Civilization V
Sid Meier's Civilization V is a turn-based strategy video game in which players lead a civilization from the Stone Age to the future through exploration, expansion, exploitation, and extermination, aiming for victory via domination, science, culture, or diplomacy.[1] Developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K Games, it was initially released on September 21, 2010, for Microsoft Windows, followed by macOS on November 23, 2010, and Linux on June 10, 2014.[1][2][3] The game introduces several innovative features to the long-running Civilization series, including a hexagonal grid system for more fluid terrain and unit movement, city-states as neutral entities that players can ally with or conquer, and a one-unit-per-tile combat mechanic that emphasizes tactical positioning and ranged attacks.[4][1] Players manage resources, research technologies, build cities and wonders, and engage in diplomacy with AI-controlled leaders, each with unique traits and agendas voiced in their native languages.[3] Social policies allow customization of government and ideology, adding depth to progression across eras.[4] Civilization V supports both single-player campaigns and multiplayer modes, with robust modding tools enabling community-created content.[1] It received two major expansion packs: Gods & Kings in 2012, which added espionage, religion, and new civilizations, and Brave New World in 2013, introducing international trade, the World Congress, and further civilizations and scenarios.[4] These expansions significantly enhanced replayability and strategic options.[4] The game is renowned for its addictive "one more turn" gameplay and has sold over eight million copies as of 2016, cementing its status as a landmark in the 4X strategy genre.[1][5]Gameplay
Core mechanics
Civilization V is a turn-based strategy game that embodies the 4X genre, encompassing exploration of the unknown world, expansion of territorial holdings, exploitation of natural and human resources, and extermination of rival civilizations through warfare, all progressing in sequential turns from the Stone Age to the future. Players make decisions during their turn, after which artificial intelligence-controlled opponents act in single-player mode, or all players act simultaneously in multiplayer. These mechanics form the foundational gameplay loop, where strategic choices in each category influence paths to victory, such as domination or scientific advancement. The game world is depicted on a hexagonal tile-based map, generated randomly or through predefined scenarios to create diverse environments that encourage varied strategies. Each tile features terrain types like plains for reliable food production, hills for defensive combat advantages, and deserts for challenging low-yield areas, alongside natural wonders that offer unique bonuses such as enhanced yields or cultural output. These elements affect unit movement costs—typically one movement point per tile on flat terrain but two on rough features like forests or hills—and provide foundational resources like food for population growth and production for building construction. A defining rule in unit movement is the one-unit-per-tile limitation for military units, which eliminates the stacking mechanics of prior games and forces players to prioritize logistics and positioning. At the end of a turn, only one military unit may occupy a tile, though a single non-military unit like a worker can share it with one military counterpart; this promotes deliberate pathfinding across the hex grid, where terrain and distance consume movement points, impacting scouting during exploration and supply lines in expansion efforts. The rule enhances tactical depth by compelling players to spread forces, revealing more of the map while exposing vulnerabilities in overextended armies. Resources underpin exploitation mechanics, divided into strategic types like iron and oil, which are prerequisites for constructing advanced units and buildings once unlocked through technology, and luxury types such as silk and wine, which generate trade value and directly contribute to empire-wide happiness. Happiness serves as a basic limiter on growth, decreasing with each new citizen in cities and scaling with the number of settlements; insufficient levels halt expansion in affected cities and can lead to revolts, while luxuries provide a +4 happiness bonus per unique type connected to the capital via trade routes. This system ties resource gathering to overall stability, encouraging balanced development across the map. Combat integrates these elements through a system emphasizing positioning on the hexagonal grid, with melee units required to enter an enemy's tile to attack while ranged units strike from up to two tiles away without retaliation. Flanking bonuses grant a 10% strength increase per adjacent friendly unit targeting the same foe, up to 30%, rewarding coordinated maneuvers that leverage the one-unit-per-tile rule for envelopment tactics. Additionally, zones of control restrict enemy units to expending all remaining movement points when passing between tiles adjacent to a hostile force, creating chokepoints and defensive lines that transform the map into a dynamic battlefield.City management
