Civilization 6 is different from its predecessors in several key ways. For one thing, the immortal Worker of days yore is gone, replaced with a Builder that offers far more strategic choices. Cities are unstacked, with all-new Districts sprawling out beyond the city center. Civilization 6 is different from its predecessors in several key ways.
“Active Progression gives Civilization players the ability to speed up their progress through the game by completing activities in the game world,” said Ed Beach, lead designer on Civilization VI . “It’s the idea that having your units and cities achieve successes helps your civ unlock technological secrets and build a strong society.”
Active Progression is responsible for a huge increase in the addictive feel of #OneMoreTurn gameplay. The effect is real; I definitely experienced the exciting unpredictability Active Progression brings to a Civ game in my four hours with a press demo.
Active Progression makes both the Tech Tree and the Civics Tree more closely tied to what’s happening on the map in your unique game . No more beelines to the Great Library. Instead, you actually get to do something fun: think in your strategy game.
Not only that, with Active Progression, you rarely skip turns waiting for something to happen. Instead, you have a bevy of choices and unlocks available at every turn.
“We just had a playtest last night where one of our new Civilization VI testers commented that the Active Progression system kept him thinking every single turn of the game,” said Beach. “He was faced with so many possible unlocks he could trigger that he never was skipping through turns waiting for something to happen. As an experienced player of many earlier Civilization titles, he was amazed at how much more engaging the Active Progression system was.”
You’d have to be a real neophyte to ignore the Civics tree in favor of the Tech tree, though. The Civics tree unlocks Governments, Social Policies, Wonders and more. Active Progression applies just as much to the Civics tree as to the Tech tree, so you’ll have double the choices and double the chances for strategic input.
“There are even a number of cases where activity in one tree triggers a boost in the other,” Beach said. “Even if you are going for a Science/Space Race victory, progressing with culture through the Civics tree can be a very important component of your strategy.”
Looking forward to the change in strategy coming with Civilization VI ? Feel free to discuss how Active Progression will affect your strategies in our comments section below.
