Civilization Vi How Far Apart Do You Build Your Cities

Civilization VI: The Optimal City Spacing Strategy

So, you're conquering the world in Civilization VI, and you've built your first couple of cities. Now comes the crucial question: how far apart should you build your subsequent cities? There's no single magic number, as the ideal distance depends on several factors, including your chosen civilization, game difficulty, and map type. This article will delve into the strategic considerations influencing optimal city placement in Civ VI.

This guide explores the key factors affecting city placement in Civ VI, helping you maximize your empire's growth, production, and overall strength. We'll discuss the benefits and drawbacks of close and distant city placement, and provide some practical strategies for optimizing your city spacing.

Understanding the Trade-offs: Close vs. Far Apart

The optimal distance between your cities involves balancing several competing factors:

• Resource Access: Cities need resources to grow and thrive. Building cities too close together risks overlapping resource exploitation, leading to inefficient use of valuable tiles. Spreading cities further apart ensures each city has a wider range of resources to utilize.

• Growth Rate: While spreading cities apart secures resources, it can slow down early growth. Clustering cities allows for quicker population growth, particularly valuable in the early game when you need to establish a solid economic base quickly.

• Production: Closely-spaced cities can benefit from shared production bonuses and improved trade routes, boosting production for crucial buildings and units. However, distant cities can specialize in particular industries or technologies.

• Defense: Strategically placing cities near natural defenses like rivers or mountains improves their defensive capabilities, while spaced-out cities are more difficult to simultaneously attack.

• Aesthetics: While not a critical factor, well-spaced cities make your empire look more impressive, offering a more visually pleasing gameplay experience.

Factors Influencing City Spacing

Several factors influence the ideal city spacing in your Civ VI game:

• Terrain: Mountains, rivers, and coastlines greatly impact city placement. Rivers and coasts provide valuable food and production bonuses, influencing the closeness of your coastal cities. Mountain ranges can act as natural borders, influencing city spacing.

• Resources: The distribution of strategic and luxury resources on the map heavily determines where you should place your cities to maximize resource collection. Don't let a single strategic resource dictate the placement of an entire city.

• Government & Policies: Policies and government types can greatly impact city growth and resource utilization. Some policies can encourage city specialization, while others reward densely populated areas.

• Civ Abilities: Your chosen civilization’s unique abilities influence city planning. For instance, civilizations with strong early expansion bonuses may benefit from closely-spaced cities, while others may favor a more spread-out empire.

• Game Difficulty: On higher difficulties, efficient resource management and defensive strategies are crucial. Therefore, a balance of closeness and spacing becomes essential for survival.

Strategic Approaches to City Spacing

Here are some practical approaches to city spacing in Civ VI:

• Early Game: Focus on securing key resources and strategic locations. A slightly closer spacing in the beginning can boost your early game momentum.

• Mid Game: Begin to spread your cities strategically, ensuring each has access to a diverse range of resources and unique production capabilities.

• Late Game: Utilize city-state alliances and trade routes to mitigate the drawbacks of distant city placement. Focus on specialization and defensive positioning.

• Consider City-States: Place cities strategically to control or influence city-states, leveraging their bonuses and trade routes.

Conclusion: No One-Size-Fits-All Answer

Ultimately, there's no perfect answer to how far apart to build cities in Civilization VI. The ideal spacing is a dynamic strategy that adapts to your chosen civilization, map features, and gameplay style. Through careful consideration of the factors discussed above, you can effectively manage your city placement, ensuring your empire thrives and dominates the world. Experiment, learn from your mistakes, and discover the optimal city spacing strategy that works best for your playstyle.