This page contains Part 1 of a full text walkthrough for Civilization II, the historic turn-based strategy game developed by Microprose for the PC in 1996. Please use the Table of Contents below to navigate the various sections of the walkthrough.

1. Allows you to begin a new game on a map with varying alterations and options of your choice, all listed below.

2. Size Of World: This option affects the overall size of the map in square tiles. The larger the map, the more civilizations can grow and explore, making for longer games. Aside from the three presets, you can make a map of custom size; the X-axis and Y-axis of your custom map each must not each be less than 20 square tiles and nor more than 250, and together must not exceed 10000 squares or be lower than 1000.

3. Difficulty Level: This option affects the game difficulty, such how much of a threat rival civilizations will be to the player, how feisty your population shall be, and how quickly do you gain advances. The levels, from easiest to hardest, are Chieftain, Warlord, Prince, King, Emperor, and Deity. Chieftain will provide you in-game advice if it's selected.

4. Level of Competition: This options determines how many civilizations will the game begin with (as little as three, or as many as seven). You may select "Random" to randomize the number.

5. Level of Barbarian Activity: This option toggles the frequency of wandering barbarians you may encounter during the game. The levels in order from lowest to highest are "Roving Bands, "Restless Tribes", and "Raging Hordes". The "Villages Only" option ensures that you will never encounter wandering barbarians aside from those in Villages. You may select "Random" to randomize the level.

6. Custom Features: You may initiate special rules if you so choose with this option (see appropriate section)

7. Gender: Choose the gender of your avatar, the ruler of your civilization.

8. Tribe: Choose the civilization you wish to play as, or create one of your own using the "Custom" option. There is no gameplay differences between the civilizations.

9. City Style: Choose the type of architecture your cities will display.

1. Similar to "Start A New Game", except that this comes with a few more bonus options, listed below.

2. Land Mass: Varies the proportionality of land versus ocean in your maps, with "Small" being less land, "Large" being more land, and "Normal" the default.

3. Land Form: Changes the general layout of your map's land mass, with "Archipelago" resulting in clusters of smaller continents, "Continents" creating a few giant land masses, and "Varied" a combination of the two.

4. Climate: Alters the proportionality of terrain types, with "Arid" resulting in more plains and deserts, "Wet" resulting in more forests, swamps, rivers, and lakes, and "Normal" the default.

5. Temperature: Further alters the proportionality of terrain types, with "Cool" resulting in more tundra and glaciers, "Warm" resulting in more deserts, swamps, and jungle, and "Temperate" the default.

6. Age: Alters the prevalence and scope of the map's terrain types. "3 Billion Years" will make the map very homogenous, with special terrain types mostly confined to isolated batches. At "5 Billion Years", the map will be wilder, with special terrain types spread all over the map. "4 Billion Years" is the normal default.

1. If you choose to "Customize Rules" you can greatly change the game by toggling on these special features, listed below.

2. Simplified Combat: Battles between two units will no ignore hit points all together and become instant winner-take-all affairs, just as in the original Civilization.

3. Flat World: The map cannot be circumnavigated from one side to the other.

4. Select Opponents: Allows you to select your rival civilizations before starting the new game (otherwise normally chosen at random).

5. Accelerated Start: Normally the player begins the game with just one or two settlers. With Accelerated Start, you can begin with one, or even two, cities already built, along with a small military and several advances learned, skipping the routines of the beginning.

6. Bloodlust: With this option on, no civilization in game can win by successfully completing the spaceship objective. The only way for a civilization to win is by conquering the world.

7. Don't Restart Eliminated Opponents: With this option checked, destroyed civilizations will never respawn under any circumstances.

1. The performance of your cities will be key to expanding your empire in Civilization II. Careful placement of your city, good land management, and diligent care of your cities will help you bring in as much goods as possible.

2. A city in Civilization II has a central structure and access to any terrain outside within three squares of it. To enter a city and see it's details ("City Display"), simply click on a city with the mouse.

3. You can rename your city at any time by clicking the Rename button in the City Display.

4. You can view your city on the world map by clicking the Map button.

5. You can see a 3D render of your city by clicking the View button.

6. A city's population is represented by the number of "Citizens" it has. A Citizen represents a segment of the population. The higher the population, the greater number of Citizens it has, and the more its Citizen Number increases (which can be seen on the map).

7. Cities produce three kinds of goods: "Food" (maintains/increases the size of the population, and supports Settlers), "Shields" (labor to go towards construction of units and city improvements), and "Trade" (gains in revenue, science, or luxuries). More on this information below in "Utilizing Citizens".

8. Citizens can be assigned to produce goods from the squares that are within your city limits. They also can be made into Taxmen, Scientists, and Entertainers. More on this information below in "Utilizing Citizens".

9. The central structure of the city is always producing goods, even if you only have one Citizen.

10. Cities can labor to build only one project at a time: a unit, a City Improvement, or a Wonder of the World. To Change the current project, click on the Change button in the City Display screen.

11. Each project costs a certain number of Shields; the more Shields you are making, the faster you can build. You can also "Buy" the shields you need to finish a project by clicking the Buy button in the City Display screen (note, however, that this practice is often expensive).

12. Each City Improvement you create will add a considerable advantage to your cities. However, each City Improvement costs a certain number of revenue per turn to maintain. Wonders of the World cost no maintenance.

13. Each military unit you create may cost a Shield per turn to maintain, depending on your government. Settlers will also in addition cost Food to maintain until they found a new city. For more information, see "Units" and "Governments".

1. Citizens can collect goods from the squares within the city limits. The more Citizens you have, the more goods the city can collect.

