Civilization 7 – the best Civilizations for each Age

What are the best civilizations in Civilization 7? At launch, there are 30 civilizations to pick from, including brand-new options like the Aksumites, and with the mix-and-match leaders and civilizations mechanic, you might be struggling with the mammoth choice in front of you.

Civilization 7 marks a new era for the legendary series of 4X games, introducing a host of leaders and additional ways to secure victories. The only restriction when mixing and matching is that certain civilizations can only be played in specific eras using specific leaders. With all that said, we’re here to break down the best Civ 7 civilizations to help make your decision that much easier.

Civ 7 civilizations explained

In Civilization 7, each Age has its own unique civilizations relative to that era in real history, so you must select a new civilization as each new Age begins. While you can choose to start your game during any Age, or play a Single Age game, the main game mode starts you at the Antiquity Age. This takes you through the Exploration Age and the Modern Age before the game completes.

While Civ 7 does allow for a greater choice of civilization, you’re still limited to specific unlocks as you play through all three Ages. For example, by playing as Harriet Tubman leading the Egyptians in the Antiquity Age, you can only pick between America, Abbasid, and Songhai civilizations in the Exploration Age. However, some civilizations do have separate mission unlocks, like unlocking Siam by having four Temples, so there are more ways to unlock your desired civ.

With that in mind, our list looks at every civilization separately. If you’re playing a Single Age game, you have nothing to worry about. However, if you intend to play through the main game mode, take a look at our Civ 7 unlocks section at the bottom of this guide to find out which missions, leaders, or civilizations unlock later in the game.

The best civilizations for the Antiquity Age

The best civilizations for the Antiquity Age are:

• Economic: Egypt
• Military: Persia
• Science: Maya
• Culture: Rome

Egypt

We originally considered the Mississippians as the best choice to start with for an Economic win, based on their fantastic Watonathi unit. While they are a viable option, especially if you want to unlock Inca or Hawai’i in the Exploration Age, we have considered future unlockable civilizations, as the combination of the Egyptian and Songhai is unbeatable in economy.

We’ll tell you more about Songhai below, but the most notable feature about the Egyptian civilization is their Necropolis Quarter. Build the Mastaba, which gives one bonus gold Adjacency for Wonders and Desert terrain, and the Mortuary Temple, which gives four bonus gold by default, together in the same district to create the Necropolis Quarter. This in turn provides 100 gold for every Wonder completed in the city. An easy way to start raking it in. What we will say is that, if you’re planning on playing through to the Exploration Age and picking Songhai, you should also consider settling near as many navigable rivers as possible – you’ll see why when we tell you about Songhai.

Persia

For a Military win in the Antiquity Age, Persia is the perfect choice. Firstly, the civilization’s base stats include +3 combat strength to Infantry units. Handy, since their unique infantry unit, the Immortal, is another reason for picking this civilization. The Immortal is a healing unit, making them great against multiple attacks, set them up to kill one enemy, and they’ll regain some of their HP ready for the next. A powerful trait.

Complementing the Immortal is the Persian Army Commander, the Hazarapatis. Since this commander starts with the Initiative Promotion already checked off, you get an instant boost to attacks, and a head start on future promotions. Head for the infantry unit promotion to further buff the Immortal.

Maya

If you’d rather take the scientific route, then there’s no better choice than the Mayans. This comes with the warning that you need to focus on vegetation to make the most of it. The Mayan’s primary base stat is an automatic 0.5 buff to Science for the Palace for every adjacent vegetated terrain tile. From here, focus on unlocking the unique Maya building the K’uh Nah, and place it on one of these vegetation tiles. This provides an additional +5 Science per turn: +3 as standard, and an additional +2 for being placed on vegetation.

Now, build a Wonder (or more) next to the K’uh Nah for another additional Science per turn for each adjacent Wonder. Finally, by building the K’uh Nah and the other unique building, Jalaw, in the same district, you unlock the Unique Maya Quarter Uwaybil K’uh. This increases the settlement’s Production for every Technology researched, by 15% of the Technology’s cost. This makes building and progressing faster overall.

Rome

What makes Rome great is that, not only is it a good civilization for a Cultural Victory, but the Romans also excel in combat. This is essential as, while you may be minding your own business trying to develop your civilization’s cultural prowess, others can always wage war on you. Even if you aren’t considering a Military-focused journey through the Ages, you still need defenses.

