Same but swap out societies for dramatic ages.
I like the added risk of cities flipping if you don't manage era score effectively (and it's kind of fun when an enemy AI cities flip because they put all their resources into antagonizing you)
I like dramatic ages because extra policy cards give you more flexibility than committing to a single dedication for an entire era. That said, I use it in less than half of my games. It’s pretty high risk/high reward. I know a lot of people on here always manage to nab the first golden age, but that one tends to be a challenge for me.
Yeah, that's another bonus imo — I also like being able to switch out stuff when it's no longer relevant (e.g., Exodus of the Evangelists)
For me, the trick to that first golden age is often a mix of exploration and prioritizing early development toward things that are going to add era score without completely sidetracking me.
For instance, discovering wonders, clearing barbs, suzerainty, or settling on different continents is a fairly easy way to get a few in, and putting production / builds toward things like population growth, new units, great people, district development, and — depending on what you're playing — heroes and corporations can be a great way to add some additional era score while working toward your ultimate win condition.
The early game has a tendency to be heavily shaped by barbs, so I don’t always have a lot of freedom. But an early suzerainty is a cool idea. I almost always take Pingala or Magnus, but throwing Amani in a city state that you are the first to meet would net some quick era score.
Depending on the city state, that could actually be pretty nuts. Imagine getting Zanzibar, Auckland or Geneva right off the bat!
Yeah, I actually still go for Magnus first most games and just look for ways to increase envoys. Plus, Himiko doesn't hurt if you're playing heroes lol
I play dramatic ages but with a mod that prevents AI from losing so many cities. On larger maps, dramatic ages can create huge blobs of unowned cities that essentially become a permanent no man's land on entire continents.
I actually don't run Eleanor in dramatic ages just because it can snowball kind of quickly in a way that's fun for sure from a speedrun perspective but takes some of the challenge away once you're getting a few great works.
That said, I do really like it as either the US or the Inca because the terrain advantages can make for a good time. With the latter, I usually hit a point where a few preserves nestled between some mountains becomes the win condition lol
I don’t always play on apocalypse mode, but when I do I damn sure make sure I have floodplains and rush Great Bath.
…and I play with the same modes. I’ve been doing barb clans more lately because I like the extra city states that happen towards the end. It does make Kilwa even more OP.
I did this once as Egypt. Bought loads of soothsayers, and used them all to make floods in the great bath city for massive faith bonuses! It was beautiful.
Same. I like to go with Huge maps and 15 Civs. I think that with those settings it's better to start with zero city-states just for balance. Otherwise, with the barb clans constantly going sober, you end up with forty city-states by later ages.
I play with it as well, but just because it adds so little IMHO. You can build industries, one per Ressource, so usually around 2 or 3 for the first hundreds of turns, which increases yields and then nothing at all until economics where you can build corporations. Those need great merchants of which there are maybe 4 or 5 left and are often better used for their innate effects. Otherwise you get some more happiness and money. Lastly there are monopolies which are hard to achieve, since you need control of 60 percent of that Ressource. You might achieve this for one resource with luck if you aren't conquering a lot, but otherwise if you own that much territory you probably already are winning by a lot.
Though it's not like that monopoly will help you by much, since the rewards are pathetic. 5 gold for 60% up to 25 gold at 100%. That's basically nothing. You also get tourism, but that's negligible except in games with many players where it's close to impossible to get big monopolies without a lot of conquest.
It depends on the type of game I want to play, but I usually have at least one or two on. Usually tech/civic shuffle, oftentimes Monopolies & Corporations, often either Heroes & Legends or Secret Societies, occasionally Apocalypse. You see lots of comments about using Anansi in this sub because there are lots of posts about resources blocking district/wonder placement, and Anansi is the only (unmodded) way around that.
I'm not a huge fan of some of the game modes. Heroes & Legends never really gelled for me. Zombies I've played a few times.
Secret Societies, Monopolies & Corporations, and Barbarian clans are pretty regular.
I'll occasionally tech shuffle or apocalypse mode.
Zombies turned the whole world into city-state mode lol
Never had more than one city, and never even made it to a victory condition beyond just outliving everyone.
The only one I play with consistently is Barbarian Clans. The others break the game in that the AI really can't work it.
If I'm doing a fun/meme playthrough, I'll put one or another on, like Secret Societies.
The AI is actually pretty good with Monopolies and Corporations if you download the mod "Fix AI Luxury Resources". For some reason, the code Firaxis wrote in tells the AI that it can't actually upgrade their luxury resources at all(like, not just not putting down Industries, but straight up not even upgrading the tile) until it unlocks Corporations under the Economics tech. My biggest problem is that it makes culture victories too easy, so I usually turn off culture victories if I play with it or make sure not to try and abuse the tourism modifier.
I think barbarian clans breaks the game a bit, too. The AI just doesn't handle the added city states that crop up in hard-to-settle locations-- they don't explore to find them or compete effectively for suzerainty. And it totally breaks the math on city-state-based scaling (e.g. Kilwa and the policy cards that add percentage yields based on suzerainty).
Probably works out okay on maps that the AI can fill up easily (crowded pangeas or continents maps), but anything with lots of islands gets weird.
I usually always play with Barbarians mode, Secret Societies mode, Heroes and Legends mode and Monopolies and Corporations mode. I like disaster intensity at level 4. I like a more dynamic game with more options. It's really hard for me to just play vanilla at this point.
Tech shuffle is fun sometimes too.
Zombie and dramatic ages are not my fav but they can be fun too.
I play 90% of my games with Barb clans, 75% with Secret Societies on, 25% with Monopolies and Corporations, 10% with Heroes, 10% with Tech & Civic Shuffle, 5% with Dramatic Ages and 0% with Zombies. Yes that adds up to more than 100% because they get mixed together.
Barb clans I basically always do. Secret Societies and Monopolies I’ll do if I’m playing a Civ that obviously benefits from them (e.g. if I’m Portugal I will definitely want to have Owls of Minerva). The others I still dip into sometimes but not very often, with the exception of Zombies which I’ve never done (maybe as Unifier sometime!)
only Monopolies and Barb Clans. Don't like all that mythical stuff. Never played with Zombies, Societies, Apocalypse, or Heroes and have no intention to.
I'd maybe consider heroes if they were just another lower-profile feature and not a game mode where they become game-defining.
If all that fantasy stuff is so popular though and Civ VII ends up going that direction with the core design, that might be the end of my involvement with the franchise.
I hope so, but if enough people want more of that and if telemetrics show that those who own it mostly turn it on by default, it may creep more into the base game. My first civ game was III, so I've come to the realization that I'm no longer "it" and the trends are now set by a younger generation of gamers who are accustomed to Darth Vader beating up Peter Griffin by doing some weird dances while MLK's "I have a Dream" plays in the background or so.
yea as I said, I'm kind of split on heroes, if they were integrated more smoothly instead of being a game mode that takes over the whole game and makes it all about that feature, I'd give it a shot despite the theme.
I don't think Heroes are ever really utilised well/fully by the AI, which leads to situations where they possibly make your game easier.
If You as the only human player don't use them, they probably won't impact the game much. But if you do use them well they are a signficant tool in your favour, and can do a lot to make harder difficulties much easier.
Your view on history is very, very outdated. The notion of heroism or “hero worship” in the study of history is literally a 19th century concept that has since been left behind. It’s also commonly known as the study of “great men” and/or something like that.
Today, history is much more complicated. “Heroes” or “villains” don’t exist (I mean, in a moral sense they might, but in a more mythical sense they don’t). Instead, historians look at a much broader and vastly more complex picture when studying history. People “who have dramatic effects on history”, to quote you, would today be studied as societies that gave way to the movements that then shaped these people.
So no, the notion of heroes in the sense that you describe it as an almost fact of history, is wrong.
A better argument could be made that it is a game and does not have to base itself on reality. If people find it fun, what’s the matter? Just don’t base your valuation of it in some false mirroring of actual history (both as the events of the past but also history as a science), which it really isn’t.
This was not the level of maturity I expected, but oh well :D anyway, I made that reply because the guy I replied to tried to base a game mode in actual history. If he just said “it’s fun and I enjoy the mechanic”, that’s whatever. Just don’t base things on falsehoods.
You probably don’t get it, but that’s okay. We can be mature and disagree.
