Civ 6 Custom Civs
The series' endless modability is one of the reasons many of us are still playing it today. In a game all about replayability, being able to inject some user made variety into your world-dominating conquests can keep the game feeling fresh after hundreds of hours. From simple gameplay changes to total conversions, the around are truly things to behold.And then there's the other guys. While some players mod in snubbed historical figures or their favorite videogame characters as new playable leaders and nations, other modders take a different route.
We dove deep into the Steam Workshops for both Civ 5 and Civ 6—the latter of which only has one representative on this list as official modding tools and Workshop support just arrived at the —and found the weirdest custom civs players have inexplicably decided need to be in the game.The spikey-haired host of the television show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives gets to rule his very own country. Guy Fieri tops this list because it's a mod that goes all out in its unrelenting lunacy. It has custom graphics and text all throughout, and even has a synopsis and history at least five paragraphs long in the civilopedia. It also shouldn't be a surprise that all his unique abilities and buildings center around boosting both culture and food.An Antarctica civ doesn't sound so crazy on the surface, but modder Methodialexis decided to take it in a very strange direction. A continent with essentially no human life, the leader is instead a 'genetically enhanced Penguin named Pengu that is not only smarter than humans by a long shot, but has gained mastery over human mind control, and is seeking world domination.' All of its Workers are replaced with human slaves, and the Granary is replaced with a 'Human Farm', because if you are going to make a civ of penguins why not really lean into the absurdity of it?Not going to lie, half the reason this is on the list is because the name is just brilliant. The other half is because how on earth has Kanye West ended up as a civ mod?
For fictional civilizations, see Custom Fictional Civilizations. Custom Civilizations are those mods which introduce new civilizations to the game, offering unique ways to play and paying homage to those historical nations and people otherwise overlooked.
The civ also comes with Beyonce as a Great Musician, a Kim Kardashian unit, and a religion called Kanyeism. I also love that according to the Steam page, his first city is just 'Kanye', while the second is the also brilliant name of 'Westville'.This may be my favorite of the entire list, and I have no idea why. Someone, for some utterly incomprehensible reason, has turned the Korean national railroad company into a playable civ. As you might expect, the entire mod is in Korean, but I'm not sure I'd really understand what was going on even if it was in English.
Also as you might expect, KORAIL doesn't have to pay maintenance on Roads or Railroads and has improved Great Engineers.Lead, of course, by Bill Gates, the Empire of Microsoft is pretty much a reskin of the American civ with some small differences. The biggest being they generate Great Scientists and Generals faster, for which the rationale on the Workshop page is 'so that Microsoft can invade other companies and recreate their products with their scientists faster I guess' Bombers become 'Flight Simulators' and Walls become 'Windows Vista Defenders', which is sure to scare opponents away.Our only representative from Civ 6 on this list, Shia Labeouf is an alternate leader for the American civ. I was pretty disappointed to see how slim Civ 6's Workshop page still is, but I suppose Civ 5 is still the more-played game and has a longer lineage of weird mods to pull from. Shia's ability is 'Just Do It', which gives Builders more charges and improves your Theater Squares.It was upon finding this civ that I knew my hunt was not in vain. John Madden's Moonbase Alpha is a custom civ built around the incredible videos spurred by free-to-play game Moonbase Alpha's text-to-speech feature—for those out of the loop,. John Madden leads the lunar-themed civ, which is complete with its own instead of Great Musicians, and the unique ability 'Aeiou'.
This mod is a gift.Why someone would want to play Civ 5 by controlling a nation themed after Lawbreakers developer Boss Key Productions wasn't entirely clear to me, but it was the story behind this mod that earned it a spot onto the list. Apparently modder Angeflo made it as part of their portfolio while applying for an Engineering Intern position at the studio back in 2015. The real kicker: four days after posting it Angeflo commented on the Workshop page saying he had been turned down, and the mod was never updated again. Pour one out for Angeflo, but at least now we can all play Civ as Cliffy B.'
We salute you with a finger pointed squarely at the two-o'clock position,' the intro for the great nation of 'Pierce & Pierce Mergers and Acquisitions' begins. A civ based on Christian Bale's character in the movie American Psycho is hardly the strangest one here, but I'm left wondering all the same how someone was struck with the idea to do this. Still, their attention to detail is admirable, with lines from the movie scattered throughout trade deals and dialogue options.The only civ on this list with a content warning on the Workshop page, saying 'DO NOT install this mod if you are likely to be offended.
