Era (Civ6)

In Civilization VI, as in previous games in the series, an era is a broad representation of the technological and social level your civilization has currently achieved. In a normal game, you always start in the Ancient Era (in other types of games, you may start later), and you progress towards the Information Era.

Changing Eras

In Civilization VI, as opposed to previous games, both your civilization's scientific and cultural development will allow you to progress through the eras. The advancements of both the technology tree and the civics tree are organized into eras, and you will enter a new era when one of two things happens:

1. You have a technology or a civic from the new era.
2. You have all the technologies or civics from your current era.

World Eras in Rise and Fall

The Rise and Fall expansion modifies the concept of eras by introducing the World Era. This is related to the new Ages mechanic and effectively means that a nation can be in two eras simultaneously: the current World Era and its "Individual Era". Typically the Individual Era of a civilization is more advanced, but sometimes that's not the case; it is fully possible, for example, for the world to enter the Classical Era, while your civilization is still struggling to discover the first tech or civic of that Era, and remain without bridges on its roads! Remember that while Individual Eras continue changing according to the rules described above, the World Era changes centrally based on the median progress of all civilizations in the game, not just your own.

Some of the effects of changing eras are now moved from Individual Era change to World Era change. Check below for details.

Effects

There are several important gameplay effects related to eras:

• Roads will upgrade when you enter the Classical Era, again when you enter the Industrial Era, and again on entering the Modern Era. This happens when changing Individual Eras.
• Many Policy Cards only work for specific eras. When you progress to a more advanced era, you may find that the Policies you were using are no longer working, or have indeed been replaced altogether! Again, Individual Eras matter here.
• The warmonger penalties become progressively more severe with each passing era. They change, however, with the World Era, not Individual Eras.
• Every time you enter a new era, all City-States which currently have no quest for you (and are not at war with you) will give you a new quest. Again, World Era change is considered.
• Additionally, certain City-States' Suzerain bonuses are related to entering new eras, and will only activate then.
• The price of buying tiles will go up with Individual Eras.
• Techs and civics from eras before the World Era cost 20% less.
• Techs from eras after the World Era cost 20% more.
• While not directly gameplay-related, the music playing on a civ’s leader screen changes to reflect that civ’s Individual Era (changing theme at the Medieval, Industrial, and Atomic eras). The selection of ambient music during gameplay also changes to reflect the Individual Eras of the various encountered civs in that game.

List of Eras

There are eight eras in Civilization VI, similar to Civilization V: Gods & Kings, with a ninth added in Gathering Storm. Also listed are their approximate starting time periods (variations are dependent on player progress in each era).

1. Ancient Era (4000 BC)
2. Classical Era (1600 BC, Classical World Era starts at 61st Turn in Normal speed.)
3. Medieval Era (120 ~ 200 AD)
4. Renaissance Era (1100 ~ 1200)
5. Industrial Era (1625 ~ 1675)
6. Modern Era (1840 ~ 1860)
7. Atomic Era (1920 ~ 1950)
8. Information Era (1960 ~ 2000)
9. Future Era (2020 ~ 2050)

Added in the Gathering Storm expansion pack.

Related achievements

The Test of Time Win a regular game with an Ancient Era start. The Test of Time is a phrase that has been used in every Civilization game to denote the basic idea of the game's challenge.

After Antiquity Win a regular game with a Classical Era start. 'Classical antiquity' is another name for the time period covering the ancient history of Greece and Rome, which are widely respected in the Western world.

Out of the Dark Ages Win a regular game with a Medieval Era start. Another name for the medieval era, or at least its earlier stage, was 'the Dark Ages', as it referred to the destruction of the organization of the Western Roman Empire.

Renaissance Man Win a regular game with a Renaissance Era start. A Renaissance Man is someone who is skilled at multiple different skillsets.

Captain of Industry Win a regular game with an Industrial Era start. In the late 19th century, a captain of industry was a business leader whose means of earning wealth contributed positively to the country in some way (as opposed to a robber baron).

Modern Major General Win a regular game with a Modern Era start. Refers to the 'Major-General's Song' from the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance.

Splitting the Atom Win a regular game with an Atomic Era start. Splitting the atom was first discovered in 1917, the start of the atomic age.

Through the Digital Age Win a regular game with an Information Era start. The 'Digital Age' is another name for the time period represented by the Information Era, which involves the heavy usage and advancement of computers, and electronic machinery.