Espionage, warmongering... planting flowers? Which civ do you find the most fun?
Civilization has one objective: to win. But as a video-game shouldn’t the objective also be to have fun? While there are those who play exclusively on Deity, the rest of us mere mortals might move that difficulty down a smidge...unless that’s your idea of good time.
I asked the civ communities who they have the most fun playing as, and some of the answers might surprise you.
Community Picks
10. Gorgo
If you’ve ever watched 300, It’s hard not to imagine yourself as a Spartan warrior slaughtering wave after wave of lightly-armored hoplon fodder (minus the spray-on abs). With extra policy cards, bonus culture for every kill and a powerful army of Hoplites at her disposal, Gorgo of Sparta proves to be one of the more fun domination civs in the game. You are, however, expected to come back with your shield...or on it.
This...IS...CIVILIZATION!
- Hoplites are strong in groups and gain culture for every kill- a slightly more entertaining prospect than art collecting.
- Having an extra wildcard policy slot is always great for flexibility in playstyle.
- Who doesn’t like to watch the mighty Spartan hoplites? You don’t need 300 of these badass units to crush your rivals.
9. Aztec
Another crowd favorite, the Aztecs ferociously enter the fray with their powerful combat bonuses. The fierce and feared Eagle Warriors can use their maquahuitl to capture defeated enemies allowing you to play a fast-paced early domination game to conquer your neighbors and sacrifice your captives to the gods for the glory of the Aztec Empire. Call me megalomaniacal, but that sounds like a pretty fun game to me.
More fun than Ullamaliztli!
- The Eagle Warriors are one of the best starting units in the game, making the Aztecs a fast-paced game from turn 1.
- Being able to capture enemy units and turn them into workers goes great with the ability to rush districts with workers.
- The Aztecs are one of the quickest and most ferocious civs in the game, imho, that makes them one of the most fun.
8. Mongolia
A guy you never need to worry about inviting, cuz he'll show up anyway.
As far as fast-paced and exciting civs go, Mongolia is a great time of plundering and raiding your way to victory. Fast moving horse archers, bonus combat strength, and the ability for the Keshig to get support across the map at horseback speed means lightning-fast domination.
Mongolia can also capture cavalry units, so playing against the right civ means bringing Cossacks, Saka Horse Archers, and any other unique cavalry into your glorious horde.
Jenghis...no, Genghis…Let's just call him Temujin.
- The unique Keshig horse archer is a blast to use, weakening enemy front lines and adding your captives to The Golden Horde.
- Kahn is an expert diplomat, and while it may be a little underhanded to use this to stab your enemies in the back, hey- that’s diplomacy.
- What makes the Mongols the most fun to me is being able to accumulate unique cavalry for more tactical maneuvering...plus it just looks cool.
7. Netherlands
While not as dominative as other civs on this list, many players find Netherlands to be one of the more fun civs to play as. One of the more unique abilities, the Netherlands can use the Polder improvement to terraform their empire into a high-yield landmass.
You can use the unique coastal warship, the De Zeven Provinciën to conquer other coastal civs, and you’ll soon see why turning the whole world into the Netherlands can be so much fun.
Veel Plezier with the Dutch!
- The Dutch enjoy plenty of bonus yields, making them a relatively easy and laid-back civ to play as, even as a beginner.
- The De Zeven Provinciën is an amazing frigate replacement that makes it a real blast (pun intended) to raid the shores and pummel enemy coastal cities into submission.
- One of my favorite things about the Netherlands is the ability to change the landscape to fit your own playstyle, allowing you to really shape your own empire.
6. Rome
Always a fan favorite, Rome is led by Trajan, making it an engineering titan of antiquity. With great infrastructure and bonus amenities, Rome can push the frontiers of the Empire to do what it does best: crush those pesky barbarians (and anyone else who stands in their way.)
The Roman Legion is the cream of the crop and can construct the Roman Fort and claim strategic choke-points to out-flank their opponents.
I came, I saw, I picked Rome.