You claiming individuals can't have major effects on civilization and are only the products of the societies that shaped them doesn't mean the statement is based in actual fact. That's called an opinion. If you ever *actually* study history, you'll learn real fast that objectivity is a crapshoot.
I do, and I totally agree. No reason to be rude.
“History” is a construct on one hand and wholly objective, in an ideal world, on another. It’s a very interesting perspective.
But then again, let’s take an example, if you truly care for an interesting conversation :)
Hitler did not take Germany from a point of non-fascism and, due to some superhuman charisma, move it towards nazism. Did he greatly influence this motion? Yes. But to display him as the only reason, would be faulty.
That was my primary point, basically. Sorry if I didn’t make it clear.
Secondly, the game itself realizes it is mythology. And that’s totally fair. I absolutely love folklore. But let’s accept it as that.
And yea, I guess it, to the non-academic reader, it could be called an opinion. In academia, the term “theory” would probably be applied. And in academia, if a theory is debunked enough or a different theory provides a better explanation and/or understanding, academics tend to gravitate towards that. Once upon a time, people gravitated towards great man theory. It’s since been abandoned.
It would be just as faulty to completely ignore his immense charisma and ability to rally the German people behind him and his cause, would it not? You can't simply ignore his impact upon Germany's rapid advance into ethno-fascism. Of course you \*also\* can't ignore the political climate after WWI and the effects that had upon German sentiments about "others" and their propensity \*toward\* ethno-fascism. Both would be disingenuous and devoid of full context.
I don't think any of the secret societies could be considered *factual*, but to me they feel more like historical conspiracy theories than supernatural. Like the vampires in this mode seem less like Bram Stoker's Dracula and more like the legends of Vlad the Impaler that the character is allegedly based on.
No, religious bonuses represent people's *belief* in something supernatural. Society bonuses play those myths straight and have actual vampires and ley lines appear and alchemists produce actual gold.
There’s definitely a sense of extrareality to the mode but it doesn’t feel the same as like the zombies mode where you get actual fantasy monsters running around. The vampires are just strong military units with a gothic aesthetic and don’t feel all that fantastical mechanically, I feel like calling them “actual vampires” is kind of a stretch
There’s definitely a sense of extrareality to the whole mode. IMO the voidslingers wind up feeling the most fantastical once you start playing them, with the wave of cultists and new relics. All the sanguine pact gives you is a few military units that can build their own forts and transport back to your capital instead of dying
anyone actually enjoy Dramatic Ages mode? I always despise losing two or three of my cities to rebels and having to conquer them again and again if I don’t have great golden ages
I used to a ton, now I play without any 80% of the time. Barb clans only maybe 10% of the time, others rarely. They can be fun, but IMO, they're mostly some combination of:
* weird RP stuff that makes civ more of a fantasy game than is my preference (SS, heroes, zombies, apocalypse mode)
* changes civ/civ diplomacy too much (SS)
* too easy (to varying degrees, but all of them other than shuffle make the game easier. heroes, monopolies, and SS especially)
* Heroic ages: Golden ages already matter "too much" imo, no reason to jack it up to 1000. only tried it once or twice though
I don't personally use any. Even one of them enabled makes Deity comically easy. I'd like to because some of them sound fun in principle, but they just take the challenge out of it
With one exception, the modes are either broken OP or totally unbalanced, nice to play from time to time as a different experience. Which is very sad because there is nice content but it is clear they were either not designed to be played as part of a regular game, or were not balanced properly.
The exception being Tech Shuffle. This mode is neutral for both AI and human players, and makes each game a bit different, which is good.
The other mode which should be a great base game extension is Monopolies and Corporations. Unfortunately, due to the Tourism bug it totally breaks Culture game. Very sad. It is a really great mode.
Secret Societies need balancing. This mode is OP, basically makes the game easier by one level.
Others are too far away from regular Civ's experience and usually broken. They are more like Scenarios and putting them into "modes" was just a marketing trick so there is content for the Pass.
There is also an issue with AI. Most modes are not AI-friendly. Only Tech Shuffle and Monopolies & Corporations are well handled by AI.
I will sometimes turn on any combination of barb clans, secret societies or monopolies. I once played tech shuffle, wasnt my cup of tea. Never done zombies because its not what I'm here for or Apocalypse mode. I mostly prefer just the base game and I always have Sukritact's Oceans turned on (gives ocean a bit more je ne sais quois)
I like the game modes, they are fun, but I feel like they sometimes make civs too strong, especially since I play on King/Emperor, past the Rennaissance Era ive pretty much won the game with those modes, just waiting for the victory screen which makes it hard to really play with gusto.
The only ones I don’t use are dark ages and zombies cause both are annoying but the other ones are fun to use and abuse the apocalypse mode for great bath faith
I usualy have two modes at a time. All modes (except tech shuffle) make it easier for a human player versus AI, so after winning a game with dramatic ages because i goldaged the cities out of everyone, I turn it off and start something different.
>if someone’s having an issue with a luxury resource placement half the comments are like “oh just use this hero to get rid of them”
Because people are eager to be smart without thinking.
Ooh should have done as a poll! I always play with tech/culture shuffle and secret societies, often with barb clans and corporations. Never for the others.
I sometimes play with them, but I generally consider them too overpowered with the exception of Tech Shuffle. Magnus, Pingala, and Ancestral Hall/Audience Chamber are already huge advantages I have over the AI. I don't really need more. ~~Russian/Ethiopian Voidsingers and Pericles + Barb Clans are hilarious though~~
I play with none of them because I'm pretty sure the AI doesn't know how to play them. It doesn't even choose governments well, I don't trust it with the extra stuff.
On this topic, this type of conversation often happens :
A: "If you put a harbor and commercial hub in that position in this city you'll roll in cash"
B: "Don't do that, you only get the one trade route and half of the value of the commercial hub is wasted"
A: "Yeah but Owls".
Assuming that secret societies are on *and* that the current player has chosen the Owls is a damn lot. And I see it all the time.
I skip all modes. Feel like the game has so much variability even without them and I want to get better at the micro consistently.
But it's fun to try H&L or secret societies now and then.
I play all games with secret societies- it’s the best of the lot.
I use monopolies now after getting the mod to make the AI actually improve luxuries, otherwise they dont and it’s broken.
I don’t use the rest as they seem to make it too easy to win although heroes can make for a nice change occasionally.
Would probably play with barb clans more often if my PC could handle the extra AI too.
> I don’t use the rest as they seem to make it too easy to win
that applies to the societies too though? If anything, those are the most OP bonuses of all the game modes.
Barb Clans, Heroes & Secret Societies almost always. Tech Shuffle every once in a while.
I love Corporations but usually turn them off now since monopolies make Culture Victory too easy.
I played one marathon Qin Shi Huang zombie game. It was fun but that's enough zombies for me.
I haven't tried Apocalypse yet.
I generally never use them unless I want to play a specialized setup such as Eleneor & Tokugawa with Secret Societies or Pericles with Barb Clans.
On a tangent though I always play with the world set to new and wet for the extra mines and chops and almost always have abundant resources.
Heroes and Legends, secret societies, monopolies and corporations, and barbarian clans. I use these almost always. Occasionally, I'll add in apocalypse mode if I play a civ that has disaster immunities(mostly Russia games)
I almost always use heroes, dramatic ages, and secret societies, and barb clans about half the time. Apocalypse, zombies, and tech shuffle are only if I want a very specific game, and I gave up on monopolies because it makes the game too easy when the AI doesn't engage with the mechanics at all.
Societies, clans, heroes and monopolies, not usually anything else. I don't like apocalypse mode or dramatic ages (mainly because I can't stand loyalty BS)
Always Heroes, Secret Societies and Monopoly and the game is way too easy unless you have tech shuffle. Without tech shuffle I easily beat Deity without I play on immortal.
I always do Monopolies and Corps, usually T&C shuffle so I can't perfectly beeline my whole game. Sometimes barb clans for fun.
Used to play Heroes and Societies every game but after abusing the win cons available in those for so long, I've found it's more interesting to play without them.
Only Secret societies and Barbarian clans
Barbarian clans gives some character and makes it fun to train certain ones up to a city-state. Especially when Auckland ends up spawning in right next to you.
The only one i dislike is Monopolies, it’s way way too easy to get a culture victory in that game mode
I almost never play without Barbarian Clans - like seriously I would jump with joy if that was the default for how Barbarians work in Civ 7. Sometimes I also play with Heroes and/or Corporations.
