Believe it or not, more than half of Civilization 6 players have never actually finished an entire game, according to the developers for Civilization 7. This is likely due to the endgame slog that will inevitably occur, slowing players down to a crawl as they painstakingly maneuver units and build city districts or wonders. Unfortunately, by the late stages of any Civ 6 match, there are simply so many things going on that it becomes overwhelming or uninteresting.
Enter the mod community, to help players get over that late game hump with some much-needed mods chock-full of gameplay improvements, UI tweaks, overall game balance, and more. If both experienced and new Civ 6 players haven't tried any community mods, these might be just the thing they've been missing, and will make finishing a game much more feasible.
10
Detailed Map Tacks
The Detailed Map Tacks mod (this and all subsequent mod links below are via Steam) is an absolute essential for anyone tired of trying to calculate adjacency bonuses for districts and improvements - which is probably everyone. This mod allows the placement of Map Tacks that players can place on tiles ahead of time to figure out the highest bonuses for each district or improvement, making city planning enjoyable as opposed to what can sometimes feel like a guessing game.
Mods for Civilization 6 can be accessed via the Steam Community Workshop, where players can subscribe to each mod and enable/disable it from the in-game menu.
There's a reason this is one of the highest-rated community mods out there, and it's because playing without Map Tacks will start to feel like a massive leap backward. Map Tacks are major time-savers because players can plan their ideal setup one time and not have to rethink things again after every turn, also allowing players to step away without forgetting their intended strategy.
9
GoldenAge: Brave New World & Infinity Pinnacle
The Brave New World & Infinity Pinnacle mods are part of the Golden Age mod set and will give players an entirely new experience playing Civ 6 they never before thought possible. These mods introduce a massive number of Game Modes, overhaul most of the game mechanics to make them more balanced, add unique and exciting challenges for veteran players, and even include a new victory condition for building Wonders.
Both of these mods place a strong emphasis on "tall play," which was a core part of gameplay in Civ 5, but Civ 6 shifted focus to a "carpet of death"style of gameplay that spreads units and civilizations out very thin across the map. These mods re-imagine what is possible with Civ 6and give players an endless toy box of new game modes to play around with.
8
Civilizations Expanded
The Civilizations Expanded mod dramatically "buffs the abilities of every single Civilization in the game," from leader abilities, unique civilization features, and unique buildings, improvements, and districts. These buffs speed up city development and civilization growth. For example, Lincoln's new ability, Gettysburg Address, awards +25% Production to Industrial Zones, a free unit with additional buffs when constructing buildings in the Industrial Zone, and bursts of Great General or Great Admiral points when defeating an enemy within nine tiles. Compared to the original Emancipation Proclamation ability, it's clear why this mod is a must-try.
These expanded civilizations also give players who fall behind an actual chance at catching up, and on the flip side, won't guarantee a win despite an obvious early lead. Players who find themselves struggling to complete a campaign will absolutely notice a difference with this mod enabled.
7
Harmony In Diversity
The Harmony in Diversity mod features large-scale gameplay improvements that make the game more exciting and manageable, while also providing balance through buffs and debuffs. Included with these changes are improved terrain and resource yields, better map generation and starting points, balanced buildings and districts, overhauled religions and beliefs, re-balanced Governors, diversified civilizations, and much more. The mod also introduces new tech and civic trees, and balances city-state effects and Great People points.
The goal of this mod is to "make the game more interesting by providing the players more options," and it also includes an updated Civilopedia with detailed explanations of all the changes. This mod will give players a familiar yet more engaging game, and includes specific changes that make the Gathering Storm expansion much better.
6
Fast Forward AI Turns
The Fast Forward AI Turns mod is an absolute essential for a quicker game and for anyone who wants to actually try to complete a campaign. This one is pretty self-explanatory, but it delivers on its promise. This mod essentially enables AI-controlled players, including Barbarians and City-States, to "utilize both Quick Combat and Quick Movement to speed things up."
Its creator, Zugaikotsu, has a handful of quality of life mods similar to Fast Forward AI Turns, but this one is a game-changer and a serious time-saver that will certainly be noticeable when players hit the Industrial era and later. This mod also makes the endgame slog a little less tedious when used alongside other mods on this list, and will give players a new reason to play Civ 6.
