Civilization VI: The 15 Best Civs For Beginners

The hit strategy game Sid Meiers Civilization VI can be somewhat overwhelming to new players, and not just because of its many-layered, interacting systems that players must become familiar with. New players may find themselves overwhelmed simply by the sheer quantity of empires they could choose to build. With 50 different Civilizations to choose from, it can be hard to find one that’s intuitive from the start.

Generally speaking, it’s recommended for newcomers to Civilization VI to use generalist Civs that can pursue many different victory types, or those with powerful and easy-to-use bonuses to gain an early advantage in a specific pursuit. This will make completing the objectives easier and a little less overwhelming. At the end of the day, though, familiarity with the game and its many mechanics is more important than Civ selection.

15 Cree

Easy Economy and Trading Bonuses

The Cree are a generalist Civ that enjoys strong bonuses in production and food through their excellent, unique improvement, the Mekewap. However, the trade route is the real engine of Cree’s victory. Not only did the Cree gain a trader early on, bolstering their early economy, but traders could actually claim territory for the Cree if they moved into unoccupied tiles within three spaces of a friendly city.

Cree trade routes became even more powerful later on, as they enjoyed bonuses based on how many pastures and camps there were in their origin and destination cities, encouraging internal trade within the empire. This makes the Cree an excellent Civ from which to learn trade mechanics, but it also ensures that a player will build strong economic foundations in the Ancient and Classical eras.

14 Canada

High Diplomacy and Peaceful Victory

Canada is a powerful pacifist Civ well suited to beginners looking to understand how to win the game with a diplomatic victory. Firstly, the Civ’s leader ability, The Last Best West, allows Canada to enjoy numerous bonuses for building improvements on snow and tundra tiles. This allows them to settle territory that other Civs will likely ignore, giving them a ton of flexibility regarding city placement and a potentially unique starting position in Civilization VI.

The most attractive element of Canada for newcomers is the ability “Four Faces of Peace,” which prevents Canada from declaring Surprise Wars and being targeted by Surprise Declarations. This gives Canada much peace of mind in the early game, as aggressive neighbors can be hard to deal with without a hefty amount of game experience.

13 China (Qin)

High Defense and Science Victories

China often played a defensive posture in Civilization VI thanks to its unique improvement, the Great Wall, which confers powerful combat bonuses to units occupying the improvement. China also enjoys larger bonuses from eureka moments, allowing them to push through the Tech and Civics trees more quickly for a Science Victory.

Many civilizations now have multiple leaders from whom players can choose. China currently has four Leaders, two of whom are named Qin. The one players are looking for is
Qin—Mandate of Heaven
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It’s generally agreed that Emperor Qin is the more beginner-friendly of the Chinese leaders, mainly because his Leader ability is among the best in the game. Not only do his builders come with an additional charge, but they can also use those charges to speed up the production of wonders. This allows China to spam Civilization VI’s best world wonders faster than any other Civ, as seen in Potato McWhiskey‘s video, which can earn them a much-needed lead in their desired victory early on in the game.

12 Germany (Barbarossa)

High Industrial Bonuses and Domination Victory

Germany is a Civ that likes to aim for a domination victory and is generally regarded as probably the most beginner-friendly option within that archetype. Firstly, Frederick Barbarossa’s Leader bonus ensures that early battles against barbarians and city-states will be trivial, allowing Germany to secure impressive territory early on, which new players often struggle with. For later games, the unique unit, the U-Boat, provides a high stealth option to invade enemy territory without being seen.

Second, and more importantly, Germany enjoys some of the best production bonuses in the game thanks to their unique district, the Hansa. The Hansa provides massive bonuses to production through a flat reduction of production costs coupled with a range of fearsome adjacency bonuses. Germany can easily outproduce its rivals, making conquest a much easier affair.

11 Kongolese (Nzinga Mbande)

Widespread Influence For Cultural Victories

Getting a Cultural Victory in Civilization 6 can be difficult compared to others, but the Kongolese civ’s Nzinga Mbande leader makes it a lot easier to follow this path early. This leader gives your cities additional yields if they are on the same continent as your Capital, allowing you to consolidate your empire in one place. The Kongo people thrive off the spreading of their culture over a single continent to be influential in it.

