I always play with 7 civs..

[Guest]

and I assume everyone else does as well. Am I right? Has someone here ever played with less than 7 civs? And if so, how the game differs from 7 civ game? Just curious.

[Chris 62]

I've never tried it with less then seven, so I don't know what it's like.

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All knowledge begins with the phrase: I don't know.

[Ilkuul]

I used to play with fewer civs when I first started (Civ1), and sometimes now when I want a more peaceful opening game. Especially if you play on a large map, it leaves you free to develop your civ more rapidly if you don't have to start fighting off opponents right away. The downside of that, tho', is that without any contact with other civs you don't know what they're up to! So you run the risk, especially at higher levels, that you'll be making great progress at the knights/cannon stage when suddenly you're discovered by an enemy cruiser, and transports quickly follow filled with armor, spies and howitzers! Bang bang you're dead.

Recently I've had a couple of multiplayer games with a friend where we had 6 civs; he and I were allied, with the aim of wiping out the remaining AI civs -- i.e., 2 each. It worked quite well on a small map.


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Ilkuul

Every time you win, remember: "The first shall be last".
Every time you lose, remember: "The last shall be first".

[brian32]

Sometimes I play with fewer than 7 other civs. Usually what happens is everyone gets much more established before any heavy fighting begins. This can make it a lot harder if you're used to wiping everyone out early. It can help, though, because when you take over another civ, you don't have to do much work to get their cities up to par, because they've been working on them for a couple thousand years already.

I still like to play with 7 civs, though. It gives a lot more opportunities for diplomacy, alliances, and conquest. I think it makes the game all around more fun.

[Chris1111]

I used to play with 7 but more often now I play with random amount. When you have fewer civs theres greater chance that the enemy could be bigger then you and that means civil war sometimes if you take their capital city. I love the carnage civil war causes :P

[Earwicker]

I always play with 7 Civs. Changing the size of the map to large or huge, and limiting my own expansion can allow for better development of my opponents. That makes for a nice diplomatic challenge.

[Father Beast]

I usually play with 7. makes for lots of variety and interest. I sometimes will play with 3, if I want to have a lot of space to work before I see anyone, or I want to be by myself.
never touched the other settings. always 7 or 3.