In Civilization V, cities are founded using a Settler unit, a civilian unit produced in existing cities that consumes itself upon placement to establish a new settlement. Optimal founding locations prioritize tile adjacency bonuses, such as rivers providing extra food output from adjacent farms and defensive bonuses against attacks, or coastal tiles enabling naval access and trade route opportunities. Cities initially control and work tiles within a three-hex radius of the city center, limited by population size, though social policies like those in the Tradition tree can expand workable territory or reduce maintenance costs to support broader empire growth. City production operates through a queue system where players select builds such as units, buildings, wonders, or infrastructure projects, with yields from worked tiles—food for growth, hammers for production, gold for economy—directly feeding into progress. Citizens automatically work the highest-yield tiles by default, but players can manually assign specialists to building slots (e.g., in libraries for science or markets for gold) to customize output, though this often trades food for specialized yields and slows population growth. For example, assigning citizens as engineers in a workshop boosts hammer production essential for rapid wonder construction, while balancing food intake remains critical to avoid stagnation. Happiness serves as a core mechanic governing empire stability and expansion, calculated globally across all cities with sources including luxury resources (+4 each, connectable via trade routes), buildings like the Colosseum (+4 local happiness), and wonders such as Notre Dame (+10 empire-wide). Low happiness imposes penalties: at -1, city growth slows to one-quarter speed; further deficits reduce production and gold by 2% per point and weaken combat strength, while -10 unhappiness halts growth entirely and risks rebel units spawning to damage improvements. Maintaining surplus happiness, often through allying mercantile city-states for +2 bonuses or policies like Aesthetics for +1 per 10 citizens, enables Golden Ages that double great person generation and boost yields. Great people—engineers, scientists, merchants, artists, and others—are generated by accumulating Great Person Points (GPP) empire-wide, primarily from specialists (3 GPP per turn) and wonders like the Great Library (providing fixed GPP). The cost scales progressively (100 for the first, 200 for the second, etc.), with separate pools for each great person type, allowing strategic focus on high-GPP cities to spawn desired individuals sooner. Once generated, great people enable powerful actions: a great engineer can instantly complete a production item or build a manufactory tile improvement (+4 production), while a great scientist triggers a technology boost or founds an academy (+8 science ongoing). After conquering enemy cities, players choose between puppeting or annexing: puppeting retains the city as a semi-autonomous subsidiary, automatically generating gold, science, and culture without player control over builds but incurring less unhappiness (no occupation penalty) and avoiding direct maintenance costs. Annexing integrates the city fully, allowing queue management, specialist assignment, and tile improvements but imposes high initial unhappiness from occupation (reduced over time with a courthouse building) and higher overall empire strain. Puppets benefit from national modifiers like social policies and golden ages but cannot build wonders or manually work tiles, making them ideal for low-maintenance profit in wide empires until annexation becomes viable.Diplomacy and city-states
City-states in Civilization V are independent, single-city civilizations scattered across the map, discoverable through exploration, and they function as neutral actors that players can befriend or conquer for strategic advantages. Unlike major civilizations, city-states do not expand or pursue victory conditions but instead offer alliances that provide ongoing yields, making them essential for diplomatic strategies and supporting a diplomatic victory through votes in the United Nations wonder. These city-states are categorized into five types, each delivering specialized bonuses upon alliance:| Type | Primary Bonuses |
