Indonesia
Gitarja
Uniques and adjacency effects read from the game data.
Victory focusReligionDomination
Kit at a glance
Gitarja's Indonesia rules the archipelago: religious units walk on water, coastal cities buy naval units with faith, and kampungs stack housing and production over the waves. Water tiles — dead weight for others — are her real estate.
Opening: the first 60 turns
Settle the capital on the coast, ideally on a bay where three or four water tiles touch land, because Gitarja's city centers beside coast or lake already produce faith before any district exists. Open Scout, Warrior, Settler and steer research toward Sailing and then Shipbuilding, which unlocks the Kampung and the ability to embark settlers toward the next island. Astrology comes early too: a Holy Site with two coastal edges gets a real adjacency thanks to the Nusantara rule, so Indonesia usually secures a pantheon and a prophet without contesting Stonehenge. By turn fifty the goal is four coastal cities, each with sea resources for future Kampungs, and Foreign Trade researched so galley scouting has found the other continents.
Unique to this civilization
Unit
Jong
Replaces Frigate
Civic: Mercenaries
Adjacency effects
- CampusAdjacent Coast and Lake (per 2 tiles)+1 Science
- Holy SiteAdjacent Coast and Lake (per 2 tiles)+1 Faith
- Industrial ZoneAdjacent Coast and Lake (per 2 tiles)+1 Production
- Theater SquareAdjacent Coast and Lake (per 2 tiles)+1 Culture
How to play it
Settle every island — small coastal cities become real cities once kampungs fill the bays. Found a religion for the faith-to-navy pipeline, and use jongs to escort and dominate the sea lanes. Holy Sites next to coast keep the faith flowing.
Victory paths
Religion is the primary path because the whole kit converges on faith: coastal city centers make it, Holy Sites beside water make more, and Missionaries and Apostles cross straits at no movement cost so island neighbors are converted before they can respond. The same faith buys the navy that wins a naval domination game: instead of spending hammers on ships, Gitarja purchases Quadriremes early and, with Mercenaries, Jongs that drag their escorted units along at full speed. A hybrid is the strongest plan on archipelago maps, using the fleet to force conversions and take stubborn coastal capitals with faith-bought Jongs. Consider a culture pivot only if landlocked; the kit has almost nothing for inland empires.
Synergies: city-states, wonders, policies
God of the Sea is the pantheon of choice when Kampungs will surround fishing boats, and Religious Idols is the fallback on resource-poor coasts. Auckland as a suzerain gives shallow-water tiles production that compounds with Kampung housing, and Nan Madol adds culture to the same coastal districts. Amani placed in Auckland locks the suzerainty. For beliefs, choose a worship building plus the enhancer that makes Missionaries cheaper. The Great Lighthouse and Mausoleum at Halicarnassus are worth building for the admiral flow and the extra Jong movement, and Maritime Industries stays slotted for as long as ships are being produced rather than bought.
Weaknesses and counters
A pangaea start with a short coastline strips away most of what Indonesia does, and even on good water the Kampung is hostage to sea resources: bays without fish or crabs give nothing to build on. The faith-to-navy conversion is powerful but slow to start, so an aggressive neighbor who lands units in the Classical era finds cities defended by little more than a Slinger and a shrine. Players also tend to over-purchase ships and forget that naval units cannot take an inland capital; domination games stall once the coast is secured. Opponents counter Gitarja by fortifying inland, keeping their own Apostles on the shore to fight her religious units before they disembark, and by pillaging Kampungs, which take a long time to rebuild.
Similar civilizations
Related guides
- Religion and the Faith EconomyHoly Site placement, choosing a pantheon from the terrain you actually own, when a religion race is worth entering and when to quit it, beliefs that build an economy versus beliefs that spread, faith as a second currency, and how religion feeds science, culture, and conquest plans.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
- Which Civilization Should You Play? Picks by Victory TypeThree to four leader picks for each victory type — science, culture, domination, religion, and diplomacy — with the reason each one teaches that victory well, plus flexible all-rounders and a guide to matching a civilization to how you actually like to play.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
- Early District Planning: The First 100 TurnsHow to read city sites for future adjacency, decide between settling for yields now or reserving tile clusters, and know when a planned layout should be abandoned.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
- City-States and Envoys: Where Your Influence Should GoWhere envoys come from, how to spend the first handful, which city-state types match each victory plan, how to win and keep suzerainty against the AI, and when conquering a city-state is the right call.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03