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

Firaxis Games' creative director, Ed Beach, advises even veteran Civilization players to utilize the tutorial for their first Civilization VII campaign. In a Steam post, he highlights the game's significant changes, particularly the new Ages system (Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern), which drastically alters gameplay with Age Transitions involving civilization selection, Legacy retention, and world evolution—a feature unprecedented in the series.

Beach explains the default "Small" map size choice, suggesting it provides a smoother learning curve with fewer opponents, making the new Diplomacy system more manageable. He recommends the "Continents Plus" map type for easier introduction to ocean exploration, a crucial aspect of the Exploration Age.

The tutorial, automatically enabled upon launching the game, offers timely tips and explanations. Beach strongly encourages even experienced players to use it, at least for their first full campaign, emphasizing the numerous system upgrades and revisions. He suggests focusing on one Advisor at a time if the tutorial feels overwhelming. Even after mastering core mechanics, he recommends switching to the "Only Warnings" setting, allowing Advisors to alert players to potential setbacks—a practice even the Firaxis development team uses.

Firaxis also revealed Civilization VII's post-launch roadmap during a livestream, noting that Great Britain will be released as DLC. Civilization VII launches on PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S on February 11th, with Deluxe Edition access beginning February 6th.