Conquer the World in ‘Sid Meier’s Civilization® VII - VR’ Today on Meta Quest
Sid Meier’s Civilization® VII - VR is all about leaving your legacy on history. Get a whole new perspective on the beloved strategy series starting today, exclusively on Meta Quest 3 and 3S.
Guide your civilization through human history, striving to build an empire that stands the test of time. The path you take is up to you, whether you want to become a military empire, a bastion of scientific knowledge, an economic powerhouse, or a lighthouse of cultural achievement.
Civilization VII - VR takes the Civ experience fans expect from the franchise and gives it a VR and mixed reality spin. Instead of seeing the game world laid out before you on a screen, your viewpoint shifts to the War Table, a board game-like space where you make all your decisions. That gives you the freedom to move around the table to get different perspectives on the action as you develop your strategies, while either surveying the field from high above or leaning in to check out the finer details. It also brings the other leaders playing the game to the table for the first time ever, whether controlled by the game’s AI or by other Quest 3 or 3S players*, so you can conduct your diplomacy—or wage war—face to face.
In addition to the fully immersive VR approach to the game, you can also toggle into mixed reality at any time, placing the War Table in the middle of your physical space. Have you ever negotiated peace with Ben Franklin in your living room? It’s pretty cool.
If you’re new to Civilization games, you’re in for a treat. There’s a lot to learn and so many different ways to play. Guiding your empire through the whole of human history is a big undertaking, with a ton of elements to keep in mind, from raising monuments and exploring the world to waging war and researching new abilities. Here’s a quick rundown of what you may want to do with your first few turns in Civilization VII - VR to help you establish your long-term strategy and set yourself up to make history.
Taking Your First Few Turns in Sid Meier’s Civilization® VII - VR
A game of Civ VII typically covers three major ages of history: the Age of Antiquity, the Age of Exploration, and the Modern Age. Each age has its own empires vying for control and technologies used by those empires, and you can start at any of them, depending on what kind of game you want to play and how long you want it to be. For the full experience, though, you’ll want to start at the beginning: the Age of Antiquity.
Before getting started, spend a minute thinking about what kind of path you want to take through your Civilization VII - VR match. You can achieve victory in four different ways: by conquest, taking down your opponents and annexing their territory; through scientific discovery, leaping ahead in terms of knowledge; through cultural impact, spreading your influence across the globe; or through economic prosperity, as you become essential to trade with the rest of the world.
Knowing which path you want to take toward victory will help you make decisions along the way, starting with the leader you’ll play as and the starting civilization you’ll guide. Leaders offer bonuses that align with certain approaches, like military prowess or scientific discovery, while civilizations can provide unique units or buildings on certain paths. Picking a civilization and a leader that fit with your playstyle can give you an advantage throughout the ages.
Now that you’ve chosen a civilization and leader to start with, you’ll need to establish your capital city. Ideally, you want to place this as close to resources and fresh water as possible. Production resources, like mines, will help you get on your feet fast, so favor them if you can.
Cities are where things get done. You can use a city to construct units like warriors or scouts, and buildings that improve the city or unlock new options—so you always want your city making something. Units are handy in the here and now, and buildings tend to work as investments in the future. With your first choice of building or unit, there’s really no wrong answer, but you’ll likely want to get at least one scout unit and at least one warrior unit pretty quickly. A big part of Civilization VII - VR is exploring the world, seeking out and claiming resources, and understanding where other players are located and what’s happening with their empires. To gain information and plan effectively, you’ll need units you can send out into the world to be your eyes and ears.
Explore the World
Scout units have the advantage of traveling a little farther per turn than other units. Use them to map the area around your civilization, discover Independent Powers, and get a sense of the locations of the game’s other empires. You’ll also want to create new settlements soon, and scouts are great for finding the right locations for your expansions. Finally, there are Natural Wonders, lots of one-off narrative events, and other things to discover that can give you small bonuses or resources. It always pays to snatch these up before other players can get to them.
