Governor (Civ6)

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There are seven unlockable Governors in the game (eight for the Ottomans), each with their own abilities.

Governors are a feature added to Civilization VI in the Rise and Fall expansion pack. They are agents of your government which may be appointed and assigned to cities in order to boost their Loyalty and enhance gameplay elements. As such, they directly channel the power of the central authority in their areas of specialty.

What is a Governor?

A Governor has two main purposes:

1. To bolster Loyalty in a city; a Governor's authority manifests your central authority as leader of the empire, and thus helps keep the local politicians in check.
2. To implement special gameplay effects which will improve various aspects of city performance. Each one of the seven different Governors focuses on a particular gameplay aspect, such as City Defense, Religion, Gold, or Production, and developing his or her abilities will enhance them.

A Governor is similar to a Spy in that it is a "hidden agent" (i.e., it doesn't move around the map the way other units do) which is assigned directly to cities. However, the similarities end there. A Governor's main job is to ensure the Loyalty of your cities - each city with a Governor receives +8 Loyalty per turn, which is a significant boost, and is usually enough to keep it from rebelling and declaring Independence. This effect becomes active even before the Governor establishes its power in a city, meaning from the very moment you assign them there. But beyond that, Governors have additional abilities which vary from Governor to Governor - more on that later.

Unlike Spies (which, despite having distinct names, are all the same and have the same Promotions) or Great People (which are distinct, with distinct abilities, but are also numerous and quickly expendable), there are only seven Governors (eight if you play as Suleiman). Each one has distinct qualities and unique promotions (called "abilities" or "titles"), and will stay with you throughout the game. You may choose to use all seven (but you will be unable to promote each one of them to the highest level until the late game), or you may choose to use just some of them (in which case you'll be able to use their most powerful abilities earlier).

Note also that there are many policies which work only in cities with Governors. Thus, their usefulness is expanded greatly and beyond their individual abilities. Look for opportunities to adjust your strategy and use your Governors to the max with the right Policies.

The same seven types of Governors are available to all players, and you don't have to compete with other players to attract them - they are always waiting for you.

Using Governors

Acquiring Governor Titles

In order to appoint and promote Governors, you must earn and spend Governor Titles. There are several means of acquiring titles:

• Civic Tree - There are a total of 13 civics that will grant 1 Governor Title. They are State Workforce, Early Empire, Defensive Tactics, Recorded History, Medieval Faires, Guilds, Civil Engineering, Nationalism, Mass Media, Mobilization, Globalization, Social Media, and Near Future Governance. Advancing through the civic tree is the most basic and most common way of acquiring Governor Titles.
• Government Plaza - This district, when finished, will grant 1 Governor Title. In addition, every government building completed in the district will grant 1 Governor Title each. There are a total of three buildings (corresponding to the first three tiers of government), so the Government Plaza will grant 4 Governor Titles in total.
• Great Merchant - As of the Rise and Fall expansion, there are two Great Merchants who will award 1 Governor Title when activated: Irene of Athens and Adam Smith.
• Casa de Contratación - This wonder, when finished, will grant 3 Governor Titles.
• Francisco de Paula Santander - Simón Bolívar, the leader of Gran Colombia, has a chance to receive this Comandante General at the start of a new era. In the expansions, he awards 1 Governor Title when activated.
• Grand Vizier - Suleiman, the leader of the Ottomans, gains 1 Governor Title after researching Gunpowder.
• Tribal Village - After Turn 30, you have a chance to earn a Governor Title when visiting a Tribal Village.
• In the Secret Societies game mode, the first secret society discovered awards 1 Governor Title.
• Future Civic - Added in the Rise and Fall expansion, Future Civic is located at the end of the civic tree and awards 1 new  Governor Title each time it is researched. There is no limit to the number of Governor Titles that can be awarded by Future Civic, although it only comes near the end of the game.

Assigning Governors

Neutralized Governors cannot be assigned

Each time you appoint a new Governor, replace them with another one, or have a Governor removed from a city by a gameplay event, you will need to choose a new place to assign them. You may also choose not to (or forget to) - unlike other game actions, this won't prevent you from ending your turn. In this case the Governor(s) will remain in the Palace, sitting idle as they await their next assignment. This means that you'll be losing out on their abilities. You should never let your Governors sit idle!

Note that if you have appointed more Governors than you have cities, one or more will not be able to use their abilities. Always think ahead when choosing whether to appoint a new Governor, or promote an existing one.

At each new assignment the Governor will need a number of turns (3 turns for Victor and Ibrahim, 5 turns for the rest) to establish themselves in a city (appointing agents, establishing connections, consolidating power, etc.), after which they will start applying their bonus effects to that city. You may always reassign a Governor to a different city - just bear in mind that you'll spend some turns without being able to use their benefits (except the Loyalty boost, which transfers immediately, as stated above). Governors who are victims of a Neutralize Governor espionage mission will be removed from their cities and cannot be assigned to any city for 8 turns.

