how to learn this game without being overwhelmed?

[tools guy-kun]

this is the first ever hex/territorial game that I've ever truly given a chance, other than Catan, and I can't help but feel constantly overwhelmed by everything. it's like every move I make is the wrong one, and I fear I'm going at such a slow pace.

I've looked up some tutorial videos that explain some things, like I know what each victory consists of, what amenities do (I don't fully understand them yet), how the tech trees work... just the littlest of basics like that.

I just lack strategy and direction, which is currently making it difficult to approach the game at times and have a full on session.

any advice to give to a player like me that just feels pretty much overwhelmed all the time? I still find the game enjoyable, though, and I feel like I will enjoy it much more once I get a better grasp on the whole shebang.

[sauluxville]

I'd say, don't panic, keep calm and carry on :)
It's not an exam or a test or smth like that. Just keep poking around, read a tooltip from time to time, and try to press or hover over all the buttons and such you can find. I'd say don't try to watch YT videos for now, discovering a new game on your own is the best. After a while you'll get a better idea of what the game is about, then you'll have some more precise questions to look up.
Civ VI can be scary at the start, but it is not that difficult. It is the most forgiving entry in the franchise, yielding fairly easy victories to everyone who does not quit too soon.

[Edible T-Shirt]

My number one piece of advice is to start with vanilla. Playing from the beginning with every expansion is going to drown you in information. So play the base game on the easiest difficulty to come to grips with it. After that, add Rise and Fall. After that, add Gathering Storm.

[Grzemek]

I think that strategy and direction comes from understanding what basic building blocks can do, and that comes from experimentation, a part of which is making uninformed decisions. It's true that sometimes you might be stuck in doing inefficient or counter-productive things because the timespan between your decision and the payoff might be so long that it's difficult to correlate them.

So just think about what you want to achieve next, how to go there from where you are now. The gap between "how do I achieve science victory" and "where do I move this builder now"/"what do I build now" will gradually decrease.

I get the feeling of being overwhelmed and I think the solution is to cut through it because it's impossible to satiate it from the start line.

[Twelvefield]

Don't worry about victory, but focus on trying to figure out what the various units do. Civ games break down into "rock, paper, scissors", with every unit having a strength and a counter, and many units having a specialized function, especially civilians.

Cities are the same way, the economy is also rock, paper, scissors. You can either make specialized cities or else develop cities that have a bit of everything. Once you learn how to expand either peacefully or through war, and how to keep your economy going, the rest of the game will fall into place.

My strongest advice is to avoid playing on any level below Prince: otherwise you will pick up bad habits. Play instead on smaller maps with very few other civs and city-states. That way the world will be simpler for you.

[syberkowboy]

I started at lowest difficulty and focused on learning one victory type at a time. Also “practiced” after a win. Learn something new every time I play.

[Ripz]

just keep building ♥♥♥♥ and having fun treating it as a sandbox game, and google/learn one thing at a time. theres a lot of details you dont need to know, but can help to know, and the game sucks at teaching the player any of it.

dont get stressed on learning everything before starting a "real game", im 150+ hours in and still constantly googling ♥♥♥♥. and that doesnt even include memorizing all the content and what they do, specifically improvements, wonders, district adjacencies, possible buildings, possible policies, civ abilities, etc. Just dont worry about getting it all down quickly, its impossible. it'd be like memorizing every manual before starting a dungeons and dragons game. you just dont need to.

[Ripz]

also if you really want to learn fast, play smaller maps with less civs so games go by quicker. I wouldnt play on faster games speeds though, i did that at first thinking itd be good for learning but its actually the opposite, you just get overwhelmed with options every turn slowing down decision making ten fold rather than having decisions pop up more spread out over several turns. if anything, slower game speeds actually "play" faster imo.

[universecreep]

Turn on the tutorial.

Focus on the science victory since it's the most straight forward (get to the end of the tech tree and build the stuff).

Play on the lowest difficulty. The AI rarely attacks you if at all on that level.

Turn off barbarians.

Play with only one AI Civ (dual map) so there's lots of room for you to expand.

[Liquid Todd / Slash]

Learn how the hardcore learn. Start with Civ 1 and work up. Each year play a new Civ and before you know it you should be around these very forums asking how something on Civ 7 works ;)

[Exemplar]

i would recommend not enabling any of the "game modes" when first playing.
https://civilization.fandom.com/wiki/Game_mode_(Civ6)
save those for when you have a handle on game mechanics and you want something different for a play-through.