Finding Relics, discovering Artifacts, and creating Sculptures all increase your Food, Production, Faith, and Gold yields with this faction. Furthermore, you gain extra slots for Great Works, which increases your cultural influence even further. While it may be tricky to recruit Great People for these Works, you can 50% more bonuses from them, making them an essential piece to your strategy.

This direct approach to a Culture focus makes this civ more approachable to beginners. The consistent bonuses in nearly every category of resource you gain by pursuing cultural goals will reinforce new players on what to do next. While you’ll still have to focus on defending your nation from attacks, the Kongolese don’t have to worry about Domination, Science, or even Religion, making it easier to focus on a cultural path.

10 Japan (Hojo Tokimune)

Strong Military And Easy Religion Victory

One of the strongest civs for an early game military is Japan when led by Hojo Tokimune, who lends you the special Samurai units. These units do not suffer combat penalties when damaged, allowing you to defend your land better as you set up your foundation. Hojo is a great leader whose military can easily be kept strong throughout a match, but this faction’s true strength comes from their dedication to Faith.

Samurai units also get a +5 bonus against anti-cavalry units, making them even stronger in certain battles. Hojo can use an ability called Divine Wind to give military or naval units another combat boost, making it much easier to win battles.

Holy Sites, Theater Squares, and other institutions are very cheap for this faction, allowing you to pursue a Religious or Cultural victory rather than a Domination one. The strong military protects those places to help you progress toward those goals easily. The versatile nature of this civ makes it ideal for those who want to play defensively as they pursue more domestic goals tied to the faction’s culture.

9 Sweden

Fast Cultural Expansion And Diplomatic Immunity

Sweden is an unlikely powerhouse for beginners to use in Civilization 6 due to its leader Kristina and her strengths. This faction is focused completely on recruiting Great Persons, who give you a great bonus in Diplomatic Favor when added to your civ. This allows you to aim for a Diplomacy Victory at far greater speeds than any other rival could be able to muster throughout various ages.

The emphasis on Great Persons for Sweden also makes it easy to generate Tourism, allowing you to reach cultural goals fast. Those struggling to understand how to acheive a Culture Victory can find an easier way to do so with this faction. This civ can help beginners focus on simple goals rather than complex Domination or Science achievements and reach for victory faster before rival factions can react.

8 Incan

High Production At Even Higher Elevation

The Incan civilization only has one leader, Pachacuti, whose society starts high in the mountains when you begin a match. Not only does this provide you with natural environmental protection, but you also gain the ability to have citizens work mountain tiles for production. The unique Terrace Farm structure you can build can help you create important resources even in the peaks of the mountainous landscapes.

This civ is incredible at making a lot of food and producing other resources quickly, usually at a much faster rate than your rivals. The Mit’a ability for this faction allows you to gain extra Production from Mountain Tiles, contributing to this strategy even more. Extra supplies can help you build Campuses or Holy Sites faster, allowing you to play into Religion or Science for your victory.

The Incan faction could also be an incredible civ for an easier Cultural victory, as they are capable of building Machu Pichu, a wonder structure that greatly increases Tourism.

7 Gallic/Gaul

Do A Bit Of Everything With A Generalist Approach

The Gaul, or Gallic, faction was added with the Byzantium & Gaul expansion pack, and features a true jack-of-all-trades civ for beginners. This faction starts with a strong military, but doesn’t sacrifice strength for strategy, as they can still produce just as much as some resource-dependent civilizations. This allows this faction to spec into nearly any category, from Culture to Domination to Science.

Any Mines made by this faction can trigger a Culture Bomb, which can spread the Gaul’s influence in a much larger way than other military-focused empires. With the unique Oppidum structure replacing Industrial Zones later in the game, you can use this building in a variety of ways. You can create districts faster, train units at greater speeds, and even get a ranged attack to defend your settlements all in one package.

6 Australia

Big Bonuses and Flexibility

The Australian player will enjoy strong bonuses for coastal cities, bonuses to specialty districts based on appeal will help keep production high and costs low, and borders can be expanded peacefully by building pastures that trigger culture bombs in nearby territories. You will have more Housing and a higher Population than your neighbors, boosting your chances of achieving victory through Science or Culture.

However, what makes Australia attractive to newbies is John Curtin’s Leader ability called “Citadel of Civilization,” as described in YouTuber quill18’s video. With this ability, Australia receives an enormous production bonus if a declaration of war targets it. New players often neglect their military, so this ability gives them the flexibility to generate an army quickly if they’re targeted by a surprise attack, making it easier to defend themselves.

