This will serve as a guide to advise instead of telling you exactly how to play step by step. Civilization is a strategy game. That means you can play the game different ways to land yourself a victory. One of the possible strategies is to conquer your opponent's cities, which will eliminate that player. Another possibility to play Civilization is to win the space race by researching as many possible technologies as you can and building the spaceship parts needed to launch a shuttle to Alpha Centauri. The last possible way to play is to hold out until the year 2020, where you will be given your score. After you conquer your enemies, compete in the space race or run out of time, you will no longer be able to earn any more score to your game. If all your enemies were not conquered, you have the option to continue playing (but without earning anymore score).


Choosing What Type of Game to Play

Game Start - Automatically chooses the layout of the land of your next game and randomly places starting Civilizations. You are still able to choose the difficulty and civilization you'd like to play as.

Customize - This option allows you to generate the planet to your liking. You can choose between Age, Climate, Temperate and Land Mass. Age alters how old the planet is (This will add or remove hills and mountains). Climate changes how wet the planet is (This will impact the rivers). Temperature allows you to change from cold to tropical (This will effect ice, tundra, forests and jungles). Land mass only changes the size of the continents and islands (Smaller land mass means shorter game and more likely to war).

Earth - This will generate an Earth map and each civilization will be located at their respective locations. If you were to play this type more than once, you will notice there are minor differences in the terrain when you begin your game.



Choosing Your Level of Difficulty

Chieftain - Very Easy Mode
You will begin each game with 300 money. You are also more likely to have extra technology at the start of your game and increased chance to begin the game with a second settler. In this level of difficulty the computer AI will produce themselves very slowly. They will research at a slower rate, produce buildings/units at a slower rate, build improvements slower and expand slower. They will also be much more peaceful and not as likely to break a peace treaty. Playing in this mode helps a new player understand the game. This level also gives you instant advice (which you can turn off in the settings). You will most likely have no real challenge playing this level. When undergoing an audience with the King, you can demand payment and most of the time, they will pay you. That is unlikely to happen in any other difficulty.

Warlord - Easy Mode
This type will provide a little more of a challenge this time through. Playing this level of difficulty makes the AI play a little faster. They'll produce faster and research faster but it won't be too much more than it was in the Chieftain difficulty. It is still a probability that you will be given an extra settler or extra technology to start your game and possibly some money to begin your game.

Prince - Normal Mode
Now things will start to get interesting. You're not as likely to be given a free settler or technology to begin, but it is still possible. On top of that, the computer AI are even faster, I'll call this the normal programming. In the previous 2 difficulty, your opponents aren't likely to have modern technology by the end of the game and it might just be 1 computer opponent who does. In this mode, they'll begin challenging you. They'll even trade with each other and become friendlier towards each other which will help them keep up with you. You will also need to focus more on the happiness of your citizens, otherwise, riots will obliterate your government and set you back in crucial times.

King - Hard Mode
Things are beginning to get difficult. Civilizations build up fast now and they are producing faster than you. They will build up a nice reserve on gold while boosting their technological advancement. If you fall behind, it will start hurting. The AI is targeting specific technologies which will unlock crucial wonders that help accelerate growth. On top of that, happiness is even harder to get now. To add to all that, some enemy cities are also able to store a lot of material in the city and build wonders moments after it's discovery.

Emperor - Very Hard Mode
This would be the true test of how well you understand your game. In this level of difficulty the AI is always working against you and usually not against each other (Unless you aren't around). There is a small chance that you may begin the game with an extra settler, but I think this is restricted to specific Civilizations and/or you may begin the game with 1 extra technology. The AI will build and expand at the speed of light. The AI will quickly research technology while stockpiling gold. Happiness is difficult to obtain and you may need to spend more on luxuries than you normally do. Each civilization is making a mad dash for specific technology and while doing so, stockpiling specific cities with material and even build the wonder the very next turn. On top of that, war is very likely, If you make it to the end of the game, it's very possible that several enemy civilizations are right behind you. They will always trade to advance their technology.