This mod contains mild bad language, sexual references and toilet humour.' Basically, it's bunch of poo jokes, with the poo emoji itself as the symbol of the civ. It also has bonuses built around cows and sheep, and a 'Sewage Plant' that increases food and culture. I'm not sure why anyone would want to spend the duration of a civ game playing as poo, but to each their own.Right up there with KORAIL in terms of confusing theme choices, someone went ahead and made a civ based on the. The leader of the civ is developer Elecbyte, and all of its unique units and abilities are fighting game themes with a focus on military bonuses. Modder nomercyjeffc has at least a dozen other custom civs ranging from Minecraft to Markiplier, so I guess they just threw topics at a wall to see what stuck.This civ is essntially a bad montage of any and every movie Schwarzenegger has been in, pulling quotes and images from Conan, Mr.
Freeze, Total Recall, and lots more. Arnold Schwarzenegger leads the land of Schwarzeneggeria, a predictably barbarous country that gets bonuses for pillaging and Great Generals.
Similar to the Guy Fieri mod, just a little bit too much work has gone into making this civ, which may be why it still has nearly 10,000 subscribers three years after releasing.
The launch of Civilization 6 is finally here, and if you're like me, you're probably trying to figure out how to cheese your way to victory at your weekend Civ 6 launch LAN party.After playing my pre-release copy of Civ 6 for exactly 10 billion hours, I'm pretty confident that this ranking of the best Civs in the game is as unimpeachable as any great despot.Here are the Civs you should be picking first — and the one Civ you need to avoid. The most powerful Civs in Civ 6, ranked by their ability to win you the game20. Source: Civilization VIBefore I played the game, I thought the Harbor was going to be game-changing for players who aspired to do battle on the open water. Giving non-coastal cities the ability to build a fleet seemed incredible, allowing players to stay versatile in choosing where to settle a city.And then I actually played Civ 6, and I realized that versatility comes at much too high a price: If you don't have to build coastal cities to create a navy, there's little-to-no incentive to build coastal cities at all. This means navies will have a hard time finding any cities to siege.In other words, while it's easier to build ships than ever before, those ships will have just about nothing to do on most maps.And a Civ like Norway, whose entire focus is on maritime domination, just can't cut it — especially with a unique land unit as terrible as the Berserker.19. Source: Civilization VIIf you were confused by the idea of a Domination-focused Civ that gets its unique unit immediately when you first saw Gilgamesh's unveiling, you're not alone.The other piece of that puzzle? Founded cities can't attack until they build walls.
They also all have open borders until you research a Civic that closes your borders to everyone.In other words, in early game, every single city is a huge target for immediate annihilation. And nobody does the job better than Gilgamesh.If you choose to switch to a more peaceful path later in the game, your Ziggurat will help out with any science you may have lost while building war units instead of augmenting your Campus districts. Your discount to levying City-States' military units also gives you a mercenary army on the cheap.But this Civ will really shine as an ally in single-player mode or as an NPC. Think of them less like a Civ to choose for yourself and more like the most sophisticated City-State in the game.And even though I'm ranking them one right after the other, the quality gap between Norway and Sumeria is immense. While ultimately unspectacular, Sumeria is much, much better than Norway. I cannot state that enough.18.
Source: Civilization VIIn a lot of ways, Kongo is sort of the Venice of Civilization 6. What boosts Venice got to its gold-generation, Kongo gets to its ability to generate production and food from specific great works.That means that Kongo wants to pursue a Cultural Victory over its enemies. It also means that Kongo is locked into pursuing a Cultural Victory over its enemies.
And by the end of the game, especially if other cultural Civs are in play, it just doesn't have the means to wage the necessary wars to snatch wonders and great works. Kongo's unique district, the Mbanza, will help you house all the wonderful citizens to aid with science victories as well.That said, Kongo's inability to found a religion means that an entire victory type is completely precluded for Mvemba a Nzinga. In a game where just about every other Civ stays versatile, an inherent penalty like this is pretty unacceptable.17. Source: Civilization VIThe Aztecs having advantages toward how their amenities are distributed means you'll be able to build cities in places where nobody can build anything.
The ability to speed up production of districts with your Builders (which, by the way, you'll have in large supply thanks to your Eagle Warrior!) means you can get infrastructure going faster than practically every other Civ in the game. However, in my humble and good opinion, its advantages come far too early in the game. When you're scrambling to figure out your victory type by mid-to-late game, you won't have any sexy advantages.Still, the ability to build a city just about anywhere thanks to your luxury efficiency makes the Aztecs a rock-solid choice.15. Source: Civilization VIWhereas Trajan was a master-of-none, Hojo Tokimune is a true jack-of-all-trades.
