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Civilization VII

Civ 7 Best Settings

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★ Start Here: How to Play | Early Game
★ See the Best Leaders and Civs
★ Tech, Civics, Buildings, Units, & Wonders
★ Economic, Military, Science, Culture Victories
★Recommended Guides: Treasure Fleets
┗ Map Types | Trade Routes | Migrants

Civ 7 Best Settings Banner
This is an article explaining the best settings for starting a game in Civilization VII (Civ 7). Read on to learn the best ways to customize your settings for the best gameplay!

List of Contents

Civ 7 Best Settings For New Game

  1. Governor Difficulty
  2. Quick Game Speed
  3. Continents Plus Map Type
  4. Small Map Size

Governor Difficulty

Governor Difficulty
There are six difficulties in Civ 7, from easiest to hardest: Scribe, Governor, Viceroy, Sovereign, Immortal, and Deity.

Playing on harder difficulties will challenge you to maximize all of the game's systems. However, the AI will have the same behavior in each difficulty.

As such, Governor difficulty is a good balance between exploring the game's mechanics and facing the challenges it presents.

Difficulty Levels

Quick Game Speed

Quick Game Speed
Game Speed will set how long it takes for settlements to progress. This includes population growth requirements, town upgrade costs, and building time.

For new players, we recommend a Quick game. It is an efficient way you can experience a full game of Civ 7 by expanding your Capital and working toward one of many Victories.

Also, the faster you progress, the earlier you can experience playing your chosen leader with three different civs.

Game Speed

Continents Plus Map Type

Continents Plus Map Type
Currently, there are six map types available: Continents Plus, Continents, Archipelago, Fractal, Shuffle, and Terra Incognita.

For the standard Civ 7 experience, we recommend playing Continents Plus. The map is usually two large continents separated by small islands on deep ocean tiles.

This was designed for the Age of Exploration. You will be encouraged to explore the seas for new resources, lands for expansion, and other civilizations.

Map Types Explained

Small Map Size

Small Map Size
Map size will determine how many players will be in the game. Standard is 8 players, Small is 6 players, and Tiny is 4 players.

We recommend a Small Map Size. Having a medium player count will grant a variety of diplomatic interactions and trade opportunities without the overall game being overwhelming.

Best Game Options

Turn On Your Preferred Tutorial Level

Turn On Tutorials
Tutorials will let the game instruct you on what to build, what each unit does, and what upgrades to prioritize through their tooltips: Advisors.

This is recommended for a first playthrough and new players to learn the various systems in the game and its new mechanics.

Experienced players can use the Only Warnings feature. This will allow Advisors to notify you if something will impact your civilization like a drop in yield or a rival civilization finishing a wonder.

Turn On Auto Unit Cycle

Turn On Unit Auto Cycle
If you are forgetting to move all your units, you can turn on Auto Unit Cycle. After you finished using up a unit's movement points, another unit with remaining movement points will be selected.

Alternatively, you can turn on Unit Cycle Remaining Movement. This will select the nearest unit with movement points after you finish your turn blocking actions like building upgrades and diplomatic actions.

You can turn either of these functions off once you get used to moving units while going through a turn.

Units

Best Advanced Options

  1. Long or Standard Age Length
  2. Disasters Light
  3. Crisis On

Standard or Long Age Length

Standard or Long Age Length
Age Length sets how long an Age lasts. If you want a game where you can complete your Legacy Path easier or work toward multiple paths, you should try Long Age Length.

What to Do Before and After Age Change

Disasters Light

Light Disasters
Disasters will occasionally damage your units or buildings if they are on tiles near natural geographic features like volcanoes and rivers. We recommend Light Disaster Intensity for a smoother and less taxing game experience.

Natural Disasters

Crisis On

Crisis On
Crisis are a new mechanic that challenges you to choose negative Crisis Policies near the end of the Age. While some of them are negative, there are those that grant bonuses in exchange for debuffs.

If you want a classic Civ experience with less obstacles, you can turn it off.

Crisis Explained

How to Open Advanced Options

Scroll Settings to See Advanced Options

Advanced Options

Before you launch the game, scroll the settings to see the Advanced Options button. Click it and you will see a simplified Game Settings menu as well as the Advanced Options

Civilization VII (Civ 7) Related Guides

Civ 7 Tips and Tricks

Beginner Tips and Tricks

All Recommended Guides

Recommended Guides
How to Play Civ 7 Early Game Strategy Guide
The New Ages Diplomacy Guide
Best Science Mementos Best Military Mementos
Best Culture Mementos Ground Combat Guide
Naval Exploration and Combat Guide What Does Happiness Do
How to Win Wars -
Leader and Civ Guides
Best Leaders and Civilizations Tier Lists Best Science Leaders
Best Military Leaders Best Culture Leaders
Best Economic Leaders and Civs Best Science Civs
Best Culture Civs Best Culture Civs
List Pages
List of Mementos List of All Governments
List of Policies List of Pantheons
All Unique Units -

All Tips and Tricks

Gameplay Mechanics
Adjacency Bonuses Army Commanders
Ageless Buildings Building Roads
Celebrations Codex (Codices)
Crisis Dark Age Legacies
Districts Factory Resources
Healing Units Independent People
Legacy Paths Migrants
Overbuilding Persistent Buildings
Quarters Repairing Buildings
Rural and Urban Districts Settlement Cap
Specialists Towns
Trade Range Trade Routes and Merchants
Treasure Fleets Treasure Resources
Upgrading Units Warehouse Buildings and Bonuses
How to Navigate Rivers How to Get More Railroad Tycoon Points
Other Tips and Tricks
Where to Settle Where to Spend Gold
When to Build More Settlements What to Do Before and After Age Change
Best Settings Map Types Explained
Best Build Order Morse Code Event
Should I Accept Alliance? How to Change City Name
Should You Convert a Town Into a City? Can You Capture Settlers?
Where to Spend Influence? When to Incorporate City-States?
Can Scouts Auto Explore? Best Pantheon
Should You Rush Age Change? How to Incite Raid
How to Get Relics How to Get Artifacts
Fresh Water Tiles Why Can't You Build a Factory?
Distant Lands Revolutions
How to Get More Resource Slots Attribute Trees Guide
How to Get Tile Max Yield How to Found Religion and List of Beliefs
What is X Per Age? How to Defend and Conquer Cities
What is War Weariness and War Support? Zone of Control
How to Change the Capital Resource Map
Should You Melt or Construct Relic? Game Speed
Floods Natural Disasters
Best Map Seeds How to Force End Turn
Papyrus Problems Best Tech Research Order

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