Choosing Your Civilization
I'm not sure if it makes too much of a difference, but I know but choosing specific Civilizations, you may begin the game with 2 settlers instead of 1. I think Romans and Greeks are 2 of them that are capable in Emperor difficulty. I am not sure if this directly effects which starting technologies you're given. I do know that each Civilization has specific traits, Perfectionist, Militaristic, Expansionist, Friendly etc. but I don't know if this directly alters any variables. If anything, Militaristic might alter the outcome of battle more in your favor... Expansionist might increase the speed of building improvements... Perfectionist might decrease the amount of science needed to discover the next technology and lastly, Friendly probably increases the odds of finding peace between nations. Some nations have 1 trait and others have more. I usually just play what I think would look the best.

Understanding Your Terrain
One of the most crucial elements to playing your game is to understand what you should do to the area surrounding your city. You must be aware of where you're building your cities. If you build your city in the middle of a area filled with desert or jungle, your city will quickly stop growing and will become useless. If you build your city by water and there's no land to produce material, your city won't produce any troops. Location is key. You need to uncover the terrain and find the best places that can grow quickly for Trade (Money/Science), Food and Material.

Jungle/Riches - This space will provide extra trade. You can increase the amount of trade on this square by building a road/railroad on it but that's the only thing you can do to it. This square can be changed to Grass or Forest. Normally, the Jungle squares are useless and hurt the growth of your cities because they only provide 1 food and no material.

Grass/Ring - Probably the worst of the bonuses that only provides 1 extra material. You can improve any grass by irrigating and building a road/railroad. You will always gain 1 trade with road and if under Monarchy or higher, irrigated squares will produce 1 extra food. This square can be changed into Forest. Grass squares produce no material.

Forest/Deer - You can gain 1 extra food with this square. If under Monarchy or higher, you will gain an additional food. This will give you a total of 3 food and 2 material. You can improve this square with only Railroad. This square can be changed into Plains. Forests produce 1 food and 2 material.

Plains/Horses - You can gain 2 extra shields with this square. You can improve this square with irrigation and road/railroad. This will give you 2 food, 3 material and 1 trade. This square can be changed into Forest. Plains produce 1 food and 1 material.

Desert/Oasis* - You can gain 2 extra food with this square. You can improve this square with mine, irrigation and road/railroad. If you add irrigation you will have 3 food (4 with Monarchy) and 1 material. If you add a mine, you will have 2 food and 3 material. Desert produces 0 food and 1 material.

Ocean/Fish - Ocean are a bit different. You can not improve these tiles. Fish provide 1 extra food or 2 extra with Monarchy and higher. That's 3 food and 2 trade. Ocean produces 1 food and 2 trade.

Hills/Minerals* - You can gain 2 extra material. If you improve this square with a mine you will gain an additional 3 extra material. That gives you 1 food and 5 material. You can also improve this tile with railroad. Hills produce 1 food.

Mountain/Gold* - You can gain 5 extra trade. You can improve this square with a mine that gives an additional material and 2 more trade. All total you'll have 2 material and 7 or 8 trade. You can also improve this with railroad.

River - A section of river that bends will produce 1 material and 2 food. The other river pieces will produce no material. Irrigating rivers (Monarchy) will add an additional food. Bridging is required to build roads but only railroad will provide a bonus.

* - Indicates that I may have provided information that is not 100% accurate

Also, you can add road to plains, grasslands and deserts to increase trade by 1. If you are under a republic/democracy your trade increases to 2 on these squares. Some trade will increase for other squares like the Riches, Gold and Ocean squares. If you apply a railroad to a square it will increase whatever is on that square by 50%. If you have 3 material and 2 food on a square, railroad will 1 material and 1 food. Railroad will also add to the Riches and Gold that increase trade. I don't think that railroad will increase trade on any other squares though.

Understanding Your Governments
A great deal of advancing your Civilization to the next stage depends on whether or not you've prepared yourself for both the benefits and the weaknesses. I'll explain more in detail in each of the government styles but please be aware that I don't have the full information on it.

Dictatorship - This is your most basic form of government. Sometimes a material may be spent each turn on any unit. When settlers are produced 1 food is spent each turn. There is a moderate level of corruption. You can station up to 3 units in the city to make 3 citizens content. This style is best used at the beginning of your game when you are just starting out. Anarchy is the same as Dictatorship.