Amani (the Diplomat) is also the only Governor who may be assigned not only to your own cities, but also to city-states. There she will act as a sort of super-envoy: her initial Ability, Messenger, gives her the power of 2 Envoys. Note, however, that should the city-state go to war with you for whatever reason, Amani will be expelled immediately and you will lose the 2 extra Envoys she counts as. In Gathering Storm, when playing as Suleiman of the Ottomans, you will have access to Ibrahim, a unique Governor who can be assigned to the Capital of another civilization.

Promoting Governors

Each Governor starts with one active ability, but can be promoted to acquire a whole range of other abilities! This is done also by acquiring Governor Titles: with each title you may either hire a new Governor or promote an existing Governor, selecting a new ability for them.

Different Governors have widely differing abilities, which enhance different parts of the game. Their descriptive names (e.g., "The Cardinal," "The Financier") give you a general idea of their specialization, but none of them are constrained strictly to this specialization (maybe save Victor, who is completely defense-oriented). Each Governor starts with only one active ability (besides the Loyalty boost effect, of course); their other abilities are unlocked via gaining titles. The slew of different Governor abilities rivals the many options for policies you may choose at any given moment of the game, in order to emphasize different aspects of development for your empire. However, bear in mind that developing Governors is non-reversible, so you should make your strategy in this aspect from the very start of the game. It is up to you and your particular strategy to make the best use of Governors' abilities!

List of Governors

Governor	Default Title	Level 1 Titles:	Level 2 Titles:	Level 3 Titles
Reyna The Financier	Land Acquisition	Harbormaster Foreign Exchange Forestry Management	Tax Collector	Contractor Curator Renewable Subsidizer
Victor The Castellan	Redoubt	Garrison Commander Defense Logistics	Security Expert Embrasure	Air Defense Initiative Arms Race Proponent
Amani The Diplomat	Messenger	Emissary Prestige Local Informants	Affluence Promoter Foreign Investor	Puppeteer
Magnus The Steward	Groundbreaker	Provision Surplus Logistics	Industrialist Black Marketeer	Vertical Integration
Moksha The Cardinal	Bishop	Grand Inquisitor Divine Architect	Laying On Of Hands Citadel of God	Patron Saint
Liang The Surveyor	Guildmaster	Infrastructure Aquaculture Zoning Commissioner	Zoning Commissioner Amusement Reinforced Materials Water Works	Parks and Recreation
Pingala The Educator	Librarian	Connoisseur Researcher	Grants	Arms Race Proponent Space Initiative Curator
Ibrahim The Grand Vizier (Exclusive to Suleiman (Kanuni))	Pasha	Head Falconer Serasker	Khass-Oda-Bashi Capou Agha	Grand Vizier

Trivia

Here's the lead designer Anton Strenger on the subject:

In previous versions of Civilization, “governor” often referred to the AI behavior you could set for a city to act on your behalf. In this expansion, though, they are the opposite. Sending a Governor to a city is a way for the player to make an active decision about the development of one of their cities, and grow in a specific direction. Much like how Districts operate in the base game, Governors are a way to specialize your cities. The difference: Governors have their own set of unique powerful bonuses and can move between controlled cities.

During a game, players can earn up to seven Governors. Each Governor has a different skill tree of promotions. We bent a lot of existing game rules to give them the power to make a difference in your cities.

Here’s how it works: You earn points (Governor Titles) through gameplay. Then you must choose whether to spend those points on appointing a new Governor or promoting an existing one. How you choose to manage your Governors will impact your overall strategy. Go wide by covering more cities, or go tall by promoting only a few powerful governors.

As for the Governors themselves, they have unique personalities – even before you start choosing which ones to upgrade. Some thrive in taking an already established city to the next level, building Wonders and powering up trade routes. Others are more suited to new cities that are constructing their first districts and claiming their first bits of land. One can be a savior during a city siege, and can make or break a city’s defense against a powerful attacking army. Though normally Governors can only work in your own cities, there is one that can be assigned to city-states, affecting the Envoys you have there. That said, none of the Governors are easily distilled into a single function.

Videos

Civilization VI- Rise and Fall - Devs Play India (Governors Deep Dive)

Sarah Darney and Brian Feldges demonstrate the Governors system.

Related achievements

Die Another Day Neutralize a Governor with a Spy A reference to the 2002 James Bond film of the same name.

Getting the Band Back Together Unlock every Governor, and have them established at the same time before the game reaches the Industrial Era A reference to Gettin' the Band Back Together, a musical by Ken Davenport.

Subject Matter Expert Have a Governor with every promotion. A term used for a person who is an authority in a particular area or topic. Often called a domain expert, used in expert software systems development.

Taxation Without Representation As England, lose a city to disloyalty which has an established Financier Governor A reference to the famous anti-British slogan used by the colonists prior to the events of the American Revolution.

See also

• Governor in other games