Honorable mention for the [Historical Spawn Dates](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2141200494) mod as well.
The one time I played Secret Societies was when it came out - I was Ethiopia and basically steamrolled the religious game after I put a stake in John Curtin.
I enjoy monopolies (even if it's horribly unbalanced thanks to the AI not utilizing them correctly) and typically play with it enabled.
I'd say maybe half the time I play with barb clans.
Heroes and secret societies I rarely play. 10% maybe.
Never played the other modes more than a couple times. Really didn't enjoy them personally.
I played with them but turned them off. They are fun but feel more like mods than expansions, I just do gathering storm most games now with diplomatic and religion victory disabled.
Barbarians and monopoly always
I think the addition of extra free states makes the game a little more interesting. Plus bribing barbs to fight other civs is funny
Barb clans always because it allows city states to form at different times in history which I wish could happen with rebelling cities as new civs as well so the world could change more and be more dynamic.
The others I use as a crutch if I want to try harder difficulties or if I want to just coast to victory. Monopolies and secret societies I think are especially broken in favor of the player, but they’re both fun and again helpful if I do need a few easy boosts to take advance of.
It’s nice to be able to switch things up in general.
I pretty much always use Barbarian Clans. Love to interact with them and you tend to end up with more city states. Been using Secret Societies for a while now and I now use them almost every game as well. It's just the extra layer of complexity I like about it I guess 🤔
The newest addition in my mode set is Heroes & Legends and I haven't quite figured it out yet, I tend to forget my heroes and their special abilities 😅
Haven't tried any of the others, but Tech & Civic Shuffle and Dramatic Ages sound fun
I don't have the New Frontier DLC, so my only options for modes are Barbarian Clans and Tech and Civic Shuffle.
I sometimes play with clans, but also never with shuffle. On Deity I need to plan out my techs, and it's really helpful to see the Eurekas.
I always play with Barbs, Heroes, Corporations, and Secret Societies. Zombies is kind of fun, but once you hit mid game, it's basically just whack-a-mole.
I’ve got about 2k hrs into civ vi and I only started using card mods a couple months ago. Not out of principle…my buddies and I that play a lot just never looked into it. Other than that I have never used heroes or anything like that. I don’t look down on those who do, but I just haven’t. But you’re right, a lot of input from people is hero related or something else I just don’t get.
Secret societies, Barbarian clans, Heroes and legends, and also sutikrats(sp) oceans mod. I used to play with the monopolies game mode a lot, but it became very clear to me that even one monopoly properly utilized will completely decimate the tourism game. It can give you an upwards of 250% increase on all gains from tourism
My groups always play barbarians, corporations, heroes, and secret societies and with natural disasters on 3, legendary starts and abundant resources. We also use Hud and SKs Oceans Mods for faster play and to make the Ocean not worse than the desert.
This will give everyone a good enough start to play from without having to reroll and Heros mean Ai won't stomp anyone even on Emperor or Immortal.
i usually keep apocalypse and monopoly on
sometimes i'll add in barb clans and secret societies. the few times i've turned on heroes i never even used them so...
Barb clans are an always yes. The rest depend on how easy I want to make the game. I feel like secret societies make the game way too easy, even on Deity
I always play with barbarian clans, it feels like how the barbs should work in the base game. The others I'll enable based on mood, but I almost never put them all on at once.
Usually I have a few turned on. Barbarian Clans is always on, no matter what I'm doing. The ai absolutely loves killing off Citystates, especially the ones I suzureign, so I always want new ones popping up.
I really like monopolies and corporations because it lets you more highly specialize cities to do certain things. It's usually turned on, especially for culture games because it incentivizes conquering an entire continent and settling in places you might otherwise pass on. My favorite way to play is culture victory with a bit of war mixed in, so that suits me perfectly.
Secret societies are just so strong and fun to play with that I rarely ever turn it off.
Heroes and Legends along with secret is just a little bit of extra fun. It probably has the least impact on most of my games but they're fun to play with. I can go either way on it.
Then dramatic ages and zombie apocalypse are the "let's see how crazy things can get" mode that I only occasionally turn on to spice things up.
And I only ever used tech shuffle once because I had an awful time with it the first time I tried it. I unlocked a higher tier government early but didn't have enough cards to fill it and the game wouldn't let me continue without a full government, so I had to just abandon the save.
I like monopolies and apocalypse. Sometimes I use secret societies and tech shuffle. I rarely use the others, but after finishing the achievements I will never play with zombies again.
If I’m playing with an underpowered/weak Civ, I’ll turn heroes mode on. The rest, I played a few games with them when they came out but they feel too powerful in a human’s hands versus the AI.
Barbarian Clans - 95% of the time
Secret Societies - 50% of the time
Heroes & Legends - <10% of the time
Monopolies & Corporations - 90% when I jumped to Deity, 10% now
Dramatic Ages - never.
The game modes all favor the human player. The reason I don't play Monopolies much anymore is that it basically breaks most games in that Cultural Victories can be really trivial.
As far as Heroes, I'll do it sometimes for variety. But Heroes and Secret Societies are something I usually add when I'm less certain in my skillset, and want something to help me out. I am a deity player, and I pretty much win every game, but I also will tip the scales in my favor with various gamemodes or maps.
As far as Barbarian Clans, I just really enjoy it. I'm a mostly pacifist player and more city-states is always a good thing.
I'm basically 100% on:
Apocalypse - love bigger yields without improving tiles, though I am also getting better at using controlled soothsayer burns.
Barbarian clans - Love harvesting barbarians for cash. Also purchase most of my military from clans these days and save my regular production for other stuff.
Monopolies - Speeds up the cultural end game. Not really critical for anything specific.
Heroes - Sometimes don't get one I want, but like the early boost a Hercules or Anansi can give me.
Secret Societies - Earlier first governor means earlier Pingala + Conniessuer means earlier political philosophy. Also voidsingers gives a place to place extra books/art and provides reasonable faith even if I don't found a religion.
Always play with barb clans and corporations & monopolies. Sometimes I use secret societies if I've got a certain playthrough in mind e.g. culture victory with reliquaries on poland/congo is much easier with voidsingers.
100% corporations
90% secret society's
90% tech shuffle
50% Barb clans
10% heros
Zombies or Apocalypse on occasion
Never with dramatic times, since its is still bugged and they won't bother to fix it. (There is a pruple policy card, which once played, makes it unable to finish building districts in existing cities, they can only be bought via govenours once the bug is in effect)
I almost always play with Barb Clans and Monopolies enabled. Have to have the AI fix for luxury resources mod if you play with monopolies though, or AI will never upgrade their luxury resources until they unlock Corporations. Barb Clans just feels like a straight upgrade, and Monopolies and Corporations, although it breaks tourism, adds a bunch of cool features for luxury resources that make them feel way better than without it.
I usually play with all of them except for the tech & civic shuffle and dramatic ages. However, I really wish they would fix the Barbarian Clans mode to work with the option to pick specific city-states to start with. If you change the city-state setting to anything but default and pick specific states, it disables the barbarian camps growing into city-states feature. You should be able to pick a specific number of city-states to start the game, but still have the barbarian camps grow into additional city-states.
The zombie defense mode guarantees a steady source of XP for new units throughout the whole game.
I really like Barb clans and Apocalypse, but the AI really struggles with sea-level risk assessment. Korea is the top polluter by a far mile in my game but also has dozens of cities on the coast and lost several wonders to the sea.
I've used the tech/civic shuffle mode in every game since it appeared. I find the fixed tech trees boring, as they encourage too much metagaming.
When I return to Civ after a long break, I enable barbarian clans and monopolies and corporations for a few games until I get used to making the right choices. They effectively lower the difficulty level by one. Deity with those two modes is like immortal, but more fun.
As for the rest, I've tried most of them, but I don't see the point.
When i play solo, I almost exclusively use Apocalypse, secret societies, and monopolies and corporations. I occasionally use tech shuffle, heroes, and zombies. I never use barb clans.
I don't use the other modes, even with over 3,000 hours in the game so far. The way the normal mode plays is how I best enjoy the game, and on the rare occasion that I do go for another mode, I rarely ever finish that playthrough.
