If you’re here, you probably made your first game, so you know the very basics. Don't forget that the best way to progress is by playing, don’t force yourself to read everything !
Choice of civilization :
The choice of your civilization is very important because it gives a lot of bonuses. If you're a beginner, don't think a lot about it, pick a civ you like and try to understand the bonuses it gives.
The stats :
In the game, there is something called “stats” these are (in order of importance) :
These stats can be global, these are the same in all your empire, or local, which are different in each city.
The main way to get most of these stats is with population (hence why food is the most important stat). Pop can work the tiles inside your empire that are 3 tiles or less from one of your city centers, tiles give different amounts of yield (eg. a grassland gives 2 food, a hill gives 2 production, a river gives +1 gold to all tiles around…) Pop can also work a specialist slot, you can see how many specialists a city can hold in the right side of the city menu. These slots give great people points (we will cover that later) and more yields.
You can also get these stats with buildings, when you select a building on the city menu, it will tell you what it will give to you. Some buildings scale with pop (like libraries) while some can only be built close to specific terrains.
Techs and policies :
Techs are gained with science and are required to progress through the game. They unlock new units, buildings, and perks. Policies are gained through culture and are separated into branches. They give great bonuses which are important to win the game. For now, don't try to think much about the order of techs and policies, but prioritize finishing a branch once you've started it.
The map and terrains :
An Unciv map is constituted of multiple terrains that spawn according to latitude and humidity.
Knowing what each terrain does is important to know where to settle, how to attack…
Different terrains have different yields, features and more. Base terrains like grassland provide food, plains provide food and production, while deserts and snow give nothing. Terrain features like hills, forests, and jungles add or replace the yields of the base terrain. Most of these require more movement to pass through, making your units move slower.
Rivers are a bit special, as they spawn between tiles, they give 1 gold and fresh water to every tile around them.
Natural wonders are some special impassable tiles that give a lot of yields, they usually spawn close to city states.
To see the terrain yields in game, you can look them up in the Civilopedia, check them in the city menu, or click the show yields button that is located on the left of the minimap to display yields directly on the map.
Units :
Unciv has a lot of units. There are 2 main unit types. Civilian units include great people, workers, work boats, and settlers. They can be captured by enemy military units and cannot attack. Military units include every other unit. They can attack and defend and can capture civilians. There are multiple types of them, including melee, ranged, water… Try to use different types of units to have a better war strategy.
Specialists and Great People :
Specialists are population who work in specialist slots, they give stats and great people points. Great people are civilian units that have multiple abilities and can make great improvements. Each great person you get increases the price of the same type of great people. There are 2 special types of great people: Great Generals, whose points are gained by doing war, and Great Prophets, which require faith.
Trades and Diplomacy :
In Unciv, there are 2 types of civilizations. Major civilizations, like the one you control, are the ones capable of winning the game. You can trade with them in the diplomacy menu and you can increase your relations by trading, opening borders, and being at peace with them. They will declare war on you if they are stronger and/or hostile towards you.
City states (or CS) can only have 1 city (except for special cases) and can be allied with a major civ to give bonuses to that civ. You can gain CS influence by giving gold or completing quests. Getting 30 influence makes you become a friend, and getting 60 influence AND having the highest influence to this city state gives you alliance. There are multiple types of city states which give different bonuses depending on their type.
Winning the game :
There are 4 ways of winning the game. Domination requires you to wage war and capture every capital of major civs. Scientific requires you to build the Apollo Program, then get every spaceship part in your capital to win the game. Cultural requires you to finish 5 policy branches then build the Utopia Project. And Diplomacy requires you to ally a lot of city states to win the vote that activates a few turns after someone builds the United Nations.
AI and difficulties :
The AI is always the same in every difficulty, but what changes is the bonuses it gets. On easier difficulties, the AI gets penalties and everything will be more expensive for them to get. On harder difficulties, the AI gets bonuses and everything will be cheaper for them. The middle difficulty is Prince, which is almost equal between humans and AIs. You should start by playing on the lowest difficulty, and once you can beat a difficulty, go up one by one until you reach Deity, the last difficulty of the game.
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