The Civilization 7 development team has detailed why even series veterans should complete the tutorial before diving into their first full campaign.
In a Steam community post, Firaxis Games' Creative Director Ed Beach shared essential tips for newcomers to Civilization 7.
"Civilization 7 introduces numerous innovative systems that fundamentally differ from previous franchise entries," he explained. "With so many new mechanics to learn, we strongly suggest following our recommended approach to ensure an optimal initial playthrough."
This advice specifically references Civilization 7's groundbreaking Ages system. A complete campaign now spans three distinct historical periods: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Each Age Transition universally affects all players and AI opponents, requiring strategic choices about civilization selection, retained Legacies, and world evolution - features unprecedented in the franchise's history.
AnswerSee ResultsBeach also justified the design choice recommending Small map sizes for initial Civilization 7 experiences."We understand veteran players' preference for maximum-scale maps with numerous empires," he acknowledged. "However, we deliberately selected Small maps as the default for good reason. With just three rival empires on your starting continent, these compact maps create an ideal learning environment while mastering Civilization 7's mechanics."
"The moderate player count proves particularly valuable when navigating our revamped Diplomacy system. Managing relationships and Diplomatic Influence becomes significantly more approachable with fewer competing factions to track."
"For map type, we suggest Continents Plus. The additional offshore islands provide gradual introduction to naval exploration - a crucial component of the Exploration Age gameplay."
Regarding tutorial implementation, Beach confirmed the game automatically enables tutorial guidance for first-time players while strongly recommending even experienced strategists complete the initial tutorial campaign.
"Our tutorial delivers contextual explanations precisely when encountering new mechanics," Beach elaborated.
"While veteran players might initially disregard this feature, considering the extensive system overhauls, we absolutely advise completing the tutorial through all three Ages before disabling guidance."
"Players can select which of our four specialized Advisors to follow, focusing on specific gameplay aspects if preferred. For optimal learning, we recommend engaging just one Advisor at a time initially."
Even after mastering core mechanics, Beach suggests maintaining the "Only Warnings" setting.
"This allows Advisors to intervene when detecting critical empire threats," he noted. "Our own development team continues playing with these warnings active!"
Firaxis recently revealed Civilization 7's post-launch content roadmap during a special broadcast event (notably announcing Great Britain as DLC content). The game launches February 11th across PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, and Xbox platforms, with Deluxe Edition owners gaining five-day early access starting February 6th.