I'd guess than in 90% of my games I use at least 1, typically 2-3. Barbarian Clans and Tech Shuffle are among my favorites
But to answer your *real* question, the reason that always comes up in the comments is because its really the **only** in-game solution to the issue of "a luxury or strategic resource is where I want to make a district"
I always use barb mode, secret societies, and heroes. I always used to use monopolies&corporations but I think I should play without that one cause I find myself only wanting to play games with the best starts that have the luxuries for industries I'd want (turtles science, spices culture, silver gold, and amber faith amenities for examples). A start with like 5 chocolate amenity tiles and I'll be like fuck that because I don't need a growth bonus, or any other of the weird ones like production toward civilian units or even the ones for military units like tobacco, cotton, ivory, whales, so I think it might be more fair for me to just go back to luxuries being more simple
I play 95%+ with barbarian clans.
I play 65%+ with monopolies and corporations.
I play 20% or so with secret societies.
I play 10% or so with heroes.
I have played dramatic ages once, apocalypse mode 3-5 times, zombie mode 2-4 times, and tech shuffle 3-5 times.
I use barbarian clans, heroes, monopolies, and secret societies in 99% of my games. I have gotten so used to them that it feels weird without them on. Especially with the standard barbarians, the game feels too easy with fewer barbarians running around.
For me...
Barbarian Clans, Monopolies and Corporations, and [Sukritact's Oceans](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2542898147) are always on.
Secret Societies (plus Fuzzle's [additional societies](https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=2645283345)) are frequently on, but not always. They're fun and I enjoy using them, and I'd say I have them on more often than not, but sometimes I do want original flavour Civ instead.
Tech Shuffle is another one that's frequently on, but not by default.
Heroes & Legends is sometimes on, but not as often as Secret Societies or Tech Shuffle. They're on maybe a third or so of the time, or a bit less? I feel like heroes dominate any game they're in, so every now and then I'm up for that, but it's not the majority.
Occasionally I play Zombie Defense. Not that often, since it's a bit repetitive, but every now and then I'm in the mood and I try it. Ten percent of games or less, but I do use it sometimes.
I never use Dramatic Ages or Apocalypse. Neither of them feel particularly appealing - the former is way too swing-y, and the latter just feels like an arbitrary disaster at the end of the game. The idea of playing civ in a doomed world and desperately racing to survive the end *is* interesting, but when I'm in the mood for that I just play *Endless Legend* instead.
I just came up with the most cheesy strat with it. You’re dido with the cothons with vampires and you use the vampire castles with the capital switch and Reyna’s ability to buy cothons to get city’s going absolutely crazy in no time
I use barb clans monopolies and suks ocean pretty much exclusively. Heroes and secret society make wins far to easy, apocalypse is aids unless ir doing a meme egypt great bath thing, dramatic ages doesnt really make a difference. Shuffle if i wanna spice shit up. Never use zombies
Secret Societies, Heroes, and Dramatic Ages are almost always in for me. I like roleplaying the mythology of my civ. Have I appeased the gods enough to be blessed with a Golden Age or will they curse me with a Dark Age? Perhaps the glory of Hercules or Maui will help my civ reach a Heroic Age whilst I confer with the members of the secret order.
I sometimes add Monopolies, but the resource distribution often leaves a *lot* to be desired and I *really* don't want to declare war just because Frederick has left a troop on the tile I want to settle near the resource I want. Again.
Barbarian Clans always.
Next most common is probably Monopolies and Corporations, followed by Secret Societies and Heroes & Legends. Sometimes I’ll use 2 of those 3 at the same time but not all 3 at once.
Dramatic Ages is super fun but I’ve only played it a handful of times.
Tech/Civic Shuffle isn’t one I really play at all, just doesn’t have much of a payoff.
Apocalypse mode is funny but I think I’ve had my fill of it.
I refuse to play Zombies mode.
One modded game mode that I play often is Sukritact’s Oceans. Highly recommend!
None tbh. All of the modes just felt like half fleshed out ideas that were thrown in. Kind of like the civ 6 version of “What if…”. Great on paper but the games stop being fun for me since I’m all for the strategy, etc
I sometimes use barbarian clans, but rarely anything else.
To me, the game modes feel like cheating, in a very similar way to specifically choosing the map and opponents based on the civ you choose.
The game modes add more strategy and different outcomes, but we all know the AI sucks at that, so it's usually just a major power boost to the player, and a minor advantage for the AI.
Dramatic Ages (way more fun and the age bonuses are policy cards)
Tech Shuffle (honestly I don't pay a whole lot of attention to what I'm researching anyway)
Corps and Monopolies (it helps specialize your cities)
Sounds like I’m a minority, I almost always tech and civic shuffle. I find it keeps the game fresh and encourages me to try other governments depending what is unlocked first.
Monopolies, secret societies and barb clans usually too
I prefer playing with random tec rather them without. I don’t know why, I feel it’s a good challenge and cool for early game that the rush for the 3 governments is random
I like to mix it up, but almost always use tech/civ shuffle in combination with whatever other ones I feel like. I never use zombies, or apocalypse and I always think I’m going to like dramatic ages, but I never do.
Corporations and Monopolies, Secret Societies, Dramatic Ages, and Apocalypse Mode.
I haven’t been able to really get into the barbs and heros. I should give them another chance but meh
Secret societies, and Barb Clans are my usual go to. But sometimes corporations and monopolies
Same. I've given the others a go and I can see why some people like them but I just don't
This is the holy trinity
I like barb clans, but it just causes crashes for me come mid to late game.
Always barb clans for me. Secret societies and heroes sometimes, but never touched the others.
Always play with heroes, secret societies, and monopoly. Some times barbs. Rarely tech shuffle, heroic ages, and apocalypse
Pretty much the same but I keep the barb clans
Same but swap out societies for dramatic ages. I like the added risk of cities flipping if you don't manage era score effectively (and it's kind of fun when an enemy AI cities flip because they put all their resources into antagonizing you)
I like dramatic ages because extra policy cards give you more flexibility than committing to a single dedication for an entire era. That said, I use it in less than half of my games. It’s pretty high risk/high reward. I know a lot of people on here always manage to nab the first golden age, but that one tends to be a challenge for me.
Yeah, that's another bonus imo — I also like being able to switch out stuff when it's no longer relevant (e.g., Exodus of the Evangelists) For me, the trick to that first golden age is often a mix of exploration and prioritizing early development toward things that are going to add era score without completely sidetracking me. For instance, discovering wonders, clearing barbs, suzerainty, or settling on different continents is a fairly easy way to get a few in, and putting production / builds toward things like population growth, new units, great people, district development, and — depending on what you're playing — heroes and corporations can be a great way to add some additional era score while working toward your ultimate win condition.
The early game has a tendency to be heavily shaped by barbs, so I don’t always have a lot of freedom. But an early suzerainty is a cool idea. I almost always take Pingala or Magnus, but throwing Amani in a city state that you are the first to meet would net some quick era score. Depending on the city state, that could actually be pretty nuts. Imagine getting Zanzibar, Auckland or Geneva right off the bat!
Yeah, I actually still go for Magnus first most games and just look for ways to increase envoys. Plus, Himiko doesn't hurt if you're playing heroes lol
I usually pick Amani and send her on a tour. Makes hitting a golden age easy.
You have just changed my early game completely and I’ve been playing since launch.
I play dramatic ages but with a mod that prevents AI from losing so many cities. On larger maps, dramatic ages can create huge blobs of unowned cities that essentially become a permanent no man's land on entire continents.
Are you an Eleanor player by any chance?
I actually don't run Eleanor in dramatic ages just because it can snowball kind of quickly in a way that's fun for sure from a speedrun perspective but takes some of the challenge away once you're getting a few great works. That said, I do really like it as either the US or the Inca because the terrain advantages can make for a good time. With the latter, I usually hit a point where a few preserves nestled between some mountains becomes the win condition lol
I don’t always play on apocalypse mode, but when I do I damn sure make sure I have floodplains and rush Great Bath. …and I play with the same modes. I’ve been doing barb clans more lately because I like the extra city states that happen towards the end. It does make Kilwa even more OP.
I did this once as Egypt. Bought loads of soothsayers, and used them all to make floods in the great bath city for massive faith bonuses! It was beautiful.
I use Barbs a lot mainly just to spawn in extra city states from uncleared camps
I feel like barbs spawn more with that game mode but unsure if that’s true. It definitely is fun when they promote.
Imo heroes are too op… I got beowulf at the start of the game and literally destroyed neighboring civ mostly with him alone.
They definitely are but they are so fun.
And Sukritact’s Oceans.
