Firaxis' Creative Director, Ed Beach, urges even seasoned Civilization players to utilize the tutorial for their initial Civilization 7 campaign. His Steam post highlights the game's significant departures from previous iterations, emphasizing the need for guidance.
Civilization 7 introduces a novel Ages system (Antiquity, Exploration, Modern), drastically altering gameplay. Each Age transition involves selecting a new civilization, choosing retained legacies, and witnessing world evolution – a unique feature in the series.
Beach explains the default "Small" map size, clarifying that while veterans favor larger maps, "Small" provides a smoother learning curve with fewer opponents. This simplifies mastering the new diplomacy system and ocean exploration, crucial for the Exploration Age. The recommended "Continents Plus" map type further aids this process.
The tutorial, automatically enabled on first launch, offers timely guidance on new mechanics. Beach strongly advises even experienced players to use it for their first full campaign, suggesting focusing on one Advisor at a time if overwhelmed. Even after mastering the basics, he recommends switching to the "Only Warnings" setting, which alerts players to potential setbacks – a practice even the Firaxis team employs.
Firaxis also revealed Civilization 7's post-launch roadmap during a livestream, noting that Great Britain will be released as DLC. Civilization 7 launches on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 11th (Deluxe Edition access from February 6th).
