The Civics Tree in "Civilization VI" Quiz

In the Ancient Era, one starts with researching the Civic Code of Laws. Next, you have to choose: either Craftsmanship or Foreign Trade.

While you will need both Civics to proceed, I prefer to develop Foreign Trade at first, which allows you to train your first Trader and develop a first Trade Route. In the long end, you will need at least ten Trade Routes to continue a nice source of Gold.

The Craftsmanship to which the game refers, is the most primitive form: people took some object and tried to transform it into a tool by altering the shape.

In real history, craftsmanship (as defined above) and "foreign" trade (with other tribes or clans) date back to the start of the Palaeolithic - while "Civilization VI" starts in 4000 BC, the Neolithic era.

At the start of the Ancient Era, you could choose Craftsmanship or Foreign Trade. Having developed Craftsmanship, you can choose Military Tradition or State Force, both still in the Ancient Era.

If you chose Foreign Trade to start with, you can choose either Mysticism or Early Empire. Of these four Civics from the end of the Ancient Era, I find Military Tradition most useful.

The best perk of the Military Tradition is the Flanking bonus and Support bonus to all military units: if any of your other military units is on an adjacent tile, your attack strength is increased.

In real history, you could say that military tradition arose when warriors were first organized into military groups. A specific date for such evolution is hard to pinpoint, but I'm of the opinion that all ancient civilizations had some kind of military tradition: the ancient Egyptians, the Sumerians, the Indus Valley cities, the Olmecs in Central America, the first Chinese dynasties...

Upon entering the Classical Era, you can choose between Games and Recreation, Political Philosophy or Drama and Poetry.

Of these three options, I find the Political Philosophy most useful. It allows to adopt a new form of Government, allows to slot a Wildcard Policy (needed to gain points for acquiring Great Persons), and enhances the Influence Points needed to send an Envoy to a City-State.

The three Governments to choose from, are loosely based upon the real history of Rome: Oligarchy (corresponds to the first centuries of the Roman Republic, about 500 BC - 150 BC), Classical Republic (corresponds to the end of the Roman Republic, about 150 BC - 31 BC) or Autocracy (roughly the Roman Empire, roughly 31 BC - 476 AD).

In "Civilization VI", Feudalism is one of the Civics you can develop in the early Medieval Era. The other two are Naval Tradition and Civil Service.

The best perk of Feudalism is the better production of a farm if you develop another farm on an adjacent tile. As in the Medieval Era many Cities are low on Food, this can keep your cities growing.

In real history feudalism was a system of society in which a lord would divide his territory under vassals, granting them the right to levy taxes and administrate justice, but asking them for military (or financial) assistance.

The earliest forms of feudalism in Europe may have become reality in the period 800 AD - 850 AD, but a feudal organization of the state could last until the Fifteenth Century (for instance England) or even the Eighteenth Century (for instance Russia). And there were also non-European instances, for example Japan during the Tokugawa Shogunate.

In "Civilization VI" the Civic Guilds appears at the end of the Medieval Era, together with Divine Right, Mercenaries and Medieval Faires. Of these four, I chose Guilds to put them in the ordering, which seems a bit less challenging than the other three.

Guilds opens up the Policies Craftsmen (increase in bonuses from neighbouring Industrial Zones), Town Charters (increase from neighbouring Commercial Hubs) and Traveling Merchants (extra points to acquire Great Merchants).

However, of the four Civics available at the end of the Medieval Era, I definitely go for Divine Right as the best one suited for me. With Divine Right, you can adopt the government Monarchy, with a bonus for influence points acquiring Envoys and the possibility to choose six Policies instead of the standard four in older Governments.

In real history, guilds are associated with the period of the High Middle Ages in Europe (about 1000 AD - about 1300 AD), although there are some examples from earlier or later periods and from other continents.

Humanism is one of the four Civics available at the start of the Renaissance era. The other are Exploration, Reformed Church and Diplomatic Service.

You need the Civic Humanism to build an Art Museum or an Archaeological Museum (which can contain up to three Great Works). And you need both Humanism and Diplomatic Service to advance to more advanced Civics - both Exploration and Reformed Church are dead ends.

Personally I prefer Exploration as the most useful Civic at the start of the Renaissance: it allows you to use two more Traders.

In real history humanism is the philosophical and artistic movement which emphasizes man as the central point of the universe, whereas previous philosophies were focused on some kind of deity. Humanism as known in European history is typically related to the period 1300 AD - 1550 AD (the Italian Renaissance), but there are earlier examples (some Greek philosophers, some Chinese theologies) and later examples - reaching even to the notion "digital humanism", an effort to preserve human dignity in a world where artificial intelligence seems to take over.

"Civilization VI" lists Colonialism as one of the four Civics available at the start of the Industrial Era.
The other are Civil Engineering, Nationalism and Opera and Ballet.

Colonialism opens three new Policies: Native Conquest (Military), Colonial Taxes (Economic) and Raj (Diplomatic). Of these three, I prefer the Raj: you receive extra Science, Culture, Faith and Gold from each and every City-State you are the Suzerain of (you have sent more envoys than any other Civilization). On top of it, you are granted two more Envoys to send to any City-State you've met.

The Civic Opera and Ballet is a dead end, but all other three are needed to further your advance through the Civics Tree.

In real history, colonialism did start at large scale in the Sixteenth Century (especially in South-America) but reached a summit in the Nineteenth Century, when several European countries rushed forth to colonialize large parts of Africa.

At the end of the Industrial Era, you can choose either Urbanization, Scorched Earth or Natural History. Urbanization has the perk to build Neighborhoods, which increase your Housing facilities - at that time probably too few in several of your Cities.

In real history, (planned) urbanization started in western Europe around the Nineteenth Century - while the Industrial Revolution (which corresponds to the Industrial Era in "Civilization VI") started at the end of the Eighteenth Century.

As you approach the end of the Modern Era in "Civilization VI", you need Suffrage to adopt Democracy as Government. At about the same time, you could also develop Totalitarianism to adopt the Government Fascism or Class Struggle to adopt the Government Communism.

While all three these Governments have the most advanced perks, there are significant differences. Democracy has only one single Military Slot, but three Economic Slots and is thus best suited for economic expansion - which supports acquiring Culture, Gold, and other Resources. Fascism has no less than four Military Slots and is thus best suited for aggressive players. And Communism offers three Military Slots as well as three Economic Slots, and thus seems the best balanced Government. However, Communism is less interesting for someone who likes more Diplomatic Slots and more Wildcard Slots.

When analysing the Civics and Technologies available at the end of the Modern Era, I'm inclined to compare this era to about 1900 AD in western Europe and the USA. And that is remarkably also the time in real history the first nations and territories adopted universal suffrage for men and women (the principle of "one man, one vote"): New Zealand in 1893, South Australia in 1894, Finland in 1906.

To win a Scientific Victory in "Civilization VI", you need to establish a viable colony on Mars: sending a Mars Habitation, a Mars Reactor and Mars Hydroponics. While each and every of these Technologies has specific needs, one is overwhelming: you need the Civic Space Race, available at the end of the Atomic Era.

When analysing the specific Technologies developed at the end of the Atomic Era in "Civilization VI", I would date this as 1950 AD - and that corresponds with the start of the space race in real history.

I've hinted that this is one of the last Civics available. Indeed: Globalization and Social Media are the last ones before the Future Civic.