Civilization VI is the new installment of the long-running series of strategy games, and the first of the core series since 2010's Civilization V. Civ 6 has improved graphics and revamped art style, but most importantly it has numerous improvements to the systems of previous incarnations. It retains the features that made the series popular: randomly generated, Earth-like maps, focus on interactions between civilizations, and giving the player a chance to become one of immortal historical leaders guiding their cultures to global domination through the centuries.

Deeper city-planning

The cities are among the key components of a good Civilization game, and skillful management of them is what decided on loss or victory. Civilization VI introduces districts: specialized zones supporting the cities. Constructing a district requires a free tile, and is subject to certain requirements. A campus supporting science projects may require a mountain nearby, for instance. Campuses encourage specialization of your cities and careful planning to make sure that the districts you want can be built.

Improved diplomacy

The diplomacy system of Civilization VI provides a more understandable and clearer gameplay than ever before. All AI-managed Leaders now have a set of two agendas defining their policies and attitudes. While one is known from the start, the other will be hidden for your own leader until further effort is put into discovering it over future contacts. Similarly the interaction of Civilization V's new feature City-States are improved in Civ VI. Now your influence over them needs to be earned by special missions, and is represented by the number of envoys your Civ has in a given city state.

Balanced Culture vs Science gameplay

Civilization VI solves an old dilemma of setting priorities in the Civilization's growth. It introduces dual trees for Technology and Civics. The latter contains certain culture-related discoveries which were previously parts of Technology trees. Drama, Philosophy, and more are now parts of Civics tree, for more accessible cultural victory. Completing certain Civics will even unlock policies which can be employed by the government.

More active science gameplay

The technology tree has been reworked to become the active research system offering research boosts if certain conditions are met. Researching masonry will be easier with a quarry built. Conversely, being removed from supporting resources will negatively impact your ability to research connected technologies. Eureka moments, on the other hand, move Civs further towards certain technologies based on in-game actions. Defeating enemies may now be a breakthrough for weapon research.