We’re here for culture, though, and the Roman civilization is the best in this Age for bringing in Culture points. As standard, the civilization grants +1 Culture on all districts in the Capital and in city centers in towns. From there, work towards building the Forum, the Roman’s unique Quarter, for an additional Culture point for every Unique Tradition in Government. This also links to the Roman Legion Infantry Unit’s trait of two bonus combat strength for every Government Tradition.

The Forum itself is made up of the Basilica, which grants gold and Influence, and the Temple of Jupiter. The latter grants a Culture Adjacency bonus for Happiness buildings and Wonders. Rome also unlocks Prussia in the Modern Age, so if you find yourself leaning towards a Military Victory once you’ve tasted blood, you’re on the right track.

The best civilizations for the Exploration Age

The best civilizations for the Exploration Age are:

• Economic: Songhai
• Military: Mongolia
• Science: Abbasid
• Culture: Majapahit

Songhai

When it comes to Economy in the Exploration Age, there is no better choice than Songhai, which is also why we’ve made Egypt our top choice for the Antiquity Age. For one, you get bonus resource capacity on navigable rivers as standard. Trade Ships also cannot be plundered on navigable rivers. Both of these greatly improve your import and export trade.

Speaking of which, there’s the Songhai unique merchant, the Tajiro. This civilian works as a standard merchant, but you get 100 bonus gold every time they create a trade route from a foreign settlement, provided it crosses at least one navigable river. Perhaps keep this in mind when creating new settlements.

This civilian unit is complemented by Songhai’s unique infantry unit, the gold Bangles Infantry. While they get +5 combat strength on resource tiles, they also gain an additional 100% gold from pillaging trade routes. So this is a fairly merciless economic civilization.

Finally, the Caravanserai, a unique building to the Songhai, grants an additional five gold per day, and a bonus gold for adjacency to a navigable river. It also retains warehouse bonuses on the tile.

Mongolia

Mongolia is an expansionist militaristic civilization, so this civ is all about capturing settlements. While its base mechanic causes a 50% production increase to training settlers, it matters little, as you won’t need them, just take over everyone else’s land.

The other half of this base feature is that you gain the strongest Cavalry Unit you can currently train every time you capture an opposing settlement, which goes some way to building any lost units back up. Meanwhile, the Mongolian Ranged Unit, the Keshig, has a greater movement speed than most at +1 and ignores Zones of Control, as a Cavalry Unit would. However, the best part is that they also gain 15HP every time they defeat an enemy, so have at least one in each offensive army.

Abbasid

Don’t get distracted by the 50% bonus Science in the Ming civilization’s capital, as there’s far more on offer with the Abbasid civ, and it all comes down to building the Ulema, the Abbasid Unique Quarter.

One part of this Ulema is the Madrasa, a science building that grants +5 Science as standard, and an additional Science point for adjacency to Quarters, science buildings, and Wonders. Since the Ulema grants an additional Science point to all Specialists in the City, you also want to add plenty of those, but these can affect Happiness in the City. That’s where the other half of the Ulema comes in.

The Mosque grants +4 Happiness as a base stat, plus an additional Happiness point for adjacency to culture buildings and Wonders. Combine these two buildings in a city full of Specialists and prioritize Wonders in the surrounding tiles, and you’ll be on the road to a Scientific Victory in no time.

Majapahit

With the Majapahit civilization, gain an additional Specialist slot for each tile for the duration of the Exploration Age. We know each specialist increases Culture, but beware their drain on Food and Happiness.

For additional boosts to Culture, there’s the Pedanda, the Mejapahit unique Missionary. For each settlement the Padanda converts to your religion for the first time, you’ll gain 25 Culture and 25 gold. While your Pedanda is off spreading the good word, you should be building the Candi Bentar, which grants +5 Culture per day, and an additional Culture point for adjacency to coastal terrain, navigable rivers, and Wonders.

You also receive an automatic Relic when you build Pura, the Majapahit Quarter, by adding the Meru to the same district as Candi Bentar. Meru is a Happiness building, adding +5 Happiness per day, and +1 for adjacency to Mountains or Wonders, and +2 Happiness on Natural Wonders. The best of these is the Wonder adjacency, given the Wonder adjacency bonus also offered by the Candi Bentar.

