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

The developer of Civilization 7 has explained why it strongly recommends even veteran Civ players stick with the tutorial for their first full campaign.

In a post on Steam, Ed Beach, creative director at Firaxis Games, offered his tips for your first game of Civilization 7.

“Civilization 7 is a big game, with many new systems and mechanics that differentiate it from earlier games in our series,” he began. “There’s a lot to learn, so we felt that it was important that we provide some suggestions to ensure everyone has a successful first experience.”

This is a reference to Civilization 7’s Ages system, which is a drastic change for the long-running strategy series. A full campaign in Civilization 7 is one that goes through all three Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. Once the Age is completed, all players (and any AI opponents) experience an Age Transition simultaneously. During an Age Transition, three things happen: you select a new civilization from the new Age to represent your empire, you choose which Legacies you want to retain in the new Age, and the game world evolves. The Civilization games have never had such a system.

Beach then explained why Firaxis chose Small as the default map size for Civilization 7.

“We know that many veteran Civ players love to play on the largest map size and see the maximum number of empires battle it out,” he said. “However, there’s a very deliberate reason that we chose Small as the default map size. With three other empires on your home continent, and a few more to discover later in the game, Small Maps make for a very comfortable experience while you are learning the ins and outs of Civ 7.

“We especially recommend this map size as you get your feet wet with our new Diplomacy system. Tracking your relationship and ongoing diplomatic activities with a manageable number of opponents makes it way easier to get the hang of how you want to spend and manage your Diplomatic Influence.

“We also recommend sticking with Continents Plus for your Map Type selection. The extra islands just off-shore help ease you into the ocean exploration – a key element of the Exploration Age, the second chapter of our game.”

As for the Tutorial and Advisors, Beach confirmed that when you launch into your first game of Civilization 7, it turns the Tutorial on for you. He also strongly recommended Civ pros play with the Tutorial on, at least for their first full game.

“The Tutorial is designed to provide tips and explanations exactly when you first encounter something new,” Beach explained.

“Fans experienced with earlier Civ titles may scoff at the idea of playing with the Tutorial on, but with so many of our game systems having received upgrades and revisions, we really do recommend sticking with the Tutorial for your first full campaign through our three Ages.

“Keep in mind that the game has four different Advisors, and you can control which ones are actively leading you through a series of quests to teach you their portion of the game. If it’s too much to take in all at once, we suggest listening to only a single Advisor at a time.”

Even after you’ve mastered enough systems to turn the tutorial off, you should switch to the setting Only Warnings, Beach recommended.

“This setting allows these same Advisors to jump in and warn you if your empire’s progress is about to undergo a major setback,” he said. “Even our internal team at Firaxis that knows this game so well plays with these warnings enabled!”

Overnight, Firaxis unveiled Civilization 7’s post-launch roadmap as part of a special livestream event (Great Britain has been relegated to DLC). Civilization 7 itself launches on PC via Steam, on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S on February 11, although the more expensive Deluxe Edition grants access from February 6.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.