|---|---|
| Militaristic | Gifts of military units for defense or offense |
| Cultural | Increased culture output per turn |
| Scientific | Science production and occasional technology boosts |
| Mercantile | Gold per turn and enhanced trade routes |
| Maritime | Food surplus, primarily benefiting the capital city |
Technology and social policies
In Civilization V, the technology system revolves around a branching research tree encompassing over 70 advancements that span five eras, from the Ancient Era's foundational discoveries like Agriculture to the Future Era's innovations such as Nanotechnology. Players generate beakers—units of scientific output—primarily through city population (one beaker per citizen in cities with science infrastructure) and specialized buildings, including libraries (+1 beaker per two citizens) and universities (+50% science output overall). Progression requires accumulating sufficient beakers for each technology, with costs escalating by era—for instance, Mining demands 32 beakers while Particle Physics requires 1800—unlocking new units, buildings, tile improvements, and wonders along the way. Era transitions occur upon researching pivotal technologies, such as Philosophy for the Classical Era, enabling broader strategic options like advanced diplomacy or military capabilities. Great Scientists, earned via great person points from scientist specialists, academies, and wonders like the Great Library, serve as key accelerators in research. These figures can be expended to instantly complete any technology under study (a process known as bulbing, yielding beakers equivalent to the empire's recent science output) or used to establish an Academy on a workable tile, providing a sustained +5 science per turn that compounds over time. This duality supports both short-term surges, ideal for critical breakthroughs, and long-term yields, especially when integrated with structures like observatories (+50% science in cities adjacent to mountains). Such mechanics tie directly to victory pursuits, as advancing through late-game technologies like Robotics is essential for assembling spaceship parts in a science victory. Social policies offer ideological customization through dedicated trees, each unlocked progressively via empire-wide culture accumulation from monuments, borders, and performance buildings like amphitheaters. Culture points serve as the currency, with initial policies costing 25 on standard difficulty and enabling choices from era-appropriate trees upon reaching thresholds like 50 for the first adoption. Representative trees include Tradition, which bolsters capital-centric growth with its opener granting +3 culture and reduced unhappiness there, progressing to tenets like Aristocracy (+15% wonder production) and a finisher of +15% growth across all cities; Liberty, favoring wide empires through +1 culture in every city and accelerated settler output, culminating in an instant Great Person; and Honor, enhancing martial prowess via +33% combat strength against barbarians and bonuses for unit maintenance, with a finisher providing free military units. These trees allow players to tailor progression, with adoptees receiving titles like "Lord" for Tradition leaders. The Rationalism tree, accessible in the Renaissance Era after Philosophy, specializes in scientific amplification to fuel industrial and modern advancements. Its opener triggers a five-turn Golden Age and +10% science during research, with tenets such as Secularism (+2 science per specialist) and Free Thought (+1 science from trading posts and +17% from universities), stacking additively and multiplicatively with academies and observatories for exponential gains in beaker output. Completing Rationalism yields two free technologies and +50% science from research agreements, making it indispensable for tech-focused strategies. Adopting policies incurs scaling culture costs that rise with each selection—starting low but potentially reaching thousands by mid-game—to curb rushed ideologies and promote deliberate empire-building. This escalation also factors in city count, with each new settlement amplifying future requirements by up to 30%, though policies like Liberty's Representation mitigate it by 33% per city. Such dynamics ensure social policies evolve alongside technological and territorial growth, balancing short-term tenets with enduring tree finishers.Victory conditions