The best civilizations for the Modern Age

The best civilizations for the Modern Age are:

• Economic: Qing
• Military: Prussia
• Science: Meiji Japan
• Culture: Mexico

Qing

Qing is a fantastic overall civilization, offering a standard +4 gold, +3 Culture, and +2 Influence for every imported resource, of which you should have plenty in the Modern Age. They do each reduce your daily Science yield by one, so you might want to consider boosting this where you can. For example, by building the Shiguan, a +6 Science Building.

Luckily, you need the Shiguan built anyway if you want to build the Huiguan, the Qing Unique Quarter. The Huigan grants bonus Influence in this settlement, and also consists of the Qianzhuang. The latter grants an automatic 5 gold per day and +1 for adjacency to other gold buildings and Wonders.

The Hangshang, a unique Qing merchant, also helps boost the Wing economy. For every resource acquired when creating a naval Trade Route, gain 50 gold. Plus that additional four daily gold we’ve already mentioned.

Prussia

The main militaristic draw of Prussia is Blood and Iron, their unique trait, which grants +1 combat strength to all units for each civ relationship you have that is Unfriendly or Worse. If you’re chasing a Military win, these bad relationships come with the territory. Literally.

Among those units taking advantage of this combat strength buff is the Hussar, a Prussian Cavalry unit that has +1 Movement. That’s not all, they also have +1 Combat Strength for each unused Movement, so once you get up close and personal with the enemy, they’re pretty sturdy.

To aid them, the Prussian Ground Attack Air Unit the Stuka can be trained once you have researched Flight. They have +3 Combat Strength against Land Units. Between these two units – and any others you train – with all that additional combat strength, you should be able to claim any enemy settlements you set your sights on. Being a ground attack air unit, the Stuka is also resistant to Meiji Japan’s Zero units Combat buff, which is great if any of your opposing players are controlling this civilization.

Meiji Japan

Speaking of Meiji Japan, they’re our top choice for a Science win. However, the civ choices for the Modern Age aren’t that great for buffs to Science, so you will need to consider your standard buildings and your Leader for more buffs to research speed. That said, you do gain Science equal to 50% of a building’s production cost when Overbuilding, so Meiji Japan is almost like a support civ for a Science win. Just concentrate on building your best options over anything that is already in place, and your research speed should increase significantly.

Mexico

Culturally speaking, Mexico is perhaps the best civ overall. As part of their Revolucion trait, you gain a 30% Culture increase for ten turns whenever you choose this unique government’s Celebration effect.

Additionally, the unique Mexican Quarter, the Zocalo, grants threefold Culture buffs, one for each of its buildings and for the quarter itself. The first building, the Catedral, grants +5 daily Culture and +1 Happiness adjacency for culture buildings and Wonders. The second building, the Portal de Mercaderes, also grants +5 Culture. This one, though, has a gold adjacency boost for gold buildings and Wonders. As such, building Wonders around this Quarter boosts both gold and Happiness.

The best Civilization 7 builds

Economy

• Leader: Confucius
• Antiquity Age civ: Egypt
• Expansionist Age civ: Songhai
• Modern Age civ: Qing

Military

• Leader: Friedrich
• Antiquity Age civ: Persia
• Expansionist Age civ: Mongolia
• Modern Age civ: Prussia

Science

• Leader: Ibn Battuta
• Antiquity Age civ: Maya
• Expansionist Age civ: Abbasid
• Modern Age civ: Any

Culture

• Leader: Trung Trac
• Antiquity Age civ: Majapahit
• Expansionist Age civ: Spain
• Modern Age civ: Mexico

All Civilization 7 unlocks

Since the Antiquity Age is the first Civ 7 Age, all civs are automatically unlocked. The tables below tell you which early-game civs or Leader you should choose to unlock specific civs in later Ages. For example, to play as the French Empire in the Modern Age, you must play as Fredrich or choose the Greek or Roman civs in the Antiquity Age, or the Norman civ in the Exploration Age.

Exploration Age civs

Modern Age civs

Mission unlocks

You can also unlock civs by completing specific missions during that playthrough:

• America – Have three Distant Land settlements in Plains or Grasslands.
• Siam – Have four temples.

We’ll add more mission unlocks to this list once we’ve found them!

It may seem as though Civilization 7 civs are more complex now, but the strategy game is all the better for it, giving you more freedom over who to play while maintaining that historical accuracy. Since they’re crucial to your choice, be sure to take a look at our guide to the best Civ 7 leaders as well.