The extra district adjacency bonuses force you to think very, very strategically about how you're planning the layout of your city. That'll give you a crash course in the most groundbreaking change between Civ 5 and Civ 6: the unpacked city, where every district and world wonder requires you to devote a tile to its production.That said, those bonuses won't amount to much for the more casual player.
Combat bonuses for coastal battle are unspectacular, but the Electronics Factory, which distributes its production bonus to nearby cities and eventually yields a huge cultural advantage, is nothing to write off for a Civ that wants to build compact cities as close to one another as possible.In short, Japan has a lot to offer — but almost nothing to excite.14. Source: Civilization VIThey're not as powerful as America when it comes to the dual focus on culture and war, but they're a lot more fun. The extra slots for archaeology mean that bee-lining Terracotta Army is as imperative to your success as Chichen Itza was for Brazil and Persia in Civ 5. Still, the Royal Navy Dockyard and Sea Dog are something of a waste for a city that, frankly, wants to defend its capital. The Redcoat is an awesome unit for helping you seize cities that control wonders you want — as long as they're on another continent.13. Source: Civilization VIGold isn't the resource it used to be (especially if you have strong faith generation and you dip into Theocracy), but Cleopatra's Egypt holds its own all thanks to its unique unit and its ability to streamline wonders it builds on rivers.However, because rivers are so overpowered in this game due to the new Housing mechanic, finding the means to build cities along those banks are going to be few and far between — especially if people start Settler-spamming.Egypt's unique unit, the Maryanu Chariot Archer, is as overpowered as it's ever been.12. Source: Civilization VIGorgo big or Gorgo home, am I right?(I'm wrong — sorry.)That extra Wildcard policy spot is to die for.
Civ 6 Custom Civs
Too bad that warmongering is punished harder than ever, and that leaving a barbarian camp up to spam the cultural bonus from killing units is riskier than ever.Still, the ability to have an extra law in her nation means that Gorgo can pursue just about any victory type. Unfortunately, those Hoplites obsolesce far too quickly, and if you haven't accomplished what you need to in the Ancient and Classical Eras, claiming victory may be tricky.7. Source: Civilization VIScythia's ability to produce two light cavalry units every time it builds one — including its unique unit, a mounted archer that doesn't require horses to build — is utterly outrageous for any Civ that wants to pursue domination victories.
If you see Scythia spawn next to you, bolster your defenses or say your prayers. Losing your capital is all but assured.Keep on pushing toward a Domination Victory, or conquer key cities and build towards a more peaceful Victory type; the choice is yours.2.
Source: Civilization VIThat extra district regardless of population size may not seem like much, but it affords you a versatility to pursue any Victory type that no other Civ in the game can boast. Thinking about science?
Have all your cities build a free campus. A mind for the arts? Build Theater Districts till your heart's content. If zealotry's more your speed, construct a Holy Site and spam Apostles like there's no tomorrow.An extra military policy slot adds insult to injury for all who dare oppose you — use it to play a strong offense if you're pursuing a Domination Victory, or fortify your capital with defensive civics that shore up your defenses. The Best Civilization in Civ 6, without further ado.1.
Source: Civilization VIWords cannot describe how good this Civ is, but I'll try anyway: In a game where cities are unpacked from their center, a Civ that gets all those extra tiles when it founds a city is seriously overpowered. Getting huge bonuses from all those tundra tiles means there's nowhere Russia won't want to settle — and it means miles and miles of open snow to pursue without angering anyone.But it's the Cossack that makes an excellent Civ even better. Not only are they stronger than the Cavalry unites they replace, their ability to move after they attack means that nobody can mess with you in the mid-to-late game.Don't be fooled: This Civ can pursue any victory type. The fact that they get so many tiles to work with means you have ample space to place whatever wonders and tile improvements you like.It also means you'll want to bee-line Hanging Gardens for the boosts to citizen growth. Being able to work every single tile you own — and thanks to your unique ability and the Lavra, you'll own too many to count — means you'll have the most powerful cities in the game after you get access to Neighborhoods.We hope this helped you build a civilization that can stand the test of time.
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Go forth and conquer — or just get everyone wearing your blue jeans. The choice is yours.