After 50+ hours with Civilization 7, the biggest lesson I learned is this: your first 10 turns determine whether you’ll dominate or struggle for the next several hours. The new Ages system transforms how you build empires, and understanding it from the start makes all the difference.

Table of Contents

Quick Answer

Starting strong in Civilization 7 comes down to five fundamentals:

  • Deploy a Scout immediately to reveal the map and trigger valuable narrative events
  • Settle your first city near fresh water (rivers, lakes, or oases)
  • Prioritize Growth in your first age to build population before military
  • Understand the Ages system—you’ll transition through Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern eras with different civilizations
  • Use Scribe difficulty to learn mechanics without punishing mistakes

The Ages System Explained

Civilization 7 introduces the most significant change in franchise history: the Ages system. Instead of playing one civilization from 4000 BC to the space age, you’ll guide your people through three distinct Ages—Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern—with the opportunity to evolve into a different civilization at each transition.

This isn’t just a cosmetic change. When you advance Ages, you’ll choose a new civilization that inherits traits from your previous one while gaining entirely new abilities. Built Rome in Antiquity? You might become the British Empire in Exploration, carrying forward some Roman bonuses while unlocking naval supremacy.

Key Age Transitions:
Antiquity: Ancient civilizations (Egypt, Rome, Maya)
Exploration: Medieval to Renaissance powers (Spain, Ming, Mongolia)
Modern: Industrial to contemporary nations (America, Japan, Germany)

The Legacy system determines which bonuses carry forward. Pay attention to your Legacy Path choices—they shape what kind of empire you can become.

Your First 10 Turns

The opening turns set the foundation for everything that follows. Here’s the optimal sequence:

Turn 1: Produce a Scout. Yes, before anything else. Early exploration triggers narrative events that can provide massive bonuses—free technologies, resources, or population.

Turns 2-3: Move your settler to find the best city location. Look for fresh water tiles (rivers provide the best yields), resources within three tiles, and defensible terrain.

Turn 4: Settle your capital. Don’t wait for the “perfect” spot if you’ve found a good one—every turn your settler isn’t a city is a turn of lost production.

Turns 5-10: Queue your Scout production, then start working on a Monument or Worker depending on your surroundings. Use your Scout’s Search ability to rapidly uncover territory.

City Placement Strategy

In Civilization 7, cities access all resources within a three-tile radius of the city center. This makes initial placement more forgiving than previous entries, but optimal positioning still matters.

Priority locations:

  • Rivers: Best food and production yields, enables water-dependent buildings
  • Coastal: Unlocks naval units and ocean trade routes
  • Near luxury resources: Provides early amenities and gold
  • Strategic resources: Iron, horses, and niter become critical later

One major change from Civ 6: cities grow immediately upon settling with one population that can work tiles. This means your first city starts producing right away.

Combat Basics

Military conflict in Civ 7 rewards positioning and unit synergy over raw numbers. Understanding a few key concepts will help you survive early aggressive neighbors.

Terrain Matters: Hills provide defensive bonuses. Forests and jungles reduce movement but offer cover. Rivers slow crossing units, making them vulnerable.

Support Units: Commanders and support units amplify nearby troops. Keep them protected behind your front line while benefiting from their bonuses.

The Combat Preview: Always check the combat prediction before attacking. The game shows estimated damage to both units. If you’ll take more damage than you deal, reposition or retreat.

Early game, prioritize Warriors for defense and Archers for offense. Archers can attack without taking retaliation damage when positioned correctly.

Understanding Legacy Paths

Legacy Paths are long-term progression tracks that span all three Ages. They represent different victory strategies and empire identities.

When you unlock Civic policies, you’ll choose Legacy Path progress. Each path emphasizes different playstyles:

  • Economic Legacy: Focus on gold generation, trade routes, and market dominance
  • Military Legacy: Enhanced armies, faster conquest, combat bonuses
  • Scientific Legacy: Research speed, technology unlocks, innovation bonuses
  • Cultural Legacy: Tourism, great works, civilization influence

Your Legacy choices during Antiquity shape which civilizations become available in Exploration. Plan ahead—a peaceful economic empire might not have access to the most militaristic Exploration civs.

Resource Management Tips

Civilization 7 streamlines resource management while adding new strategic depth. Here’s what matters most:

Food: Directly grows population. More citizens mean more tile yields and production capacity. Never neglect food early.

Production: Builds everything—units, buildings, wonders. Production-heavy cities are your empire’s engine.

Gold: Buys units in emergencies, funds building maintenance, enables trade. A healthy treasury provides flexibility.

Science: Unlocks new technologies. Falling behind in science means facing enemies with superior units.

Culture: Progresses civics and unlocks policy slots. Culture determines how fast you advance through governmental systems.

Pro Tips

  • Use the Practice Range: Test unit combinations and combat mechanics without consequences before committing to battles
  • Check Civilopedia constantly: Civ 7 has many new systems; the in-game encyclopedia explains everything
  • Don’t ignore barbarians: Early barbarian camps provide experience and can spawn valuable rewards
  • Activate Scout abilities: Search and Lookout reveal huge map areas—use them aggressively
  • Save before Age transitions: Your civilization choice dramatically affects the rest of the game
  • Trade with AI early: Even unfriendly civs will trade resources; early deals boost your economy
  • Build the Workshop: Your Workshop enables crafting weapons, ammo, and equipment that dramatically improve unit effectiveness

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Civilization 7 good for beginners?
Yes. Civ 7 includes better tutorials than previous entries, and Scribe difficulty is specifically designed for learning. The Ages system actually makes the game more approachable by breaking campaigns into manageable chunks.

How long is a typical Civilization 7 game?
A standard game takes 8-12 hours depending on speed settings and playstyle. Quick speed shortens this to 4-6 hours, while Marathon can extend games beyond 20 hours.

What’s the best starting civilization for new players?
Rome in Antiquity offers straightforward bonuses that teach core mechanics. Their road-building and military bonuses help with both expansion and defense.

Can I play Civ 7 without previous Civilization experience?
Absolutely. While veterans will recognize systems from earlier games, Civ 7 stands alone with enough tutorials and tooltips to teach newcomers everything they need.

Does Civilization 7 have multiplayer?
Yes. Civ 7 supports both competitive and cooperative multiplayer, though most beginners should learn mechanics in single-player first.

Looking to master more games? Check out these beginner guides:

Summary

Civilization 7’s new Ages system might look intimidating, but the core loop remains familiar: explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate. Focus on scouting early, settling near fresh water, and understanding how your choices cascade across Ages. The game rewards planning ahead—pick Legacy Paths that align with your preferred victory condition and choose civilizations that complement your strategy.

Start on Scribe difficulty, experiment with different civilizations, and don’t be afraid to restart your first few games as you learn. Every experienced Civ player has hundreds of abandoned saves from those “just one more turn” sessions that went sideways. That’s part of the fun.