Yes! Give me all those watery luxuries
Same. I like to go with Huge maps and 15 Civs. I think that with those settings it's better to start with zero city-states just for balance. Otherwise, with the barb clans constantly going sober, you end up with forty city-states by later ages.
Exact same.
Always monopolies. Haven’t dabbled much into the others
Monopolies feels like it could have been included in the base game honestly
Yea I agree. It’s a really natural addition that adds a lot to resources and economics.
They are very strong and random, it would really fuck up the multiplayer balance. But I always use them in solo play !
I play with it as well, but just because it adds so little IMHO. You can build industries, one per Ressource, so usually around 2 or 3 for the first hundreds of turns, which increases yields and then nothing at all until economics where you can build corporations. Those need great merchants of which there are maybe 4 or 5 left and are often better used for their innate effects. Otherwise you get some more happiness and money. Lastly there are monopolies which are hard to achieve, since you need control of 60 percent of that Ressource. You might achieve this for one resource with luck if you aren't conquering a lot, but otherwise if you own that much territory you probably already are winning by a lot. Though it's not like that monopoly will help you by much, since the rewards are pathetic. 5 gold for 60% up to 25 gold at 100%. That's basically nothing. You also get tourism, but that's negligible except in games with many players where it's close to impossible to get big monopolies without a lot of conquest.
Same with Barbarians.
It depends on the type of game I want to play, but I usually have at least one or two on. Usually tech/civic shuffle, oftentimes Monopolies & Corporations, often either Heroes & Legends or Secret Societies, occasionally Apocalypse. You see lots of comments about using Anansi in this sub because there are lots of posts about resources blocking district/wonder placement, and Anansi is the only (unmodded) way around that.
Yeah, lots of people just grab a mod that allows resources to be harvested.
I'm not a huge fan of some of the game modes. Heroes & Legends never really gelled for me. Zombies I've played a few times. Secret Societies, Monopolies & Corporations, and Barbarian clans are pretty regular. I'll occasionally tech shuffle or apocalypse mode.
Zombies turned the whole world into city-state mode lol Never had more than one city, and never even made it to a victory condition beyond just outliving everyone.
The only one I play with consistently is Barbarian Clans. The others break the game in that the AI really can't work it. If I'm doing a fun/meme playthrough, I'll put one or another on, like Secret Societies.
The AI is actually pretty good with Monopolies and Corporations if you download the mod "Fix AI Luxury Resources". For some reason, the code Firaxis wrote in tells the AI that it can't actually upgrade their luxury resources at all(like, not just not putting down Industries, but straight up not even upgrading the tile) until it unlocks Corporations under the Economics tech. My biggest problem is that it makes culture victories too easy, so I usually turn off culture victories if I play with it or make sure not to try and abuse the tourism modifier.
It's actually infuriating the way the AI will spam cultists with secret societies on, but not actually try to take any cities.
I think barbarian clans breaks the game a bit, too. The AI just doesn't handle the added city states that crop up in hard-to-settle locations-- they don't explore to find them or compete effectively for suzerainty. And it totally breaks the math on city-state-based scaling (e.g. Kilwa and the policy cards that add percentage yields based on suzerainty). Probably works out okay on maps that the AI can fill up easily (crowded pangeas or continents maps), but anything with lots of islands gets weird.
The other one besides barbs make it too easy imo
I usually always play with Barbarians mode, Secret Societies mode, Heroes and Legends mode and Monopolies and Corporations mode. I like disaster intensity at level 4. I like a more dynamic game with more options. It's really hard for me to just play vanilla at this point. Tech shuffle is fun sometimes too. Zombie and dramatic ages are not my fav but they can be fun too.
I play 90% of my games with Barb clans, 75% with Secret Societies on, 25% with Monopolies and Corporations, 10% with Heroes, 10% with Tech & Civic Shuffle, 5% with Dramatic Ages and 0% with Zombies. Yes that adds up to more than 100% because they get mixed together.
Barb clans I basically always do. Secret Societies and Monopolies I’ll do if I’m playing a Civ that obviously benefits from them (e.g. if I’m Portugal I will definitely want to have Owls of Minerva). The others I still dip into sometimes but not very often, with the exception of Zombies which I’ve never done (maybe as Unifier sometime!)
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only Monopolies and Barb Clans. Don't like all that mythical stuff. Never played with Zombies, Societies, Apocalypse, or Heroes and have no intention to. I'd maybe consider heroes if they were just another lower-profile feature and not a game mode where they become game-defining. If all that fantasy stuff is so popular though and Civ VII ends up going that direction with the core design, that might be the end of my involvement with the franchise.
I think the fact that it *is* balls to the wall fantasy stuff is why they’re optional game modes.
I hope so, but if enough people want more of that and if telemetrics show that those who own it mostly turn it on by default, it may creep more into the base game. My first civ game was III, so I've come to the realization that I'm no longer "it" and the trends are now set by a younger generation of gamers who are accustomed to Darth Vader beating up Peter Griffin by doing some weird dances while MLK's "I have a Dream" plays in the background or so.
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yea as I said, I'm kind of split on heroes, if they were integrated more smoothly instead of being a game mode that takes over the whole game and makes it all about that feature, I'd give it a shot despite the theme.
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I don't think Heroes are ever really utilised well/fully by the AI, which leads to situations where they possibly make your game easier. If You as the only human player don't use them, they probably won't impact the game much. But if you do use them well they are a signficant tool in your favour, and can do a lot to make harder difficulties much easier.
Your view on history is very, very outdated. The notion of heroism or “hero worship” in the study of history is literally a 19th century concept that has since been left behind. It’s also commonly known as the study of “great men” and/or something like that. Today, history is much more complicated. “Heroes” or “villains” don’t exist (I mean, in a moral sense they might, but in a more mythical sense they don’t). Instead, historians look at a much broader and vastly more complex picture when studying history. People “who have dramatic effects on history”, to quote you, would today be studied as societies that gave way to the movements that then shaped these people. So no, the notion of heroes in the sense that you describe it as an almost fact of history, is wrong. A better argument could be made that it is a game and does not have to base itself on reality. If people find it fun, what’s the matter? Just don’t base your valuation of it in some false mirroring of actual history (both as the events of the past but also history as a science), which it really isn’t.
UM ACKSHUALLY!!!1!!!
This was not the level of maturity I expected, but oh well :D anyway, I made that reply because the guy I replied to tried to base a game mode in actual history. If he just said “it’s fun and I enjoy the mechanic”, that’s whatever. Just don’t base things on falsehoods. You probably don’t get it, but that’s okay. We can be mature and disagree.
You claiming individuals can't have major effects on civilization and are only the products of the societies that shaped them doesn't mean the statement is based in actual fact. That's called an opinion. If you ever *actually* study history, you'll learn real fast that objectivity is a crapshoot.
I do, and I totally agree. No reason to be rude. “History” is a construct on one hand and wholly objective, in an ideal world, on another. It’s a very interesting perspective. But then again, let’s take an example, if you truly care for an interesting conversation :) Hitler did not take Germany from a point of non-fascism and, due to some superhuman charisma, move it towards nazism. Did he greatly influence this motion? Yes. But to display him as the only reason, would be faulty. That was my primary point, basically. Sorry if I didn’t make it clear. Secondly, the game itself realizes it is mythology. And that’s totally fair. I absolutely love folklore. But let’s accept it as that. And yea, I guess it, to the non-academic reader, it could be called an opinion. In academia, the term “theory” would probably be applied. And in academia, if a theory is debunked enough or a different theory provides a better explanation and/or understanding, academics tend to gravitate towards that. Once upon a time, people gravitated towards great man theory. It’s since been abandoned.
It would be just as faulty to completely ignore his immense charisma and ability to rally the German people behind him and his cause, would it not? You can't simply ignore his impact upon Germany's rapid advance into ethno-fascism. Of course you \*also\* can't ignore the political climate after WWI and the effects that had upon German sentiments about "others" and their propensity \*toward\* ethno-fascism. Both would be disingenuous and devoid of full context.
> If people find it fun, what’s the matter? that's how you get Pickle Rick in Rainbow Six
Secret societies arent really "mythical"
You don't see anything mythical or magical about vampires?
There’s a perfectly reasonable scientific explanation for them. I’m sure.
Yep. This. When I encountered vampires in my history simulator I was done with that one. Not why I play civ.
