I’m diving into the world of Civilization 6 Gathering Storm maps to give you a visual feast. I’ve played multiple rounds and handpicked examples of each map type that stood out to me. My focus is on cylindrical maps – those that wrap around east to west. I’m setting aside non-wrapping maps and Earth-related maps, as they’re pretty self-explanatory.
Unique Multiplayer Maps: Clover and Snowflake
Starting with the peculiar ones – the Six-Arm Snowflake and the Four-Leaf Clover. These maps are perfect for team play or duels, featuring balanced regions aimed at pushing players towards a central showdown. Each arm or “leaf” is identical, hosting a mix of terrains from forests to plains, and occasionally tundra towards the center.
How to play it
The map types emphasize symmetrical starts, equal resources, and a highly contested central area, making early-game expansion, territorial control, and strategic defense critical to success. Civilizations that excel in early military aggression, expansion, and naval control tend to perform well on these maps.
Land-Rich Maps: Lakes and Highlands
Transitioning to maps with abundant land, the Lakes map emerges as a land dominator. Despite its name, lakes are minimal, creating vast expanses of land ripe for civilization. Interestingly, one example diverged, presenting ocean-like lakes, offering a unique gameplay experience.
Highlands follow suit, dominated by hills and mountains, resembling the Lakes map but with an elevated ruggedness. It’s akin to a landlocked paradise for those favoring terrestrial dominance.
How to play it
A Sea of Land: Seven Seas
The Seven Seas map, despite its nautical name, is surprisingly land-rich. It presents a Pangaea sliced by bodies of water, creating canals and interconnected seas. The seas are mostly landlocked, although some maps generated create a sort of Mediterranean look and feel.
How to play it
This map is fun to play with civilizations that benefit from coastal tiles, such as Japan, Australia, and Indonesia. However, land-based civs can also thrive, offering solid empire-building opportunities. The map favors strategic canal construction and presents a unique challenge for naval-focused civilizations like Portugal or Norway, making it an interesting blend of land and sea gameplay.
The Unpredictable: Primordial
Primordial maps take you back to the earth’s tumultuous youth, featuring unpredictable continents, islands, and an abundance of volcanic activity. Its layout varies wildly, from fragmented landmasses to near-Pangaea formations, ensuring no two games are alike.
How to play it
Settling near volcanoes can yield highly productive tiles later in the game, but you’ll need to be prepared for the frequent destruction of improvements due to eruptions. Consider building cities nearby but not directly adjacent to volcanoes, or be ready to repeatedly repair improvements. The only building that is impervious to natural disasters is a Wonder. So fill those tiles with wonders or National Parks.
A Favorite: Continents and Islands
Continents and Islands strike a balance between land and sea, making it one of my preferred maps. It typically features two to three main continents peppered with islands, offering diverse gameplay. Whether it’s two large landmasses or multiple smaller ones, this map encourages exploration and naval prowess. The main point to note that 90% of the time there is a shallow water passage, explorable before Cartography tech.
How to play it
The “Continents & Islands” map in Civilization VI can be a bit misleading. Every map has a shallow water passage that allows players to explore the world earlier than expected. You can even use a builder (who can get in the water before any other units with Sailing tech unlocked) with 1 charge left as a makeshift scout, or a builder you captured from another civ that can’t return to your territory. This strategy is even more effective if you have the Monumentality Golden Age dedication, which grants extra movement to civilian units, making it easier to evade barbarians and explore new areas.
The Wild Card: Splintered Fractal
Splintered Fractal lives up to its name with a highly random layout, often resulting in thin, snaking continents and islands. Its unpredictable nature makes it perfect for players seeking a unique challenge, with maps ranging from interconnected land bridges to expansive peninsulas.
How to play it
This complexity of unpredictability and numerous choke points also poses a significant challenge for the AI, which struggles to navigate the terrain effectively, giving human players an early advantage compared to other map types. Naval and coastal civilizations tend to perform much better overall, as the irregular coastline and water access provide them with greater opportunities for expansion and dominance.
The Classics: Continents, Terra, and Fractal
Continents and Terra offer familiar gameplay with a few twists. Continents usually feature two main landmasses, while Terra has all major civilizations starting on one large continent, leaving the other ripe for exploration. Fractal, meanwhile, surprises with its unpredictable formations, from snaky landmasses to large Pangaea-like continents.
How to play
The Continents map is one of the most balanced and “normal” map types in Civilization VI, featuring a mix of biomes and landmasses typically separated by oceans. However, it’s important to note that these landmasses are not always fully isolated. Sometimes, there can be shallow water passages connecting continents, which makes it beneficial to explore the seas early. By getting into the water quickly, you can discover these potential connections and gain an early advantage by exploring and expanding faster than your rivals.
Kupe of the Māori benefits greatly from the Terra map in Civilization VI. Since he starts at sea, he can sail directly to the uncolonized “New World” continent, allowing him to claim vast amounts of land for himself. This gives him the opportunity to develop his civilization in peace, while also easily securing suzerainty over all the city-states that spawn on that continent. This strategic isolation offers a significant advantage in the early game, enabling rapid growth and expansion unmolested by rival civs.
Also, try Terra map with Eleanor, you will not be disappointed. Terra Map used for a peaceful domination by Eleanor of England.
Navigating the Waters: Small Continents and Island Plates
As we venture into more water-centric maps, Small Continents and Island Plates depict a world dominated by vast oceans. These maps favor naval civilizations, offering numerous opportunities for island settlements and maritime dominance.
How to play
Small Continents and Island Plates maps always feature shallow water passages, similar to the Continents & Islands map. This allows for the effective use of the builder-explorer strategy, where a builder with 1 charge left can serve as a scout, especially with the Monumentality golden age dedication for extra movement. These water-dominant maps are ideal for naval civilizations such as Norway, Indonesia, Phoenicia, Portugal, Māori or even Spain and England, giving them a significant advantage in exploration and expansion. Coastal civs also can have an advantageous play, but more so on Small Continents rather than Island Plates.
Island Galore: Archipelago
Archipelago promises a world of many small islands but often includes several large landmasses as well. It favor civilizations with strong naval abilities and a focus on exploration, trade, and coastal expansion.
How to play it
It’s a paradise for civilizations like Norway, Indonesia, Phoenicia, Portugal, and England to dominate these water-centric maps, thanks to their unique naval units, trade advantages, and coastal improvements. To succeed, focus on building a strong navy, expanding to as many islands as possible, and maximizing trade to fuel your economy and military.
If you’re looking for a challenge, try selecting a non-naval civ like Arabia and face off against strong naval opponents. This will test your ability to adapt and compete in a water-dominated environment.
Lush Lands: Wetlands
Lastly, the Wetlands map, with its rivers and marshes, provides a fertile ground for tiles rich in yields with resources like spices. It combines continents connected by shallow waters, allowing for early exploration and strategic settlements.
How to play
The Wetlands map is a perfect environment for civs that benefit from marshes, floodplains, and rivers. Khmer, Brazil, Vietnam, Egypt, and Indonesia are among the strongest contenders. The key to success is harnessing the rapid city growth from marshes, using floodplains effectively, and managing flooding through dams to protect your infrastructure. This map rewards strategic planning for terrain management and city placement.
I hope this visual guide sparks new strategies and excites you for your next Civilization 6 adventure.
