The Civilization series of video games has been going on for a very long time. But it’s clear that nobody thought that 35 years after Sid Meier’s put out an ugly-looking strategy game called Civilization back in 1991, people would still be playing Civilization games today.
A lot has rained since then, but the series’ mix of history – all the way from the Stone Age to the Internet Age – and turn-based strategy still keeps people playing until the wee hours nowadays.
The most recent Civilization game (that would be Civilization VII) has been controversial, though. It arrived to much fanfare in February 2025, boasting one major feature: for the first time ever, players would be able to switch civilizations (civs for short) at the start of each of the game’s eras. Say you begin the game as the Romans in antiquity, switch to the Normans in the exploration age and finish the game as the French civilization in the modern age.
At first this seemed like it would add an immense amount of variety to the game and make it more fun, while also adding to replay value. But there was a loss of continuity… Having grown fond of my Roman civ in the ancient era, all of a sudden I had to leave it behind to take the reins of Normandy in another era… It makes sense that people began yearning for the possibility of playing as a single civilization for the entire duration of the game, say starting as France and remaining as this civ for an entire playthrough, as had been the case in all the previous Civilization games.
And this is what US studio Firaxis has delivered with a new, massive update for Civilization VII, which introduces the new “time-tested civs”. Pick one of these and you can stay as it throughout the entire game. Of course, the game hasn’t dropped it banner feature – you can still switch civilizations at the start of each age if you so desire. But there’s a new “syncretism” gameplay mechanic you can rely on when playing as a time-tested civ which lets you adopt the best units and buildings of the leading civs, giving you an edge even if you don’t switch civilizations.
There’s also a new “triumphs” system in place as lead designer Ed Beach explains in the video above. There are minor triumphs which can simply involve growing a city’s population to a certain level. Major triumphs are more open-ended, and can involve fighting wars on multiple fronts, for instance. This is something that the game’s free new leader – Alexander – seems to be particularly suitable for.
Alexander, was known as “the great” for his conquests, but is Civilization VII now a great strategy game?
Alexander is included in the “Test of Time” update too. Besides this, the game’s “legacy paths” have been completely removed. So instead of railroading players down a military, economic, scientific or cultural path in each era, you can plan long term for a specific victory or switch to another goal at any point in time, which feels much more reasonable to me… Also considering the game has many more narrative events (a new addition to the Civilization games in 7), music and interface improvements amongst other things, and Firaxis seems to be making amends for the game’s poor launch last year.
The thing is, it could be too late for that, and some players might have moved on from Civilization VII already. Its predecessor, Civilization VI, had consistently more players before the launch of the Test of Time update, it remains to be seen whether the update will change things or not. Because Civilization VII was one of 2025’s most disappointing games, it did not sell as well or receive the critical acclaim that 6 did. Having played shortly before Test of Time came out, I found the game still rather unbalanced and lacking polish. In one game, I was overrun by barbarians early on, which was frustrating. Things look better after the update, but Firaxis still hasn’t made the Civilopedia (which explains game concepts and other things) easily accessible, which is a pity. And there’s still a bit too much bloat and clutter in the game’s interface I’m afraid.
Nonetheless, this latest update might succeed at bringing new players to the game and drawing old ones back, finally turning Civilization VII into a great strategy game, one truly worthy of the Civilization name. And if that’s not the case, we’ll always have the earlier – and many players would say greater – games to enjoy.