5 Nubia

High Production and Strong Adjacency Bonuses

Nubia is considered one of the most flexible Civs in the games thanks in large part to the hefty production bonuses they enjoy when building mines over strategic resources, as well as the wildly adaptable Nubian Pyramid, which confers a flat Faith and Food bonus as well as a wide array of adjacency bonuses, depending on where you choose to build the Pyramid.

These bonuses allow Nubia players to build what they want when they want, which meshes particularly well with a flat bonus to the production of ranged military units from Nubia’s unique ability, “Ta-Seti.” Ranged units are essential to military success in the early eras, allowing Nubia to expand and stack production quickly and efficiently. This works in conjunction with the special unit, Pitati Archer, which has a high Ranged Strength.

4 Greece (Pericles)

High Cultural Bonuses and City-State Wealth

Greece on its own is a highly versatile Civ, but it’s generally agreed that Pericles is more beginner-friendly than his counterpart, the Queen of Sparta. This is because Sparta demands a thoroughly aggressive playstyle that newcomers may find challenging. Pericles’ ability, “Surrounded by Glory,” will allow Greece to gain a Culture bonus for each city-state that Pericles is the Suzerain of, which gives that Civ several other bonuses.

This, coupled with the free wild card policy slot afforded to the Civ from Plato’s Republic, ensures that Greece will be afforded early game bonuses locked off to most other Civs. Moreover, the Hoplite special unit grows stronger the more you have, making it one of the best early-game units, and the Acropolis tile improvement gives significant Culture bonuses to use to advance your trees faster than anyone else.

3 Korea (Sejong)

Guaranteed Science Victory

Korea is one of those hyper-specialized Civs that typically aren’t recommended to new players on account of their lack of flexibility. However, in this case, Korea is so outrageously good at pursuing a Science Victory that all other shortcomings can be forgiven. The centerpiece of Korea’s game plan is the Seowon, a district that replaces and upgrades the campus.

That base science bonus is nice, but their real strength comes from the powerful adjacency bonuses they confer on mines and farms built around them. The Seowon will have Korea charging towards a Science Victory from early on in the game, with the bonus of being an excellent tool for new players looking to hone their city-planning skills, which is one of the most important tips for Civilization VI beginners to get a handle on.

2 Rome

Roads and High Flexibility

Regardless of how players rank in every Civilization game, Rome is a common factor among nearly all. The name of the game with Rome is versatility; where some Civs specialize in a specific type of victory, Rome has the tools to adapt and overcome nearly every situation. This is precisely what makes them suitable for beginners, as shown in YouTuber PotatoMcWhiskey‘s video. This makes Rome extraordinarily flexible and able to change strategies on a dime.

Trajan was the original leader of Rome, but players could now choose to play as Julius Caesar. Trajan will give you the free building, while Caesar will give you more Gold.

Looking to build an economic powerhouse? Each of Rome’s new cities comes with a trading post and free roads between each of the empire’s cities. Moreover, each new city starts with a free building in the city center thanks to Trajan’s Leader bonus, allowing for rapid urbanization. For those looking to play aggressively, the legion will outclass most other melee units of its era, making this Civ a tough one to fight against.

1 Sumeria

Early Defenses and Science Bonuses

One of the challenges most frequently encountered by Civilization beginners is that of aggressive early-game Civs and barbarians looking to make the player’s life miserable. With likely only a handful of units and meager production in the cities, these nuisances can seriously threaten a fledgling empire looking to carve out its territory. Sumer, led by the formidable King Gilgamesh, has the answer to this issue through the War Cart.

The War Cart unique unit is bafflingly strong for an Ancient Era soldier and will allow players to strike down any early-game threats. Planting good roots is important for Sumeria, as well, because their unique Ziggurats help support Culture or Science Victories later on due to a flat Science bonus and extra Cultural bonuses for skills and adjacency.

The immediate protection your growing population will receive by having the War Cart makes this faction one of the easiest to approach for new players. Having strong offensive power early on also allows you to get a good start without having to worry about taking as many risks. The best Civs for beginners in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI are the ones like Sumeria that give you the most straightforward tools to succeed.

Video Credit: PotatoMcWhiskey/YouTube; quill18/YouTube