Starting a new game (Civ6)

Back to Civilization VI
When starting a new game in Civilization VI, you can choose from a number of options, including an Advanced Setup.

If you select "Play Now" to begin immediately, it will begin a game on a Small Continents map on Prince difficulty with randomly chosen leaders and at Standard speed.

Basic Settings

• Choose Ruleset
  • Expansion: Gathering Storm
  • Expansion: Rise and Fall
  • Standard Rules

• Choose Civilization
  • Lets you choose which specific leader to play as or have it randomly selected. The default option is "Random Leader."

• Choose Difficulty level
  • Settler
  • Chieftain
  • Warlord
  • Prince
  • King
  • Emperor
  • Immortal
  • Deity

• Choose Game speed - see Speed for details.
  • Online (double speed - 250 turns)
  • Quick (33% faster - 330 turns)
  • Standard (normal speed - 500 turns)
  • Epic (50% slower - 750 turns)
  • Marathon (200% slower - 1500 turns)

• Choose Map type - see Map Scripts for details.

• Choose Map size - see Map Size for details.

• Choose Game Mode - see Game Mode for details.

• Disaster Intensity - see Disaster intensity for details.
  • 0 - minimal - less frequent and intense natural disasters
  • 1 - light
  • 2 - moderate
  • 3 - heavy
  • 4 - hyperreal - frequent and intense natural disasters

Advanced Setup

Advanced Setup lets you add additional AI players beyond the default amount, as well as access more comprehensive customization options:

• Start Era - see Era pages for details (starting units, gold, faith, units etc.)
  • Ancient Era
  • Classical Era
  • Medieval Era
  • Renaissance Era
  • Industrial Era
  • Modern Era
  • Atomic Era
  • Information Era
• Number of City-States

• Resources
  • Sparse
  • Standard
  • Abundant
  • Random

• City-states picker
• Natural wonders picker

• World Age - determines ratio of highland to flatland
  • New (more hills and mountains)
  • Standard (normal)
  • Old (more flatland)
  • Random

• Start Position
  • Balanced (roughly equalized)
  • Standard (variable quality)
  • Legendary (great starting positions for all)

• Temperature - affects terrain distribution
  • Hot (increased Desert, decreased Tundra/Snow)
  • Standard (average terrain)
  • Cold (increased Tundra/Snow, decreased Desert)
  • Random

• Rainfall - governs the amount of forest and wetlands
  • Arid (less woods, rainforests and marshland)
  • Standard (average)
  • Wet (more woods, rainforests and marshland)
  • Random

• Sea Level - ratio of water to land tiles (not available for Inland Sea)
  • Low (extra landmass)
  • Standard (default)
  • High (extra sea tiles)
  • Random

• Victory Conditions - check boxes to enable or disable any of the six victory conditions
  • Culture
  • Diplomacy
  • Domination
  • Religious
  • Science
  • Score

• Turn Limit
  • By Game Speed
  • Custom
  • No Turn Limit (disables Score Victory)

• Duplicate Civilizations presence
• Duplicate Leaders presence
• Barbarians presence
• Teams presence
• Tribal Villages presence
• Teams visibility sharing

• Game Random Seed
• Map Random Seed

Related achievements

Difficulty level

Game, Settler, Match Win a regular game at Settler difficulty or harder. A pun on the phrase used at the conclusion of a tennis match or another competition.

Irish Heartbeat Win a regular game at Chieftain difficulty or harder. Irish Heartbeat is the name of an album by Van Morrison in collaboration with The Chieftains.

Warlording Over Others Win a regular game at Warlord difficulty or harder. The phrase 'lording over others' refers to being in a dominant position over others.

Machiavelli's Great Work Win a regular game at Prince difficulty or harder. The Prince is the name of Machiavelli's most famous work of writing.

The Divine Right of Kings Win a regular game at King difficulty or harder. The divine right of kings is the idea that kings are not subject to earthly authority because they rule by the will of God.

Emperor's New Groove Win a regular game at Emperor difficulty or harder. A reference to The Emperor's New Groove, a 2000 Disney animated film.

12 Labors of Hercules Win a regular game at Immortal difficulty or harder. Hercules notoriously had to accomplish 12 seemingly impossible feats to regain his immortality, such as slaying the Hydra and capturing Cerberus alive.

God-Like Win a regular game at Deity difficulty. In the FPS game Unreal Tournament, 'God-like' was one of the largest killstreak ranks. The ranking names were popular, and set a precedent for many multiplayer video games to follow.

Map type

Alfred Wegener's Legacy Win a regular game on the Pangaea Map. Alfred Wegener was the first to come up with the idea of plate tectonics and the theory of Pangaea.

Mare Nostrum Win a regular game on the Inland Sea Map. Latin for 'our sea', it was also a Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea.

Riffle and Bridge Win a regular game on the Shuffle Map. The 'Riffle and Bridge' is a complex but impressive method of shuffling a deck of cards.

Tectonic Shift Win a regular game on the Continents Map. Tectonic shifts are phenomena related to continents.

The Taste of Victory Win a regular game on the Island Plates Map. A play on the meaning of 'plates', which are used to carry food.

Unique Snowflake Win a regular game on Fractal Map. The Koch or 'snowflake' curve is a famous fractal shape first defined by the Swedish mathematician Helge von Koch.

Map size

Here's Looking At You Kid Win a regular game on a Duel Map. A famous quote from Casablanca, a 1942 romantic drama film.

Four Corners Offense Win a regular game on a Tiny Map. Four corners offense is an offensive stalling tactic in basketball.

Six Shooter Win a regular game on a Small Map. A six shooter is a revolver with six cartridges.

Eight is Enough Win a regular game on a Standard Map. A reference to the 1970s comedy-drama series Eight Is Enough.

Ten Commandments Win a regular game on a Large Map. The Ten Commandments are a set of biblical laws that play a fundamental role in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

Dirty Dozen Win a regular game on a Huge Map. A reference to The Dirty Dozen, a 1967 war film.

Starting era

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.

See also

• Starting a new game in other games