Civilization 7 Dev Recommends Even Experts Stick With the Tutorial for Their First Full Campaign — Here’s Why

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, retaining legacies, and witnessing world evolution—a unique feature in the series.

Beach justifies the default "Small" map size, stating that it optimizes the learning curve. The reduced number of empires simplifies mastering the new Diplomacy system and managing Diplomatic Influence. He also recommends the "Continents Plus" map type, facilitating easier ocean exploration crucial to the Exploration Age.

The tutorial is automatically enabled on the first playthrough and strongly recommended for veterans. It provides timely tips and explanations for new mechanics. The game features four Advisors, each offering guided quests. Beach suggests focusing on one Advisor at a time initially.

Even after mastering core systems, Beach advises switching to the "Only Warnings" setting. This allows Advisors to alert players to potential setbacks, a practice even the Firaxis development team employs.

Firaxis also revealed Civilization 7's post-launch roadmap during a livestream event (noteworthy: Great Britain is DLC). The game launches on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, and Xbox One/Series X|S on February 11th, with Deluxe Edition access starting February 6th.