Strategy guides
Civ 6 strategy guides
Each guide explains the decisions behind the numbers the tools show — assumptions stated, trade-offs compared, and exit conditions included.
Which Civilization Should You Play? Picks by Victory Type
Three 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
How District Adjacency Works
What every specialty district actually draws its adjacency from, how minor, standard and major bonuses stack, which policy cards double them, and which unique districts ignore the normal table.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
Early District Planning: The First 100 Turns
How 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
Housing and Amenities: Keeping Cities Growing
How housing throttles growth as a city nears its cap, where every point of housing and every amenity actually comes from, when an Entertainment Complex beats a Water Park, and the settling and expansion habits that quietly starve an empire.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
Commercial Hub or Harbor: Trade Routes and Which District to Build
What a trade route actually delivers, where extra route capacity comes from, how to read a city site for Commercial Hub versus Harbor, when a city deserves both, and how to pick destinations and keep traders alive.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
Industrial Zones and Production Planning: Adjacency, Regional Reach, Power, and Chops
How production actually gets made in Gathering Storm: what feeds Industrial Zone adjacency, how one Factory serves several cities, when power starts to matter, how to chop without wrecking appeal, and the sequencing mistakes that cost the most.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
City-States and Envoys: Where Your Influence Should Go
Where 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
Wonder Priorities by Era: When to Contest, When to Let Go
An era-by-era framework for wonder decisions in Gathering Storm: which races are worth entering under each victory plan, how to read whether the AI will beat you, and what to build instead when you pass.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
Science Victory City Planning: Roles, the Production Core, and the Spaceport
A city-by-city plan for science victories in Gathering Storm: which cities carry research, which one carries the spaceport, era checkpoints to measure against, and what to do when the plan stalls.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
Culture Victory: Planning Cities for Tourism
How tourism actually beats other players' culture, where Theater Squares and Great Works belong, how to protect appeal from the first settle for National Parks and Seaside Resorts, and the late-game push with trade routes, open borders, and Rock Bands.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
Religion and the Faith Economy
Holy 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
Domination: Building Cities That Feed a War
How to lay out an empire for conquest in Gathering Storm: which cities become production cores, where the Encampment goes, the four classic attack windows, siege composition, holding conquered cities, and when to stop fighting and win another way.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
Diplomatic Victory: Earning and Spending Favor
A working plan for the Gathering Storm diplomatic victory: where Diplomatic Favor actually comes from, how World Congress sessions and votes turn into victory points, which emergencies, competitions and wonders matter, how to keep alliances alive, and when to spend favor versus hold it against a rival's lead.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03