The CQUI, or Community Quick User Interface mod, simplifies or improves the UI in Civ 6 dramatically. For instance, it restores the city view panel to the Civ 5 setup, which allows purchasing of units with Gold/Faith in the same menu and compresses the Production view. CQUI also adds improved tooltips, better Great Person and unit banners, and makes information more readily accessible for just about everything in the game.
These changes are essentially "an enhancement of the original UI that gives you the information you need with [fewer] clicks." These practical tweaks to the original formula truly do speed up gameplay where it matters most, without making the UI unrecognizable. It even adds a Route lens for players to track which tiles contain roads and railroads and where those paths lead.
4
Production From Population
The Production From Population mod is part of a collection of mods by community contributor p0kiehl that enables "tall play," mentioned above. The mod is straightforward, adding production from each member of the civilization, similar to how Science and Culture works in the base game. The passive boost to Production encourages players to focus on population growth as opposed to sending Settlers out across the map.
This is just one of the mods that allows players to build massive, powerful cities that can pump out units, districts, wonders, etc., in a fraction of the time it would typically take. The Production From Population mod is one of the most effective in reducing late-game imbalances, where "you research new Technologies and Civics quite quickly, but as your cities produce expensive things, you have little opportunity to actually use them."
3
Truly Abundant Resources
While Civ 6 offers players an Abundant Resources option, it doesn't make a noticeable enough difference, which is why the Truly Abundant Resources mod (also developed by p0kiehl) is essential for more dynamic resource placement. The mod actually introduces two new menu options for resources, Plentiful (adds ~20% resource copies) and Truly Abundant (adds ~50%), but also "adds optimizations to the game's resource placement that apply to all Resource options," making it useful for all players regardless of Resource preferences.
The Truly Abundant Resources mod also adds "more variety in sea luxury resources" and distribution, as well as in resource terrain placement. Further, it allows players to harvest any and all resources in their territory. These optimizations for resources will give players a noticeable edge and make completing a game a little easier.
2
Extended Eras
The Extended Eras mod is yet another p0kiehl mod focused on game balance and pacing, overhauling the "pace and flow of the game by modifying research costs and other adjustments." While it might seem counterintuitive, making the eras longer actually shortens the overall game by allowing players to fully utilize the features of each era, resulting in stronger civilizations and various victory conditions being met faster.
The mod also solves a major problem area for Civ 6, "[preventing] civilizations from rushing ahead of everyone else or falling too far behind." To do so, it includes exponentially higher Technology and Civic costs, reduces Culture and Science output from citizens, reduces Eureka and Inspiration boosts to 25% (down from 40%), and changes the base length of each era based on the altered research costs, among other adjustments focused on overall balance across the eras.
1
Movable Districts
The Movable Districts mod will be the ultimate tool for making city planning more user-friendly. It allows players to spend Gold to move a district, even if that district is currently under construction. This is incredibly useful as the game progresses, because it's very likely districts are not placed in their ideal location the first time. As city borders grow and more districts are built, adjacency bonuses from initial placements are not always optimal, and this mod resolves that issue.
Overall, these mods will give players a much better gameplay experience, add balance to each aspect of the game, overhaul the UI and adjust AI so that the late game is more feasible, and more. All of these can be used in conjunction, or players can choose just one to see if it helps them overcome the mid- to late-game slog. These 10 mods might actually help players finish a game of Civilization 6.
Sid Meier's legendary turn-based strategy game returns in Civilization VI, allowing players to build their dream empire as they start on the path to world conquest. From the Stone Age to the modern day, players will create a new civilization from scratch and influence the world in their chosen direction. In addition, players will face-off with major leaders in global history as they deal with diplomacy, war, and the technology race to shape the world under one banner.
Platform(s)
PS4
, Xbox One
, Switch
, PC
, Android
, iOS
Released
October 21, 2016
Developer(s)
Firaxis Games
Publisher(s)
2K Games
Engine
Unity
ESRB
E10+ for Everyone 10+: Drug Reference, Language, Mild Violence, Suggestive Themes
Custom image by Katarina Cimbaljevic
English (US) ·