Monarchy - When you adopt this style, it increases the amount of food you produce in various terrain. 1 material per a unit is spent each turn and 2 food per a settler is spent. Using luxuries may be necessary to make citizens happy. 3 units stationed in the city will content 3 citizens. There is a low level of corruption. Before you adopt to this style, you should ensure that you have

Communism - Allows the extra food on various tiles. I don't know anything else about this style because I never use it -.-

Republic - Settlers produced in this government style will use 2 food a turn. Some units and settlers will use 1 material each a turn (I think?). Stationing troops in the city will make 3 citizens content. Trade is increased for various terrain. There is a lower level of corruption. Units away from the city will cause unhappiness. There is now a congress that will approve or disapprove of your actions, sometimes enforcing peace when you want more war. You may need to increase your luxuries in this style of government.

Democracy - There is no corruption. Trade is increased for various terrain. Settlers require 2 food and 1 material each turn. Units require 1 material each  for every turn. Units away from the city will cause unhappiness. Congress is still a pain in the butt to deal with. You will need to increase your luxuries to make citizens happy. Thanksgiving festivals will lead to city size increases providing there is enough food to add another level. Overall best form of government.

Understanding Your Technologies and Wonders
This section alone is a huge factor in the "how to play" style of this strategy game. A large portion of building your civilization starts with what technologies you're looking to get. If you're looking to war with the AI, you might want to favor Mathematics, Gunpowder, Steel, Automobile etc. Another strategy might be to focus on the Great Library because it provides you the technology that is discovered by 2 of your enemies. Another way to play is get those technologies that provides the wonders. You're going to need to consider what your goal is while you build your empire.

Some of the key Wonders I like to get:
Hanging Gardens (Provides extra content citizen in city) - Unsure
Colossus (Extra Trade) - Bronze Working
Copernicus Observatory (Increases Science) - Astronomy
J.S. Bach (Provides extra happiness?) - Religion
N. College (Boosts Science) - Gravity
D. Voyage (2 Free Technology) - Railroad
Universal Suffrage (Less unhappiness due to away from city) - Industrial

Overall, I try to aim for them all but when it comes down to it, it's really difficult to get them all when you're playing the hardest difficulty. Knowing your technologies ahead of time, helps you plan your toad to success.

Understanding Your Trade (Science and Money)
When you begin the game, your trade is set to 50% science and 50% tax. I normally adjust this to 100% science because the extra science helps me open the things I want early, like Bronze Working, Masonry, Mathematics etc. Your trade is increased by building roads to the squares in your city's radius that aren't  hills, jungles, forests or mountains. The other main component of trade is to build Caravan. This unit can be taken to other cities (Including your own) and be used to increase your trade within the city it was built. If your city produces a total of 20 trade and your caravan lands in a large city of an enemy nation, your trade could add another 5 trade to your city. It makes a big difference when you've built libraries, markets, banks and universities because 5 trade is more like 10 trade and it increases even more with specific wonders that improve the outcome of your science.

You have to stay aware of the amount of money you make when you begin constructing buildings. If you build a coliseum when you don't need one, you end up wasting 3-4 money a turn and this applies to any city that has buildings you won't need. Every building does help you but when you play in the higher difficulties, you will need to focus more on military strength instead of buildings. Aqueducts are needed for a level 10 city to grow past level 10 so building it at level 3 is a waste of resources. It isn't until you are in a Monarchy that you need to begin constructing buildings, that's when your cities start growing fast. Markets, Libraries, Aqueducts, Coliseums and others will become essential to growth. It isn't until you reach Democracy that you will start building everything.

Markets and Banks increase your taxes by 50% each. So a Market won't make you a profit until you are making 4 taxes a turn without a market. Building a market would boost taxes to 6 a turn (Remember that the Market still costs 1 tax a turn). Understand that for every 2 taxes you collect (without a Market) you will gain an additional tax with a Market. 2 Tax = 3 Tax, 4 Tax = 6 Tax, 10 Tax = 15 Tax. Now let's add the Bank. Pretending you have a Market already built in your city, you add a Bank which means for every 1 Tax you earn an additional Tax. 2 Tax = 4 Tax, 5 Tax = 10 Tax, 10 Tax = 20 Tax. This rule applies to Science as well and can be altered in the "Distribute" tab.

