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Each civilization will possess one of several Government type that provides global modifiers across all of their units and/or cities. The default starting government is a Despotism, although several civilizations begin with another more advanced government as a result of a civilization bonus. Governments may be changed at any time so long as the required technology has been researched. However, changing governments will cause a turn of Anarchy, during which all outputs of all cities are reduced to zero. India and Japan are exempt from the anarchy penalty, although Japan only obtains anarchy immunity past the Industrial Age.
| Government | Effects | Required Tech |
|---|---|---|
| Despotism | Can launch nuclear weapons without a culture loss | None |
| Republic | Settlers require only 1 population (instead of 2) | Code of Laws (3) |
| Monarchy | Double culture bonus from Palaces | Monarchy (4) |
| Democracy | +50% Science, +50% Gold, but may not declare war or decline a peace treaty | Democracy (4) |
| Fundamentalist | +1 Attack to all ground units, but Libraries and Universities no longer provide bonuses | Religion (5) |
| Communism | +50% Production, but Temples and Cathedrals no longer provide bonuses | Communism (8) |
Tips and Guidelines[edit]
The following tips are general guidelines that apply to most Civilizations
- Most Civs start off in a Despotism, which provides no bonuses or penalties.
- It is almost always a good idea to switch to another Government as soon as it is available to exploit their bonuses.
- A Republic is very useful for expanding efficiently in the early game.
- In the early game, every point of Population counts, so halving the Population loss from building Settlers is significant.
- A Republic loses its effectiveness in the mid to late game due to the larger city sizes and prevalence of more advanced Governments.
- If you find yourself not building Settlers, or the game has progressed into larger cities, switch out Governments.
- A Monarchy is the 'neutral' Government, having no disadvantages and a mild Culture bonus.
- The Palace Culture bonus is enough to keep your Cities safe from Culture Flipping in the early game, but becomes trivial compared to the other advanced Governments' bonuses.
- As a Monarchy has no penalties, it can be a useful 'default' Government to choose if you cannot decide on one area of your Civ to weaken.
- However, in order to get an edge over your opponents, one of the other more advanced Government types is recommended.
- Fundamentalism is an extremely powerful tool for an aggressive playstyle. By keeping your opponents defensive, you can establish map control and assert dominance over your opponents.
- Note that being aggressive is essential when using this Government, as conquering cities and holding sway over your opponents is required to both expand, loot gold, and acquire new technologies.
- While powerful in the early game, this Government steadily wanes in effectiveness as the game progresses. This is due to (1) units becoming more powerful in comparison to the +1 Attack bonus, and (2) Libraries and Universities
- A Democracy is the default choice for most developing empires, as it does not directly penalise the operation of your Civ while providing a hefty Trade (Gold and Science) bonus.
- This Government is a suitable choice from its discovery right to the end of the game, especially for any non-domination victory (Culture, Economic, or Scientific).
- While playing defensively fits well with a Democracy, the penalty will come into play should you decide to become aggressive. When at the gates of a decisive victory / city capture, do not be surprised if your opponent suddenly offers Peace, which you will have to accept, sending all of your attacking units back to home territory. Should you decide to become militaristic, switch out Governments to avoid disappointment.
- A Communism is a form of end-game successor to Fundamentalism, in the sense that it is especially useful for aggressive playstyles. However, that is not to say it cannot be useful for other playstyles.
- Communism coupled with Factories will drastically increase the productivity of your cities (+150% together).
- At the time Communism comes into play, it is common for your large cities to be able to build units in one or two turns from most cities, or even multiples of units. This usually allows steady production of units such as Artillery supported by Modern Infantry and Spies. It can be difficult for a defending Civ to ward off such an onslaught without switching into heavy production to match. This will severely hamper attempts at technological or economic victories.
- As science is the pitfall to Fundamentalism, Culture is to a Communism. Apart from slowing the generation of Great People to a crawl, the lack of Temples and Cathedrals makes your cities very susceptible to Culture Flipping. To combat this, it is a good idea to build Walls in all of your cities before switching to a Communism. If you take your time building them after you switch, it is likely that one or more of your cities will be flipped. Also note that the Hollywood wonder hard counters Communism.