Quickly building an army isn’t essential in the early game, but don’t totally ignore your own military might. Even if you’re not keen on pursuing a route of conquest, you’ll still need a means of protecting yourself from other leaders who might decide to start a skirmish. It’s a lot tougher to build an army to protect your empire once it’s under attack, and it’s always better to be prepared.
One of the big moments in the early game is meeting Independent Powers. These Independent Powers can be hostile and produce units that attack your cities, or friendly and become great allies. These are an evolution of the hostile barbarians in past Civ games, and they can be a real nuisance. It’s possible to use a currency called Influence to stabilize relations with Independent Powers, but you need to be ready to fight.
Running across Independent Powers is a good reminder that you’re not alone in Civilization VII - VR. There are other players working to establish their empires and chase their own paths to victory. It’s important to keep an eye out for any rumblings of conflict, but just as important are the opportunities for diplomacy. If you spend enough Influence faster than other civilizations with Independent Powers, you can open up relationships and convert them to City-States that earn bonuses for your empire—as long as you remain on friendly terms.
And you can form trade agreements and alliances with other leaders that can help you on your way to victory. Opening up talks with other leaders takes you to the immersive Diplomacy Chamber, where Civilization VII - VR gives you a one-on-one with your potential friend or foe. If you’re making allies, just be careful that you don’t put too much trust in other empires—everyone is trying to win, after all.
Looking to the Future
Once you’re established, building upgrades to your capital, exploring the world, and feeling a little more secure, you can turn your attention to your plans for the game overall. Soon, you’ll start to choose technologies to research and a government and civic policies to implement for your empire.
Try to focus on elements that fit your playstyle and the victory you’re hoping to achieve as you make these different choices. It can be tempting to do a little bit of everything and choose technologies or civics that sound good in the moment. It’s true that you’ll probably need at least some military for defense, some trade to enhance your empire, some science to climb the tech tree, and some culture to keep your citizens happy. But don’t let preparation for other scenarios distract you from your long-term goals. It’ll be tough to achieve your chosen victory if you’re constantly diverting your attention to areas that aren’t going to help you win in the end.
The best way to play Civilization VII is with short- and long-term goals in mind. For short-term goals, think about expansion. You want to find nearby resources with your scouts and start establishing more settlements. Settlements start off as towns and serve as essential support hubs to your cities, providing economic benefits without requiring as much oversight. Once your towns grow large enough, they can be given a specialization to help boost their impact even further.
While cities can produce new buildings and units over a few turns, buildings and units can only be bought with gold in towns. If you feel a town should be a city to fit your empire’s needs, they can be converted to cities in exchange for gold. Settlements give you more chances to produce units and improvements, increase research, and more quickly advance through the game. You don’t want to stretch your empire too thin, but with the goal of taking over the world one way or another, you’ll need to spread out.
For long-term goals that’ll take you toward an eventual victory, a good way to keep your eye on the ball is by paying attention to Legacy Paths. These are objectives you can complete in each age that convey bonuses to you later in the game, while also advancing the whole game toward the next age. Legacy Paths also align with the four playstyles, giving you goals to move toward a Military, Science, Culture, or Economy victory. For instance, if you’re chasing the Cultural Legacy Path, you’ll want to construct as many Wonders in your empire as you can. For Science, the goal is to research technologies and create and display special Codices across your empire, spreading knowledge to your citizenry.
With a given playstyle in mind, you can balance short-term goals like establishing settlements, seeking out specific resources, and building particular improvements with longer-term goals from Legacy Paths. That’ll help you ensure you’re always staying on track, even as you deal with the unexpected—like opposing armies, failed diplomacy, natural disasters, and narrative events.
How you make your way through Civilization VII is up to you. Make your plans but stay nimble because there’s a lot of history to play through—and you’re only just getting started.
Start writing your own history of the world today in Sid Meier’s Civilization VII - VR. It’s available on the Meta Horizon Store for $59.99 USD.
