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Civilization 6 Expansion Braces for 'Rise and Fall'

The next expansion for Sid Meier's Civilization VI will explore a civilization's ultimate heights and its greatest falls.

Ozzie Mejia

November 28, 2017 10:55 AM

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One of the key questions to life itself is, "How will you be remembered?" That question can be applied to civilizations as a whole and that's one of the major themes of Civilization VI's next expansion. Rise and Fall will explore both a civilization's peaks and valley's, exploring both prosperity and hardship.

"In the Civilization VI base game, we have the idea of a 'player era' – how far a player has advanced on their tech or civics tree," explains Lead Designer Anton Strenger on the Civilization website. "In this expansion, systems are very much tied to the idea of the 'game era,' which is determined by individual player advancement and a few other behind-the-scenes adjustments. Think of these game eras like chapters in a book. Each has its own arc, and its own small ending, but leaves you wanting to discover the rest of the story by continuing to the next chapter. When you enter a new game era you may earn a Golden Age or a Dark Age. Which one you get is determined by your Era Score in the previous game era, a score that is increased by fulfilling certain objectives."

Golden Ages will offer major bonuses across the board. Dark Ages will do the opposite, hurting Loyalty. However, much like the course of human history, surviving a Dark Age means it becomes more likely that a Golden Age is around the corner.

Players will also want to monitor their neighbors and whether they're in the midst of a Golden or Dark Age, adjusting any strategy accordingly. In fact, if the neighbor is enduring a Dark Age, it's entirely possible to gain control of that neighboring area without the need for military intervention. With that in mind, managing Governors of player-controlled lands becomes a major factor in how the player's civilizations will progress.

More information about the Rise and Fall expansion can be found on the aforementioned Civilization website, including new info on Alliances, Emergencies, and the addition of the great female leaders of history. Civilization VI: Rise and Fall is set to release on February 8.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?