Luxury is also effected by Markets and Banks. It too works the same way. Whenever a person in a city becomes unhappy, you will need to make 1 wealthy citizen to "balance" the peace. In Dictatorship, you can remove a citizen from the workforce and that will make 1 citizen wealthy, but it will cost you however much work that is from the square that person was working. In the higher forms of government, you should increase the amount of Luxury because people are easily discontent in larger cities, this keeps them from going on strike. If your luxuries are high enough and the people are happy, you might trigger a Thanksgiving Festival.

Understanding Your Buildings and Units
In the early stages of the game, buildings aren't necessary because they won't provide you any real bonus. When your city is unhappy, temples are needed. Your real concern should be to focus on the Wonders and building units to defend, explore and expand. A key factor in playing is to know when you will need to build what. In Emperor difficulty, buildings will only slow you down and will allow your opponents to get ahead of you. The key is to be aware of what you're building and whether or not you need it. Temples, Cathedrals and Coliseums will reduce unhappiness. Markets and Banks increase Taxes. Libraries and Universities will increase Science. Aqueducts allow for larger cities and protect from fires. City walls protect from flood and triple your defense. Factories increase production but cause pollution. Granaries store your food and protect from famine. Each building costs you and if you can't afford to maintain your buildings, they'll be sold.

Your units are no different. In higher levels of government, each unit will cost 1 Material a turn. If your city is only capable of 1 material and you have 2 units, you'll lose one and your city won't have any extra material to build anything at all. On top of that, if you've discovered Gunpowder and you still have Militia defending your cities, it's time you upgrade. Militia are useless and will rarely protect against anything plus they too cost 1 material a turn to maintain. You also gotta understand the attack and defense of each unit. For example, a Cannon unit is good at attacking but horrible at defending. Using cannons to defend cities is no better than using a Militia.

Defense Units
Phalanx, Musketeers, Riflemen and Mech Infantry. These units are better for defending and not so good at attacking.

Attacking Units
LCAV, Chariot, Legion, Catapult, Knight, Cannon, Armor, Artillery, Battleship etc. Better for attacking and not so good at defending.

Gameplay
Knowing about your stuff before you play helps you plan what you do next. That's what this game is about, taking the time to plan ahead and know what you're doing next. When playing in the Emperor difficulty, mistakes can be costly and set you back.

Taking the Emperor difficulty, I begin my game trying to rush cities. It's essential to build settler's and units early in the game because that's what your enemies are doing. They're trying to keep you in your city and keep you from expanding where they want to expand. At some point, it's necessary to build settlers with the intent to build improvements. Keep in mind your wonders and technologies while you're doing this because you don't want to miss out on what you want. I also put all the trade into science so I can try to get ahead. I will build temples as needed on cities that have room to grow. Before you adopt a Monarchy government, make sure any cities with settlers out have an irrigation or 2 that would earn some extra food and enough material in those cities to maintain all the units. If you lose a unit or settler, that sets you back 40 materials and can even cause another player to war with you.

In this stage of the game, you want to try to expand to no less than 10 cities and try to get them as high as you can. It's around this time that I start constructing libraries, markets, aqueducts, coliseums and continue to pressure the enemy while watching for my wonders I'd like to build. A key factor in development is connecting your cities. Cities that can't grow anymore need attention first while cities that need longer times to grow might not need another irrigated tile for 30 turns. Prioritize your improvement planning to benefit all your cities. It's all about building your cities at a steady pace so that they can build the structures they need as they grow, which is my whole reason why I skip the granaries for now. Whenever I discover Republic, I usually ignore it because I haven't built my civilization enough to advance to the next level. I do recommend that you try to trade with the other nations, even if you need to build a sail.

If you trade with other cities outside your  nation, you get a boosted profit. The main reason isn't for the profit, it's for the continuous trade that continues after the transaction. Even if it's 3 or 4 a turn, it could buy you extra money or science. In multiple cities, that will stack. On top of that, it grows with the city you trade with. It could begin as 1 trade now but 300 years later become 6 trade, so as other nations grow, you grow too. Sometimes, all you need is an extra few trade and your city starts producing wealthy citizens.