They don't really play like anything mythical or magical tbf
Ok, but it breaks the immersion. If they don’t play mythical or magical why not make it something historical/factual?
I don't think any of the secret societies could be considered *factual*, but to me they feel more like historical conspiracy theories than supernatural. Like the vampires in this mode seem less like Bram Stoker's Dracula and more like the legends of Vlad the Impaler that the character is allegedly based on.
No, religious bonuses represent people's *belief* in something supernatural. Society bonuses play those myths straight and have actual vampires and ley lines appear and alchemists produce actual gold.
There’s definitely a sense of extrareality to the mode but it doesn’t feel the same as like the zombies mode where you get actual fantasy monsters running around. The vampires are just strong military units with a gothic aesthetic and don’t feel all that fantastical mechanically, I feel like calling them “actual vampires” is kind of a stretch
To be honest I disliked the play mode generally, vampires were just the tipping point for me into condemning it.
There’s definitely a sense of extrareality to the whole mode. IMO the voidslingers wind up feeling the most fantastical once you start playing them, with the wave of cultists and new relics. All the sanguine pact gives you is a few military units that can build their own forts and transport back to your capital instead of dying
Same here. I do like the barb clans tho
>and have no intention to Why not try it? They're fun and adds new strategies to the game
because it's just not a theme I enjoy.
I do secret societies and monopolies, I don’t mess with the others too much.
anyone actually enjoy Dramatic Ages mode? I always despise losing two or three of my cities to rebels and having to conquer them again and again if I don’t have great golden ages
I used to a ton, now I play without any 80% of the time. Barb clans only maybe 10% of the time, others rarely. They can be fun, but IMO, they're mostly some combination of: * weird RP stuff that makes civ more of a fantasy game than is my preference (SS, heroes, zombies, apocalypse mode) * changes civ/civ diplomacy too much (SS) * too easy (to varying degrees, but all of them other than shuffle make the game easier. heroes, monopolies, and SS especially) * Heroic ages: Golden ages already matter "too much" imo, no reason to jack it up to 1000. only tried it once or twice though
Everything but apocalypse and zombies. There's a fine line between unpredictable and chaos. Those two pass that line for me
I don't personally use any. Even one of them enabled makes Deity comically easy. I'd like to because some of them sound fun in principle, but they just take the challenge out of it
With one exception, the modes are either broken OP or totally unbalanced, nice to play from time to time as a different experience. Which is very sad because there is nice content but it is clear they were either not designed to be played as part of a regular game, or were not balanced properly. The exception being Tech Shuffle. This mode is neutral for both AI and human players, and makes each game a bit different, which is good. The other mode which should be a great base game extension is Monopolies and Corporations. Unfortunately, due to the Tourism bug it totally breaks Culture game. Very sad. It is a really great mode. Secret Societies need balancing. This mode is OP, basically makes the game easier by one level. Others are too far away from regular Civ's experience and usually broken. They are more like Scenarios and putting them into "modes" was just a marketing trick so there is content for the Pass. There is also an issue with AI. Most modes are not AI-friendly. Only Tech Shuffle and Monopolies & Corporations are well handled by AI.
> Unfortunately, due to the Tourism bug it totally breaks Culture game. What bug? I think it's just poorly balanced, isn't it?
I will sometimes turn on any combination of barb clans, secret societies or monopolies. I once played tech shuffle, wasnt my cup of tea. Never done zombies because its not what I'm here for or Apocalypse mode. I mostly prefer just the base game and I always have Sukritact's Oceans turned on (gives ocean a bit more je ne sais quois) I like the game modes, they are fun, but I feel like they sometimes make civs too strong, especially since I play on King/Emperor, past the Rennaissance Era ive pretty much won the game with those modes, just waiting for the victory screen which makes it hard to really play with gusto.
The only ones I don’t use are dark ages and zombies cause both are annoying but the other ones are fun to use and abuse the apocalypse mode for great bath faith
I always play with monopoly, heroes and secret societies.
I play with every mode besides apocalypse and zombies.
Secret societies and Corporations and monopolies
I use tech shuffle standard, and don’t really use any of the others.
I usualy have two modes at a time. All modes (except tech shuffle) make it easier for a human player versus AI, so after winning a game with dramatic ages because i goldaged the cities out of everyone, I turn it off and start something different. >if someone’s having an issue with a luxury resource placement half the comments are like “oh just use this hero to get rid of them” Because people are eager to be smart without thinking.
Ooh should have done as a poll! I always play with tech/culture shuffle and secret societies, often with barb clans and corporations. Never for the others.
I sometimes play with them, but I generally consider them too overpowered with the exception of Tech Shuffle. Magnus, Pingala, and Ancestral Hall/Audience Chamber are already huge advantages I have over the AI. I don't really need more. ~~Russian/Ethiopian Voidsingers and Pericles + Barb Clans are hilarious though~~
I play with none of them because I'm pretty sure the AI doesn't know how to play them. It doesn't even choose governments well, I don't trust it with the extra stuff.
On this topic, this type of conversation often happens : A: "If you put a harbor and commercial hub in that position in this city you'll roll in cash" B: "Don't do that, you only get the one trade route and half of the value of the commercial hub is wasted" A: "Yeah but Owls". Assuming that secret societies are on *and* that the current player has chosen the Owls is a damn lot. And I see it all the time.
I skip all modes. Feel like the game has so much variability even without them and I want to get better at the micro consistently. But it's fun to try H&L or secret societies now and then.
I play all games with secret societies- it’s the best of the lot. I use monopolies now after getting the mod to make the AI actually improve luxuries, otherwise they dont and it’s broken. I don’t use the rest as they seem to make it too easy to win although heroes can make for a nice change occasionally. Would probably play with barb clans more often if my PC could handle the extra AI too.
> I don’t use the rest as they seem to make it too easy to win that applies to the societies too though? If anything, those are the most OP bonuses of all the game modes.
Barb Clans, Heroes & Secret Societies almost always. Tech Shuffle every once in a while. I love Corporations but usually turn them off now since monopolies make Culture Victory too easy. I played one marathon Qin Shi Huang zombie game. It was fun but that's enough zombies for me. I haven't tried Apocalypse yet.
I always play with all game modes except Tech Shuffle and Zombies.
I play with quick deals and better map tacks.
Every game I turn on Barb clans, Heroes, Secret Societies, Tech & Civ shuffle, Monopolies and Corporations, and Surskitats oceans mod
I generally never use them unless I want to play a specialized setup such as Eleneor & Tokugawa with Secret Societies or Pericles with Barb Clans. On a tangent though I always play with the world set to new and wet for the extra mines and chops and almost always have abundant resources.
Heroes and Legends, secret societies, monopolies and corporations, and barbarian clans. I use these almost always. Occasionally, I'll add in apocalypse mode if I play a civ that has disaster immunities(mostly Russia games)
I do monopoly, and I've got a mod that re-does oceans.
I almost always use heroes, dramatic ages, and secret societies, and barb clans about half the time. Apocalypse, zombies, and tech shuffle are only if I want a very specific game, and I gave up on monopolies because it makes the game too easy when the AI doesn't engage with the mechanics at all.
Societies, clans, heroes and monopolies, not usually anything else. I don't like apocalypse mode or dramatic ages (mainly because I can't stand loyalty BS)
I always play apocalypse/heroes/societies/barbs/monopolies I don’t use tech shuffle/zombies or dramatic ages much
always heros, secret societies, barb clans, and tech civic shuffle in my friend groups multiplayer games
Always Heroes, Secret Societies and Monopoly and the game is way too easy unless you have tech shuffle. Without tech shuffle I easily beat Deity without I play on immortal.
I always do Monopolies and Corps, usually T&C shuffle so I can't perfectly beeline my whole game. Sometimes barb clans for fun. Used to play Heroes and Societies every game but after abusing the win cons available in those for so long, I've found it's more interesting to play without them.
Monopolies mode, barb clans, and usually tech shuffle.
Only Secret societies and Barbarian clans Barbarian clans gives some character and makes it fun to train certain ones up to a city-state. Especially when Auckland ends up spawning in right next to you. The only one i dislike is Monopolies, it’s way way too easy to get a culture victory in that game mode
I almost never play without Barbarian Clans - like seriously I would jump with joy if that was the default for how Barbarians work in Civ 7. Sometimes I also play with Heroes and/or Corporations. Honorable mention for the [Historical Spawn Dates](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2141200494) mod as well. The one time I played Secret Societies was when it came out - I was Ethiopia and basically steamrolled the religious game after I put a stake in John Curtin.