Civilization V offers multiple paths to victory, each emphasizing different aspects of gameplay such as military conquest, technological advancement, cultural development, or diplomatic influence. These conditions provide players with strategic flexibility, allowing them to pursue dominance through warfare, scientific breakthroughs, societal enlightenment, or global consensus, while time and score victories serve as fallbacks if no other condition is met by the game's end. The base game focuses on these core victory types without the expanded mechanics introduced in later content packs. A Domination Victory is achieved by capturing the original capital cities of all other civilizations, leaving the player as the last leader in possession of their own starting capital. This path rewards aggressive expansion and military prowess, with strategies often involving the conquest of key settlements to dismantle opponents' empires. In the modern era, advanced units like nuclear weapons and aircraft carriers become pivotal for overcoming fortified positions and naval defenses, enabling rapid strikes against distant capitals. Unlike total annihilation, this victory does not require eliminating every city, only the original hubs of power. The Science Victory centers on launching a spaceship to Alpha Centauri by constructing all necessary components in a city equipped with a Spaceship Factory. Players must research advanced technologies to unlock parts such as the SS Engine, SS Cockpit, SS Stasis Chamber, and three SS Boosters, which are built sequentially in the capital or a specialized city. The Apollo Program wonder accelerates this process by allowing Great Scientists to instantly complete parts, providing a significant boost when paired with focused research strategies and social policies that enhance science output. This victory underscores the importance of technological progression and efficient resource allocation toward space exploration. Cultural Victory in the base game requires adopting a total of 36 social policies and then constructing the Utopia Project wonder, triggering a surge in Great Person generation that overwhelms rivals. Players prioritize broad policy development across trees like Tradition, Liberty, Honor, Piety, and Commerce to unlock this final project, often building wonders and generating culture through cities and specialists to accelerate adoption. This path emphasizes long-term societal growth and cultural accumulation, leading to an unstoppable influx of artists, writers, musicians, and scientists that solidifies the win. Diplomatic Victory is attained by securing a majority of votes in the World Leader election at the United Nations, which becomes active after researching the Globalization technology and occurs every 20 turns thereafter. Votes are primarily garnered through alliances with city-states, where maintaining high influence—often at 90% or allied status—grants one vote per city-state, supplemented by support from other civilizations based on relations. This victory highlights the value of diplomacy and economic aid, such as quests and gold gifts, to build a coalition that elects the player as world leader. If no other victory is achieved by the year 2050 AD (corresponding to approximately turn 500 on standard speed), the game concludes with a Time Victory awarded to the player with the highest score, or alternatively a Score Victory based on the same metric. Score is calculated from factors including the number of cities and their population, technologies researched, land controlled, wonders built, and future techs pursued, serving as a comprehensive measure of overall empire strength. These fallback conditions ensure a definitive end while rewarding balanced or defensive playstyles.Civilizations and leaders
Civilization V features 18 playable civilizations in its base game, each led by a historical figure and distinguished by unique abilities, units, and buildings or improvements that reflect their cultural and historical strengths. These elements encourage diverse playstyles, from aggressive expansion to defensive fortification or economic dominance, while tying into broader mechanics like production, combat, and resource management. Leaders are fully voiced, providing diplomatic interactions and embodying distinct personalities that influence AI behavior, such as warmongering tendencies in figures like Shaka of the Zulus or peaceful inclinations in Gandhi of India. The civilizations are balanced to favor either "wide" empires with many cities leveraging policies like Liberty for rapid settlement and growth, or "tall" empires with fewer, highly developed cities emphasizing Tradition for enhanced capital output. For instance, Rome's unique ability accelerates road construction across the empire, supporting wide play by connecting distant cities efficiently, while China's Great General bonuses promote tall strategies through concentrated military power. Unique units replace standard counterparts at equivalent tech levels, often with bonuses suited to the civilization's theme, such as the Roman Legion's ability to build roads