I usually try to aim for 16-17 cities when I go up another government. Republic and Democracy are all about trade and if you aren't prepared, it will lead to widespread riot in a heartbeat. This delays construction and leads to revolution. On top of that, you must have a lot of luxuries to appease riot hungry citizens. Last game I played, I had to set it to 40% because I had troops that were in different cities that weren't their homes. That's something you need to be aware of, especially if you don't have universal suffering. It worked in my favor to have the luxury set this way because I had a lot of thanksgiving festivals. Thanksgiving festivals will boost the size of your city until you can't support a larger population or someone turns unhappy. I'm talking a level 16 city becoming a level 20 in 4 turns. The power of Democracy and trade helps make this affordable.

Tips and Tricks
1. If you are in need of a specific building or wonder you can purchase the material for a smaller unit and/or spend 1 turn building which will decrease all material prices. If you keep purchasing units/buildings that need a few more material, the price will keep dropping on the wonder by more than what you spend. Instead of spending 4800 to buy a wonder from 0 spent material, you could end up spending 1000 by buying the same amount of material in smaller amounts in the same turn. This would also work with Caravans.

2. You can build Caravans to help build wonders instead of trading. If there are no wonders available, you can set Caravans to sleep and when 1 becomes available, send all you have to the city you'd like to build in. Each Caravan adds 50 material to the wonder.

3. Technologies will cancel out the effects of wonders, so try to discover those last so your bonus lasts longer.

4. Great Library will give you free technology when 2 civilizations discover them. If you "Comply" and give technology away so that the other nations can catch up to you, they will have no choice but to discover technologies that you haven't and they will discover them sooner. In the meantime, you can sit back and accumulate money because science would be worthless. (This method won't give you the technology first so there is a chance that you may not get the wonders first). Later in the game you will need to start researching on your own again, but your money supply should be BIG

5. You do not need to kill every unit on the battlefield. If you capture a city, any unit produced by that city will be disbanded, this helps minimize losses.

6. Spending more resources on luxuries may give you the Thanksgiving Festival in cities, what you spend can be quickly recovered when the cities grow, especially if you've built extra roads that provide more trade.

7. Aim for Monarchy, Democracy and Railroad. Monarchy helps you grow quickly. Democracy will boost your trade. Railroad will allow you to improve each square and will provide extra material and food. Getting these as soon as possible will boost your Civilization a lot and sooner than your opponents.



Strategy gaming is about learning the game mechanics and make them work in your favor. That's why most of my guide is built to explain the specifics of the different aspects. Each part plays a specific role and planning is essential in a game like this. If you have any questions, comments, thoughts, ideas, suggestions or anything in general, please feel free to leave a message on this thread or privately message me and I will be willing to assist you. I hope this guide helps provide everything you need to know! I am submitting this guide without adding in any colors.

Fireproof : Hello & How are you today? I'm  fine! 

This was a very detailed WT, I'm glad you stated that you were giving a STEP BY STEP walkthrough! Not many people give these, so it's great that you did! Thanks for doing that!

Whoa! This is an amazing walkthrough! It's very detailed! This is one of the best walkthroughs I have ever seen on vizzed! Nothing else for me to say but keep these walkthroughs coming man!

Dean2k13 : Actually, in this walkthrough I didn't exactly explain how to play step by step because each game is a little different, even Earth will give some different terrain. What I did here was explain the game mechanics and more or less give a heads up. Because it's a strategy game, no 2 Civilization games can be played the same way. Compare this to my Super Mario RPG Walkthrough I made; In that walkthrough I made it actually explained everything (To the best of my knowledge).

I felt like the best I could apply here is a guideline to success. Try playing a customized game with a smaller land mass vs a customized game with a larger land mass and you'll see the difference. Thanks for the support!

Fireproof : Oh right! Thanks still very great.

You did say that this guide is going to serve as a STEP BY STEP guide  - "This will serve as a guide to advise instead of telling you exactly how to play step by step" Still a step by step guide!