Civilization 7 offers a plethora of options to customize each of your playthroughs, including the map you play. However, that choice was simplified when compared to the previous games in the series.
Exploring your map and expanding your empire wouldn’t be possible without landmass to discover. Generating and unveiling random maps has always been one of the most exciting elements in Civilization, and it still is in it’s the seventh title, even though it’s been tuned down significantly. Luckily, that’s a subject to change. Here’s everything you need to know about Civ 7‘s map types.
All map types and their differences in Civ 7
There are three map sizes in Civ 7, and they apply to each type. These are the usual trio of “tiny, small, and standard.” The size of your map outlines how many players or AI civilizations may fit in it. By default, tiny maps can have up to four players, small can host six, and standard can contain eight.
There is a bit more space to experiment when it comes to map types, though they don’t provide as much freedom as previous entries in the franchise did. Here are all the types and their definitions.
- Continents Plus
- These contain your usual Continents with an addition of other, smaller areas. They tend to be islands, peninsulas, and so on. Just think of them like Continents, but with a lot more random add-ons in different places.
- Continents
- The most default map type in Civilization history. It usually contains two huge continents.
- Archipelago
- The map name speaks for itself. It’s for those who enjoy Naval combat and like to have their civilizations spread over numerous islands, since it creates tons of them.
- Fractal
- This map type is for players who enjoy full unpredictability. Like in previous entries, it shuffles all the different map types and can give you just about anything. It can have very few or very many landmasses.
- Shuffle
- Shuffle is even more random than Fractal, since this one usually focuses on having a lot of odd characteristics. These are, for example, unthinkable amounts of Tundra or Deserts. It’s for players who like to venture into a complete unknown.
- Terra Incognita
- It’s the only new type of map in Civ 7, and it randomizes the second continent. You can find more details below.
What is Terra Incognita in Civ 7?
Terra Incognita is the only fresh addition in terms of maps to Civ 7, so it makes all the sense in the world for players to have so much interest in it. However, it doesn’t introduce as many changes as some of you might like.
In fact, like Continents or Continents Plus, Terra Incognita also features two continents with random islands and other areas in between. The first of them, on which you start your journey, is quite normal. You can find tundra up north, deserts further south, and so on. The fun starts when you enter the Exploration Age and embark onto a journey to the second continent, which is heavily randomized.
Will there be any new map types in Civ 7?
One of the major complaints from the players following the launch of Civ 7 is the shrank number of possible maps. In two previous Civilizations, players were able to choose from dozens of map types when starting their games, but in the latest Firaxis Games’ production, that number is limited to six. Luckily, this should change in the future.
The developer was quick to address players’ feedback after the early access released on Feb. 6. In their message released a day later, they promised to implement community-requested features. “Providing a wider variety of map types” was one of them.
Firaxis will have its hands full of work in the coming months, though, so it’s impossible to say when map types will be expanded in Civ 7. Although we’re hoping it’ll happen rather sooner than later.
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