 cheaper at full price it regularly gets discounted to far lower. If you’re playing on PC, Steam routinely has it dropping to as low as $2.99. If you’re a seasoned Civ or strategy gamer, you may be fairly certain that you can get your money’s worth, but if you’re just looking to test the water then 6 is definitely the way to go.
Content
On launch, the base edition of Civilization 7 has around 20 leaders with around 5 more available from the various pre-order editions or early DLC packs, with each of them able to lead essentially any of the roughly 30 civilizations. That leaves a pretty huge number of combinations to try, each with their own bonuses that suit them to certain playstyles or victory conditions. And since this time around you’ll be picking a new civ each age, you might start as the same civ but end up switching to an entirely new one with an entirely new strategy. It adds an impressive amount of replayability on top of an already eminently replayable game.
Where it falls down is the map variety. There aren’t a lot of map types or tweakable options, like asking to generate a world with more or less water, and the ones that it does have often result in very homogenous landscapes. It’s a surprisingly big oversight.
Civilization 6, on the other hand, has significantly more map options than 7 as well as extra scenarios and game modes like Zombie Defense or Barbarian Clans mode depending on what DLC’s you pick up. And if you still can’t find a map style to your liking, there’s a robust (if slightly finicky) map editor too.
As for civs and leaders, Civilization 6‘s base edition actually doesn’t have that many more, with 7 actually having more total civs if you count across all three ages. If you only pick up the vanilla version of 6 you’ll get about 19 or so leaders to play with and nearly as many civs, but you’ll be stuck as that one civ the whole game. That, of course, is bolstered by the huge number of DLC’s, leader packs, and expansions that you can pick and choose from. Again, if you can grab it on sale you can likely get any number of leaders you’re interested in for less than half the price of 7. So while the newcomer has a surprisingly beefy array of options here, a sale will make Civ 6 a lot better value.
Stability and Performance
You may have heard about Civilization VII‘s issues with UI, but by and large those are more to do with not displaying necessary information rather than performance. The actual game itself seems to run pretty well across a variety of machines, and I’ve yet to personally experience any big crashes. There are lots of little bugs, however, such as missing bonuses or when Commanders “pick up” surrounding units they sometimes leave phantoms of those units behind, cluttering up the landscape. Firaxis appears to be regularly putting out patches to fix these and others, but for the most part the launch is surprisingly stable.
As you might imagine, after nearly 10 years Civ 6 is also very stable and there will likely be mods to help fix any issues that do arise. It’s also got some more accessible minimum specs if you aren’t running a monster machine. However, both games do tend to struggle towards the end of a match, as the map naturally gets filled out with cities and units and the sheer number of interlocking parts increases exponentially. This can throttle your frame rate and lead to very long turn-timers, but it’s a problem neither game get the edge on. If you know you’ve a eaker machine, you’ll need to stick to smaller map sizes with less players regardless of whether you pick Civilization 6 or 7.
Aesthetic
Civilization 6 rocked a colorful, caricaturistic art style with more exaggerated and cartoony proportions on its leaders. Districts were bright and color-coded and even the UI had a variety of tones to it. 7, meanwhile, reverts back to a more grounded style while still retaining some of the color in the environment. The UI, while not as pretty, is mostly unobtrusive and sleek though a surprisingly impactful change is the way the Fog of War looks. 6 uses an effect that makes undiscovered areas look like an old map, whereas 7 uses large, black tiles with embossed symbols that makes the game look like more of a board game.
This will absolutely be up to your personal taste, but for me 6‘s aesthetic makes 7 look drab and grainy by comparison. Compare the images in the gallery below, showing the leader Pachacuti and a starting map from each game, and see what you think.
Utlimately, which game is more worthwhile for you will depend on you and your priorities, but for our money Civilization 6 is far and away the better deal. Significantly more content, stability, fixes, and a significantly lower price if you can nab it on sale. Civilization 7 will almost certainly grow into a worthwhile game with it’s own fans after a few years of bug fixes and expansions, but until then 6 has our recommendation.
If you enjoyed this guide or found it useful, be sure to check out some of Siliconera’s other Civilization VII guides such as All the Best Wonders and How do Ages Work?
Civilization VII is immediately available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. Meanwhile, Civilization VI is available for PC, PS$, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Published: Feb 13, 2025 06:45 pm