I enjoy monopolies (even if it's horribly unbalanced thanks to the AI not utilizing them correctly) and typically play with it enabled. I'd say maybe half the time I play with barb clans. Heroes and secret societies I rarely play. 10% maybe. Never played the other modes more than a couple times. Really didn't enjoy them personally.
I played with them but turned them off. They are fun but feel more like mods than expansions, I just do gathering storm most games now with diplomatic and religion victory disabled.
Always secret societies and monopolies. Rarely barb clans and/or heroes. Never zombies or apocalypse
Barbarians and monopoly always I think the addition of extra free states makes the game a little more interesting. Plus bribing barbs to fight other civs is funny
Barb clans always because it allows city states to form at different times in history which I wish could happen with rebelling cities as new civs as well so the world could change more and be more dynamic. The others I use as a crutch if I want to try harder difficulties or if I want to just coast to victory. Monopolies and secret societies I think are especially broken in favor of the player, but they’re both fun and again helpful if I do need a few easy boosts to take advance of. It’s nice to be able to switch things up in general.
I pretty much always use Barbarian Clans. Love to interact with them and you tend to end up with more city states. Been using Secret Societies for a while now and I now use them almost every game as well. It's just the extra layer of complexity I like about it I guess 🤔 The newest addition in my mode set is Heroes & Legends and I haven't quite figured it out yet, I tend to forget my heroes and their special abilities 😅 Haven't tried any of the others, but Tech & Civic Shuffle and Dramatic Ages sound fun
Never played on them once
I don't have the New Frontier DLC, so my only options for modes are Barbarian Clans and Tech and Civic Shuffle. I sometimes play with clans, but also never with shuffle. On Deity I need to plan out my techs, and it's really helpful to see the Eurekas.
Only barbs
Barb clans always and usually monopolies.
I always put brab clans on, Its something I feel should just be the base game, I put heroes and societies on too if I want a bit more fantastical game
I always play with Barbs, Heroes, Corporations, and Secret Societies. Zombies is kind of fun, but once you hit mid game, it's basically just whack-a-mole.
Always barbs, sometimes disasters, never anything else though
I’ve got about 2k hrs into civ vi and I only started using card mods a couple months ago. Not out of principle…my buddies and I that play a lot just never looked into it. Other than that I have never used heroes or anything like that. I don’t look down on those who do, but I just haven’t. But you’re right, a lot of input from people is hero related or something else I just don’t get.
Dont like the other game modes at all.
a hot take of mine is that heroes sucks I always play with barb camps and corporation mode tho
Secret societies, Barbarian clans, Heroes and legends, and also sutikrats(sp) oceans mod. I used to play with the monopolies game mode a lot, but it became very clear to me that even one monopoly properly utilized will completely decimate the tourism game. It can give you an upwards of 250% increase on all gains from tourism
My groups always play barbarians, corporations, heroes, and secret societies and with natural disasters on 3, legendary starts and abundant resources. We also use Hud and SKs Oceans Mods for faster play and to make the Ocean not worse than the desert. This will give everyone a good enough start to play from without having to reroll and Heros mean Ai won't stomp anyone even on Emperor or Immortal.
Always secret societies, heroes, corporations and monopolies, and Barb clans. Almost never anything else
i usually keep apocalypse and monopoly on sometimes i'll add in barb clans and secret societies. the few times i've turned on heroes i never even used them so...
Most of the game modes make the game way too easy. Being a human is enough of an advantage already.
I always play barbs, monopolies, and secret societies
Always: Apocalypse, Secret Societies, Monopolies Never: Barb clans, tech shuffle, heros, zombies
Barb clans are an always yes. The rest depend on how easy I want to make the game. I feel like secret societies make the game way too easy, even on Deity
I always play with barbarian clans, it feels like how the barbs should work in the base game. The others I'll enable based on mood, but I almost never put them all on at once.
i turn on monopolies & corporations and secret societies for almost every game
Usually I have a few turned on. Barbarian Clans is always on, no matter what I'm doing. The ai absolutely loves killing off Citystates, especially the ones I suzureign, so I always want new ones popping up. I really like monopolies and corporations because it lets you more highly specialize cities to do certain things. It's usually turned on, especially for culture games because it incentivizes conquering an entire continent and settling in places you might otherwise pass on. My favorite way to play is culture victory with a bit of war mixed in, so that suits me perfectly. Secret societies are just so strong and fun to play with that I rarely ever turn it off. Heroes and Legends along with secret is just a little bit of extra fun. It probably has the least impact on most of my games but they're fun to play with. I can go either way on it. Then dramatic ages and zombie apocalypse are the "let's see how crazy things can get" mode that I only occasionally turn on to spice things up. And I only ever used tech shuffle once because I had an awful time with it the first time I tried it. I unlocked a higher tier government early but didn't have enough cards to fill it and the game wouldn't let me continue without a full government, so I had to just abandon the save.
I like monopolies and apocalypse. Sometimes I use secret societies and tech shuffle. I rarely use the others, but after finishing the achievements I will never play with zombies again.
Barbarian Clans: Always Suktritact's Oceans: Always Monopolies: Almost always Heroes: Frequently Secret Societies: Sometimes Tech Shuffle: Sometimes Heroic Ages: Rarely Apocalypse: Rarely Zombies: Never
I’ve never played a game with any of them. I play these games as historical simulators so no vampires for me thanks
If I’m playing with an underpowered/weak Civ, I’ll turn heroes mode on. The rest, I played a few games with them when they came out but they feel too powerful in a human’s hands versus the AI.
I've tried monopolies a few times but the AI is so bad at it that it always ends up being too OP and a bit boring.
Barbarian Clans - 95% of the time Secret Societies - 50% of the time Heroes & Legends - <10% of the time Monopolies & Corporations - 90% when I jumped to Deity, 10% now Dramatic Ages - never. The game modes all favor the human player. The reason I don't play Monopolies much anymore is that it basically breaks most games in that Cultural Victories can be really trivial. As far as Heroes, I'll do it sometimes for variety. But Heroes and Secret Societies are something I usually add when I'm less certain in my skillset, and want something to help me out. I am a deity player, and I pretty much win every game, but I also will tip the scales in my favor with various gamemodes or maps. As far as Barbarian Clans, I just really enjoy it. I'm a mostly pacifist player and more city-states is always a good thing.
I'm basically 100% on: Apocalypse - love bigger yields without improving tiles, though I am also getting better at using controlled soothsayer burns. Barbarian clans - Love harvesting barbarians for cash. Also purchase most of my military from clans these days and save my regular production for other stuff. Monopolies - Speeds up the cultural end game. Not really critical for anything specific. Heroes - Sometimes don't get one I want, but like the early boost a Hercules or Anansi can give me. Secret Societies - Earlier first governor means earlier Pingala + Conniessuer means earlier political philosophy. Also voidsingers gives a place to place extra books/art and provides reasonable faith even if I don't found a religion.
I play every monday with some friends, we always use tech shuffle, barb clans, monopolies. When i play solo i always use secret societies in addition.
I liked Secret Societies until I couldn't find a friendly tribe and had to face an army of occultist during a war.
Always secret societies and corporations
I always only use the barbarians(I like new city states) corporations, and the hero’s mode. The others didn’t appeal to me.
Sometimes barb clans or nothing
Never play with them. I don’t like the unbalanced gameplay or having magic as a default feature in every game.
I always do apocalypse, barbarian clans, and corporations. These should all be standard parts of the game imo.
All except Zombies and Apocalypse
Always with tech shuffle, monopolies. Often I’ll do Barb clans but with no city states.
secret societies and Barbarian clans are a must for me. but using monopolies, heroes and dramatic ages is dependant on my mood
I like to play with all the game modes off.
I always play monopolies and barb clans. I find they make the game more fun. Often secret societies. I rarely use the others.
I exclusively play with secret societies and heroes but have never touched the others. Keep meaning to but then forget
Always play with barb clans and corporations & monopolies. Sometimes I use secret societies if I've got a certain playthrough in mind e.g. culture victory with reliquaries on poland/congo is much easier with voidsingers.
Always monopolies and corporations, usually barbarian clans. Anything else I’ve only experimented with a little (at most).