- The way Rome automates some features of play (free trading posts, monuments, etc.) makes it a slightly less micromanagement-heavy civ.
- True to form, Rome is a cynosure of military expansion; It’s pretty rewarding to watch the Roman Legion using forts in action.
5. France (playing as either Catherine or Eleanor)
The French have always been a strong contender on the Civilization world stage, and Civ 6 France led by either leader is no different.
Catherine’s Flying Squadron can be an effective ability and it’s pretty fun to wreak havoc through your opponents empire with your stronger, more numerous spies.
With a strong culture/wonder game, Eleanor can slowly envelop her rival’s cities one by one, making her both a fun and unique experience.
Viva La France:
- Catherine’s superior spies candestroy enemy empires from the inside, without getting France into conflict.
- Eleanor’s ability to “loyalty flip” foreign cities lets you sit back and watch entire empires slowly begin to turn their buns into baguettes; just butter ‘em up til you get'em on a roll. (That pun was also intended.)
- France is one of the more interesting civs to play since you can try 2 leaders, both with their own unique playstyles.
My Picks
4. Mali
One of my personal favorites, the Mali are similar to Enrico Dondaldo with their gold gains, and are just as interesting to play. With their incredible faith/gold yields, the Mali can quickly field massive amounts of infrastructure or units, and using the Theocracy gov’t ability to buy units with faith as well as with gold, the Mali can gain huge field dominance at a moments notice. With near unlimited wealth potential, Mali can buy it’s way into, or out of, any situation.
Feelin’ like a million bucks:
- With the production/gold trade off, Mali is one of the more unique and interesting civs.
- While not on par with their Civ V counterpart, the Mandeleku cavalry still have a slight advantage over knights by making money per kill for Mali.
- On the off chance you run out of gold, Mali is also incredibly adept at their faith game, virtually doubling your currency for great people, or theocratic warriors.
- For a desert civ, Mali knows how to make it rain.
3. Matthias
With Gathering Storm came a slew of new civs/leaders, and Mattias was one of the newcomers who brought an interesting playstyle to the field.
Matthias has the ability to really steamroll by creating alliances with city-states and using the resulting mercenary armies to devastating effect.
With the unique ability to quickly field huge armies from anywhere on the map, Hungary makes a fun and novel civ to play.
Hungary For Battle (Get it? No? Ok I’ll stop):
- One of my new favorites since GS, Hungary’s ability to buy out and monopolize loyalty of city-states gives them great bonuses and flexibility.
- One cool ability is levying strengthened city-state armies, and upgrading them practically for free; it can feel pretty good summoning armies from anywhere on the map.
- The Black Army unique unit meets the “less is more” requirement; even one or two can be used to devastating effect.
2. Pachacuti
Another unique civilization who is also pretty fun to play, the Inca can build massive empires within the safety of the mountains. Using special mountain tunnels and the ability to work mountain tiles, the Inca can stay virtually cloistered up in the fortress of Machu Picchu, and just sweep the game in science.
While only a skirmisher, the Warak’aq can easily become one of the most deadly units in the game!
Let me Inca ‘bout it
- The Warak’aq skirmisher, while fragile, is one of the best units around.
- The unique Qhapaq Ñan allows your units to fly through mountain tiles at amazing speed, making the Inca more fast-paced.
1. Random!
I know it’s not technically a specific civ, but randoming a civ can be a lot of fun whether you’re a newcomer or not.
The game currently has up to 44 civs and 47 leaders with the expansions/scenario packs, not to mention all the great civilization mods on Steam (lookin’ at you, Sukritact).
With a robust roster, you never know when you’ll play someone you rarely or never play; you might just find a new favorite!
“Alea iacta est.” - Julius Caesar
- There are over 45 possible leaders and nearly the same amount of civs, roll the dice!
- Even if you random a notoriously underpowered civ, *cough* Georgia *cough, hack, wheeze* the extra challenge can force you to really think outside the box.
If you enjoyed this article you might also like:
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