Civilization 7 Changes to Technology Add Extra Strategy and Customization

While much of Civilization 7 is expected to feel familiar to longtime players of the series, some of the most fundamental aspects of the game are getting even more refinement. Thanks to some bold shifts in the overall structure of the game, developers have given themselves a chance to dig deeper in areas that have a broad impact on every run. Gathering science in order to work through the Tech Tree is a time honored piece of any Civilization game, but the familiar is due for an upgrade in Civ 7.

Civ 7 Tech Tree Maximizes Ages System

If the biggest change in Civilization 7 was the choice to separate civs from leaders, the second biggest change was the implementation of what is essentially a three-act structure. Players start in the Antiquity Age, eventually graduate to the Exploration Age, and lastly reach the Modern Age.

While more attention has been on how this impacts the overall roster of civs, the hidden strength of it is that developers were able to dig deeper with specific mechanics than ever before. Choices like keeping archaeology or religion heavily contained within one act allow those systems to expand without having to make them feel consistent across what is essentially the entirety of human history.

In the past, the only real question of how to handle the Tech Tree in Civilization was which order to go in. Your strategy became about which specific technologies were needed sooner, but pretty much every civ ultimately took the same path and by the endgame had roughly the same set of techs and their associated bonuses.

Civilization 7 introduces a new Mastery mechanic for the Tech Tree, and it looks primed to seriously shake up how players will strategize with science in mind. As seen above, Mastery allows players to focus their research on a specific tech. Just about everyone will get Writing, but the Mastery bonuses could be critical depending on your game.

For players seeking an eventual Science Victory, gaining Mastery of Writing could make a huge difference. You'd be able to unlock additional science yields, gain a Codex (part of the Science Legacy Path in the Antiquity Age), and also can unlock the ability to steal technological advancements from rival civilizations. That could allow you to catch up should any other player seem to pull ahead in pursuing a Science Victory.

At the same time, players looking to focus on a Culture Victory or Economic Victory might not see any value in Mastery of Writing. With unique extra bonuses linked to almost every tech, research decisions will gain a whole new level of depth in Civilization 7.