With Sid Meier’s Civilization 7, much of what players got used to with the previous entry has been completely overhauled. The game has been condensed into three distinct ages, much of the gameplay has been revamped, and entire victories have been stripped from the game. Even though many of these changes make this experience feel like a fantastic breath of fresh air, some of the changes may not be for everyone. Specifically, Sid Meier’s Civilization 7‘s approach to religion may not be exactly what players expected.
Because the Civilization franchise attempts to emulate the real world, religion has played an important role throughout multiple entries so far. With Civilization 6, it became the most important yet as an entire victory was designed around it. However, some felt like said victory and religion on a whole left much to be desired. While Civ 7‘s iteration may be a welcome change, it also may lead to a system that feels like it has been mostly forgotten in the grand scheme of things.
Related
How Civilization 7’s Ages Ease New Players In
Civilization 7 goes out of its way to streamline its usually quite complicated gameplay formula, and its new Age system is a great example of that.
Civilization 7 Has Significantly Changed the Way Religion Works
Religion in Civ 7 Requires Far Less Micromanagement
In Civ 6, one of the worst aspects of managing a religion was all the micromanaging that went into it. To create a religion, players had to first earn a Great Prophet by accumulating enough Great Prophet points through various buildings and wonders. However, there were only a select few Great Prophets available, so if players were not quick enough, then they could lose out on it entirely. Once founded, they then had to constantly churn out missionaries and apostles to spread their religion while other civilizations did the same. And if they did not focus, they could fall behind at a moment’s notice. This could often get very cumbersome and overwhelming as players juggle countless religious units all across the map.
In Civilization 7, the victory has been completely stripped out, with religion now playing a role in the Cultural Legacy Path of the Exploration Age. Additionally, there is no limit to how many religions can be founded, there is only one unit that can spread it, and holy cities cannot be converted. Outside the Legacy Path, religions are primarily used as a way to add buffs to the civilization. All of this helps make for a far easier to manage and less stressful system, which is a welcome change of pace from what came before.
Religion is Far Less Relevant in Civilization 7
That being said, Civilization 7‘s approach to religion also means that the mechanic has mostly faded into the background. Players are not constantly fighting religious wars or vying for that specific victory, so some may just forget the feature exists in the first place. Unless they are really trying to finish the Cultural Legacy Path in the Exploration Age, they may have little reason to even pursue it.
What was once a major feature of Civ 6 feels like it has been stripped down completely in Civ 7. In reality, religion has played such a major role throughout history, with wars being waged over it and entire civilizations being guided by it. Civ 6 came close to capturing that tone, albeit with some frustration. Even though some found the last system to be rather annoying, it would have been nice if it still played more of a vital role in this entry.
There is always a chance that religion is expanded upon in a future Civ 7 DLC, but as of now, only Firaxis knows if it will be. It is nice that the micromanaging has been lessened, but it seems to come at the expense of religion’s functionality and usefulness.
Grand Strategy
Turn-Based Strategy
4X
- Released
-
February 11, 2025