and forts for logistical superiority. Unique buildings or improvements provide specialized yields, like the Iroquois Longhouse, which boosts production from forest and jungle tiles to reward forested starts. Leader agendas shape diplomatic relations, with AI leaders exhibiting traits like expansionism or isolationism that affect trade, alliances, and declarations of war; for example, Bismarck of Germany may aggressively pursue conquests, while Elizabeth I of England focuses on naval superiority and overseas expansion. These traits can aid specific victory paths, such as cultural wins for France under Napoleon's great person generation bonuses. Below is a table summarizing the base game civilizations, their leaders, and unique features.| Civilization | Leader | Unique Ability | Unique Unit(s) | Unique Building/Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| America | George Washington | Manifest Destiny: +1 production for every 2 tiles of a city connected by road to the capital; +1 sight for units. | Minuteman (replaces Rifleman; +50% vs. cities, ignores terrain penalties). | None |
| Arabia | Harun al-Rashid | Trade Caravans: +1 gold from trade routes for every 2 desert tiles in the originating city. | Camel Archer (replaces Knight; ranged attack, can move after attacking). | Bazaar (replaces Market; +2 gold, +1 gold per connected luxury resource). |
| Aztec | Montezuma | Sacrificial Captives: +2 culture for each enemy unit killed. | Jaguar (replaces Warrior; +50% in jungle, heals fully after killing). | None |
| China | Qin Shi Huang | Art of War: +50% great general generation; +15% golden age length. | Chu-Ko-Nu (replaces Crossbowman; double attacks per turn). | Paper Maker (replaces Library; +2 science). |
| Egypt | Ramesses II | Monument Builders: +20% production toward wonders. | War Chariot (replaces Chariot Archer; +1 movement, ignores terrain cost). | Burial Tomb (replaces Temple; +2 culture, +2 happiness). |
| England | Elizabeth I | Sun Never Sets: +2 movement for naval units; +1 production per overseas city. | Longbowman (replaces Crossbowman; +1 range). Ship of the Line (replaces Frigate; +1 movement, +1 sight). | None |
| France | Napoleon Bonaparte | Levolution: +20% building production; chateaus provide +2 culture. | Musketeer (replaces Musketman; +5 combat strength). Foreign Legion (replaces Rifleman; +20% combat outside borders). | Château (improvement; +2 culture from adjacent mountains). |
| Germany | Otto von Bismarck | Furor Teutonicus: 25% chance to capture enemy units instead of killing them. | Landsknecht (replaces Pikeman; +100% vs. mounted units). | Hanse (replaces Bank; +25% great merchant generation, +2 gold). |
| Greece | Alexander the Great | Hellenization: +25% culture in cities conquered by military. | Hoplite (replaces Spearman; +100% vs. mounted units). Companion Cavalry (replaces Knight; spawns great generals on kills). | None |
| India | Gandhi | Population Growth: Reduced unhappiness from new cities. | War Elephant (replaces Knight; +30% vs. mounted units). | Mughal Fort (replaces Castle; +1 culture, +1 happiness). |
| Inca | Pachacuti | Great Andean Road: +1 production from mountains; roads +100% faster to build. | Slinger (replaces Archer; +50% production cost reduction for ranged units). | Terrace Farm (improvement; +1 food on hills, +1 production from mountains). |
| Iroquois | Hiawatha | Great Warpath: +1 production from camps; forests/jungles treated as roads. | Mohawk Warrior (replaces Swordsman; +30% in forests/jungles). | Longhouse (replaces Workshop; +1 production/culture from forests/jungles). |
| Japan | Oda Nobunaga | Bushido: +50% XP for units; +30% vs. gunpowder units. | Samurai (replaces Swordsman; +15% in plains/hills). | None |
| Mongolia | Genghis Khan | Mongol Terror: +30% combat strength when attacking cities with siege equipment in the field. | Keshik (replaces Knight; ranged attack, ignores ZOC). | None |
| Ottoman | Suleiman the Magnificent | Barbary Coast: +1 movement for galleys; 50% chance to capture barbarian ships. | Janissary (replaces Musketman; +30% vs. land units, heals fully after kill). | None |
| Persia | Darius I | Achaemenid Legacy: Golden ages +50% length; +10% combat/movement during golden ages. | Immortal (replaces Spearman; +50% vs. horsemen, full heal after battle). | Satrap's Court (replaces Bank; +3 happiness). |
| Rome | Augustus Caesar | All Roads Lead to Rome: Free roads in all cities; +25% building production in capital. | Legion (replaces Swordsman; builds roads after moving). Ballista (replaces Catapult; +50% vs. cities). | Bath (replaces Aqueduct; +2 happiness). |
| Russia | Peter | Siberian Riches: +1 happiness from tundra; +15% production in tundra cities. | Cossack (replaces Cavalry; +10% combat, ignores ZOC). | None |