Civilization 6 on Switch Review

Civilization 6 on Switch Review

Civilization 6 on Switch is a great lesson on what this console can do and not do. It can run a complex and deep game like Civilization 6, even in handheld mode, pretty darn well. Yet for some reason doesn’t have a one system solution for multiplayer, like the hotseat mode that they have on PC or even just an online multiplayer. It turns Civ 6, a game I enjoyed with a lot of with friends, into a single player only game, which changes things. Civ 6 is a great game but the lack of multiplayer really dampers one of the most addictive gaming experience you can have on your switch.

Hot seat mode is how I fell in love with the game on PC, playing really long games of Civ with a group of friends. In the Switch version everyone has to have their own switch, be in the same room and have their own copy of the game to play multiplayer here. Yet I didn’t know it wasn’t going to not have multiplayer on Switch when I pre-ordered. I heard Civ 6 on my switch, on the go, it was a must for me. I hope that maybe they will patch a solution but at the moment, it is a big gaping hole in otherwise great game.

Civ 6 is an extremely deep and involved nation simulator. You pick a nation and one of its famous leaders, which the Switch version has a bunch of thanks to DLC from  Civ 6 PC right from the start. You can pick to have a made up map or you can choose real world locations, which is what I did. It plays more like Risk this way. That is one of the main reasons I love Civ 6, it’s basically adult Risk but with more ways to win. Civilization’s many ways to win is actually one of its major faults though.

Civilization 6 has five ways to win, Science win, culture win, religious win, domination and overall score. I love that there are so many ways to win, because it means that you can play the game your way. Yet the fault with this system is that they open up all these ways to win but in reality, if you want to actually win, you basically play well rounded for the beginning of the game and then rush a certain type of win till the end. It’s sad because the game is complex and seems to open its systems to you yet in reality, there is a certain meta way if you don’t want to spend five hours to play a game and then lose right at the end. Which is what happened to me. I put in about 5 games of Civ while doing this review, all of them averaging about 5 hours each, one even going on for over 10 hours. All of them I was beat out in the last couple turns of every game, or I was close to a certain victory and somehow still got beat down by a computer. I even changed the difficulty to try to just get a win, still got beat by a culture win by the damn British. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the hell out of every game but it puts a damper on things when you just can’t win.

Earlier this year I made a list of The Best Touchscreen Only Games On Switch. I played a huge collection of games trying to find out what it the best you can play with just the Switch tablet. Civilization 6 is hands down now the top of the list. The game can be completely played with just touchscreen and it feels wonderful to have the world at your fingertips. I used touchscreen only a lot, played a whole game in docked mode but the real joy was playing handheld when I could use touchscreen and the controller, it felt better then using a mouse, I really enjoyed it. So at some point I will have to redo that list and add Civilization 6 to the top of the list.

Civilization 6 is an addictive experience, one akin to hard drugs. I don’t say that lightly. At the end of every one of your turns, you watch all the other nations do their turn and then it just drops you into your next turn. Without thought you just start your next turn. Then the next turn comes around and the next. You try to walk away but Rome did something shady last turn and you won’t stand for that. You need to eat but Australia wants to call you out on your Warmongering ways and denounces you. You are late for work but those damn Barbarians seem to be popping up everywhere as you try to claim a continent. It’s just keeps going like that till Civilization consumes you or you somehow walk away, to play some Smash.

Civilization 6 is an an amazing game, that you will undoubtedly sink way to many hours into with its addictive nature. The game has a few faults, lack of multiplayer, the many ways to win mean it’s hard to win and there is admittedly some slow down in the late game but nothing that will stop you from putting in a lot of hours into this time sink. We can hope that maybe they will patch in multiplayer later but at the moment, Civilization 6 is what Civilization fans have been waiting for. Being on Switch means you never have to stop playing Civilization 6.

Rating: 8 out of 10 Roaming Barbarians

GoG Break Down

Console: Nintendo Switch

Price Paid: $48 (originally $60, 20% off with Best Buys Gamer Club)

Hours played: over 40 hours

Game Wins: None

Yelling in public about the “Damn British”: at least once