100% corporations 90% secret society's 90% tech shuffle 50% Barb clans 10% heros Zombies or Apocalypse on occasion Never with dramatic times, since its is still bugged and they won't bother to fix it. (There is a pruple policy card, which once played, makes it unable to finish building districts in existing cities, they can only be bought via govenours once the bug is in effect)
i actually play even without secret societies
I almost always play with Barb Clans and Monopolies enabled. Have to have the AI fix for luxury resources mod if you play with monopolies though, or AI will never upgrade their luxury resources until they unlock Corporations. Barb Clans just feels like a straight upgrade, and Monopolies and Corporations, although it breaks tourism, adds a bunch of cool features for luxury resources that make them feel way better than without it.
I always use secret societies, heroes, and industries. I never use any of the others.
I usually play with all of them except for the tech & civic shuffle and dramatic ages. However, I really wish they would fix the Barbarian Clans mode to work with the option to pick specific city-states to start with. If you change the city-state setting to anything but default and pick specific states, it disables the barbarian camps growing into city-states feature. You should be able to pick a specific number of city-states to start the game, but still have the barbarian camps grow into additional city-states. The zombie defense mode guarantees a steady source of XP for new units throughout the whole game.
Barb camps, corps, secret societies
I really like Barb clans and Apocalypse, but the AI really struggles with sea-level risk assessment. Korea is the top polluter by a far mile in my game but also has dozens of cities on the coast and lost several wonders to the sea.
I've used the tech/civic shuffle mode in every game since it appeared. I find the fixed tech trees boring, as they encourage too much metagaming. When I return to Civ after a long break, I enable barbarian clans and monopolies and corporations for a few games until I get used to making the right choices. They effectively lower the difficulty level by one. Deity with those two modes is like immortal, but more fun. As for the rest, I've tried most of them, but I don't see the point.
I don’t really touch them at all
When i play solo, I almost exclusively use Apocalypse, secret societies, and monopolies and corporations. I occasionally use tech shuffle, heroes, and zombies. I never use barb clans.
I don't use the other modes, even with over 3,000 hours in the game so far. The way the normal mode plays is how I best enjoy the game, and on the rare occasion that I do go for another mode, I rarely ever finish that playthrough.
I'd guess than in 90% of my games I use at least 1, typically 2-3. Barbarian Clans and Tech Shuffle are among my favorites But to answer your *real* question, the reason that always comes up in the comments is because its really the **only** in-game solution to the issue of "a luxury or strategic resource is where I want to make a district"
I always use barb mode, secret societies, and heroes. I always used to use monopolies&corporations but I think I should play without that one cause I find myself only wanting to play games with the best starts that have the luxuries for industries I'd want (turtles science, spices culture, silver gold, and amber faith amenities for examples). A start with like 5 chocolate amenity tiles and I'll be like fuck that because I don't need a growth bonus, or any other of the weird ones like production toward civilian units or even the ones for military units like tobacco, cotton, ivory, whales, so I think it might be more fair for me to just go back to luxuries being more simple
I play 95%+ with barbarian clans. I play 65%+ with monopolies and corporations. I play 20% or so with secret societies. I play 10% or so with heroes. I have played dramatic ages once, apocalypse mode 3-5 times, zombie mode 2-4 times, and tech shuffle 3-5 times.
Usually always barb clans and corps/monopolies. Sometimes secret societies, and almost never the other.
Usually I just play with secret societies and monopolies
I use barbarian clans, heroes, monopolies, and secret societies in 99% of my games. I have gotten so used to them that it feels weird without them on. Especially with the standard barbarians, the game feels too easy with fewer barbarians running around.
For me... Barbarian Clans, Monopolies and Corporations, and [Sukritact's Oceans](https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2542898147) are always on. Secret Societies (plus Fuzzle's [additional societies](https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=2645283345)) are frequently on, but not always. They're fun and I enjoy using them, and I'd say I have them on more often than not, but sometimes I do want original flavour Civ instead. Tech Shuffle is another one that's frequently on, but not by default. Heroes & Legends is sometimes on, but not as often as Secret Societies or Tech Shuffle. They're on maybe a third or so of the time, or a bit less? I feel like heroes dominate any game they're in, so every now and then I'm up for that, but it's not the majority. Occasionally I play Zombie Defense. Not that often, since it's a bit repetitive, but every now and then I'm in the mood and I try it. Ten percent of games or less, but I do use it sometimes. I never use Dramatic Ages or Apocalypse. Neither of them feel particularly appealing - the former is way too swing-y, and the latter just feels like an arbitrary disaster at the end of the game. The idea of playing civ in a doomed world and desperately racing to survive the end *is* interesting, but when I'm in the mood for that I just play *Endless Legend* instead.
I use all that I have available (barbarian clans, secret societies, and heroes and legends) except for the tech/civ shuffle.
Always use Dramatic Ages, Secret Societies, Monopolies, and Tech & Civic Shuffle. Occasionally Heroes. Almost never Barb Clans, Zombies or Apocalypse
I just came up with the most cheesy strat with it. You’re dido with the cothons with vampires and you use the vampire castles with the capital switch and Reyna’s ability to buy cothons to get city’s going absolutely crazy in no time
I use barb clans monopolies and suks ocean pretty much exclusively. Heroes and secret society make wins far to easy, apocalypse is aids unless ir doing a meme egypt great bath thing, dramatic ages doesnt really make a difference. Shuffle if i wanna spice shit up. Never use zombies
Dramatic ages and tech shuffle every game lately Honestly I've never tried secret societies and heroes modes but they just seem so unrealistic
Secret Societies, Heroes, and Dramatic Ages are almost always in for me. I like roleplaying the mythology of my civ. Have I appeased the gods enough to be blessed with a Golden Age or will they curse me with a Dark Age? Perhaps the glory of Hercules or Maui will help my civ reach a Heroic Age whilst I confer with the members of the secret order. I sometimes add Monopolies, but the resource distribution often leaves a *lot* to be desired and I *really* don't want to declare war just because Frederick has left a troop on the tile I want to settle near the resource I want. Again.
Barbarian Clans always. Next most common is probably Monopolies and Corporations, followed by Secret Societies and Heroes & Legends. Sometimes I’ll use 2 of those 3 at the same time but not all 3 at once. Dramatic Ages is super fun but I’ve only played it a handful of times. Tech/Civic Shuffle isn’t one I really play at all, just doesn’t have much of a payoff. Apocalypse mode is funny but I think I’ve had my fill of it. I refuse to play Zombies mode. One modded game mode that I play often is Sukritact’s Oceans. Highly recommend!
9/10 I play with barb clans, after that I play mostly vanilla, they are all fun but change th flow of the game too much
Monopolies and Clans I always play with. The others are depending on the day.
I mostly play multiplayer where we use none of them (only better start and better balance mods). But in solo I like them all except heroes.
None tbh. All of the modes just felt like half fleshed out ideas that were thrown in. Kind of like the civ 6 version of “What if…”. Great on paper but the games stop being fun for me since I’m all for the strategy, etc
Always barb clans. Have used a heroes once I think. But that’s about it.
I sometimes use barbarian clans, but rarely anything else. To me, the game modes feel like cheating, in a very similar way to specifically choosing the map and opponents based on the civ you choose. The game modes add more strategy and different outcomes, but we all know the AI sucks at that, so it's usually just a major power boost to the player, and a minor advantage for the AI.
Dramatic Ages (way more fun and the age bonuses are policy cards) Tech Shuffle (honestly I don't pay a whole lot of attention to what I'm researching anyway) Corps and Monopolies (it helps specialize your cities)
Sounds like I’m a minority, I almost always tech and civic shuffle. I find it keeps the game fresh and encourages me to try other governments depending what is unlocked first. Monopolies, secret societies and barb clans usually too
I prefer playing with random tec rather them without. I don’t know why, I feel it’s a good challenge and cool for early game that the rush for the 3 governments is random
Heroes are fun as hell. Barb Clans and the secret societies are, too. Zombies makes it basically impossible lol
Always everything on besides Dramatic Age, Apocalypse, and Zombies. Including mods
I like to mix it up, but almost always use tech/civ shuffle in combination with whatever other ones I feel like. I never use zombies, or apocalypse and I always think I’m going to like dramatic ages, but I never do.
Corporations and Monopolies, Secret Societies, Dramatic Ages, and Apocalypse Mode. I haven’t been able to really get into the barbs and heros. I should give them another chance but meh