2. Citizens are automatically assigned to work on a square within city limits when created. You can see the benefits of their work by the symbols of the square they are working in (i.e. Food, Shields, and/or Trade).

3. You can reassign Citizens from the square they are working on to another square by clicking their current square, then clicking on any empty square.

4. The more Citizens you have, the more that can work and bring in goods. Therefore, it's often good to increase your population, increasing the amount of Citizens you have to work with.

5. The population, and thus your Citizen count, increases when the Food Store of your city becomes full via surplus Food. When that happens, the Food Store empties, you gain an extra Citizen, and the cycle begins anew. Thus, the more surplus food you bring in, the faster you gain Citizens, and the more goods you can bring in.

6. The more Trade goods a city makes, the more potential revenue, science, and luxuries can be earned. All three are extremely important to your empire. Trade is usually easily accumulated by building roads and railroads on your city squares (see "Settlers/Engineers").

7. The more Shield goods a city makes, the quicker it can build military or city improvements. You can assign Citizens to squares that produce more Shields than Food or Trade, however, note that this will impact your Food or Trade.

8. You can make any Citizen an Entertainer, a Scientist, or a Taxman. To do so, click on a city square holding a Citizen. The Citizen is now automatically an Entertainer (seen in the upper left row of Citizens; he'll be on the end of the line on the right). You can click the Entertainer's head to make him into a Scientist, and again to make him a Taxman, or once more to return him to Entertainer. You can return him to the city squares at any time by simply clicking on an empty square.

9. Entertainers will make one unhappy Citizen into a happy Citizen, which can quell Civil Disorder. See the "City Happiness" section for more information.

10. Scientists will increase the science gains you make from Trade goods, which can be invaluable for learning advances. A city with less than "5" in Population Size cannot make Scientists.

11. Taxmen will increase the revenue gains you make from Trade goods, which can be important to maintain your City Improvements. A city with less than "5" in Population Size cannot make Taxmen.

1. Citizens have three moods: Content, Happy, and Unhappy. Contentedness is simply the default mood for any regular Citizen.

2. Happy Citizens are created from content citizens for every two luxuries a city produces. Certain City Improvements and Wonders of the World will also create Happy Citizens. Creating Entertainers will bring more luxuries to the city, which will always

3. If you have created enough Happy Citizens, your city will receive the "We Love The Ruler Day!" effect. The effect of this is always very beneficial and depends on what form of government you are using (see "Governments"). The effect lasts until there are no longer enough Happy Citizens to sustain it.

4. Unhappy Citizens are an inevitability of population growth (how quickly inevitable depends on your difficulty level). They can also be created through special circumstances, such as sending military units abroad while in a Republic/Democracy.

5. If enough Unhappy Citizens accumulate, the city will experience Civil Disorder. Under Civil Disorder, no goods can be produced, and if a Civil Disorder lasts long enough, your government will collapse into Anarchy. If you are a Democracy, your entire government will collapse after one full turn of unabated Civil Disorder.

6. Unhappy and Happy Citizens cancel each other out. Thus, during Civil Disorder, you can quell unrest quickly by cranking out Entertainers, then solve the problem long term by building City Improvements and Wonders of the World that bring happiness.

7. You can check the status of your Citizen's moods by clicking the Happy button in the City Display screen.

1. City Improvements can be built for a whole to improve Citizen Happiness, goods production, prevent pollution, and more. For more information on the possible City Improvements you can build, visit the "City Improvements" page.

2. Wonders of the World are special improvements that only one civilization can own. Although they require a lot of shields to build, they require no maintenance and provide bonuses so useful they can make or break a game. For more information on the possible Wonders you can build, visit the "Wonders of the World" page.

3. Settlers and Engineers can improve the production potential of your city squares, gaining you more goods in the process. They require maintained, however. For more information, see the "Settlers/Engineers" section.

1. Military units must be built to defend any city. If a city is empty of units of any kind, it is vulnerable to capture by an enemy.

2. When an enemy unit attacks a city, he will combat the strongest unit stationed inside the city. If the defending unit is destroyed, a risk of losing population (i.e. Citizens) city improvements occurs.

3. If a city is captured, the population will be further reduced, and all the goods production, city improvements, and Wonders of the World now belong to the new owner. Units abroad that had belonged to the city are disbanded.

4. If a capital is captured, the entire empire risks falling into a "civil war", the result of which the empire instantly splits into two separate civilizations.

5. If the Guerilla Warfare advance is learned by the civilization who's city is captured, Partisans will appear within the city squares of the captured city immediately afterward.

6. If a non-allied unit is standing on a city square, that square will no longer be available for citizen production until the offending unit is removed. Allied and friendly units do not cause this issue.

These will make up the bulk of your laboring in cities, along with units and Wonders. They come with a variety of benefits for your city at a certain price of shields for construction and fiscal maintenance per turn. If you run out of money and cannot support your City Improvements, they will begin to disappear from your Cities until your fiscal matters stabilize. All City Improvements are listed below.

• Usage: All air units built by the city are automatic Veterans; All air units spending one turn on the city are repaired; Air units that can transport units can do so in a city with an airport; Ground units can "airlift" from one city to another if both cities have airports.

• Cost: 160 Shields

• Upkeep: 3 Gold

• Prerequisite: Radio

• Usage: Allows city to grow beyond eight Citizens (otherwise, growth will no longer continue)

• Cost: 80 Shields

• Upkeep: 2 Gold

• Prerequisite: Construction

• Usage: Increases tax and luxury output to 100% along with Marketplace. (You must build a Marketplace first before building a Bank).

• Cost: 120 Shields

• Upkeep: 3 Gold

• Prerequisite: Bank

• Usage: All ground units built by the city are automatic Veterans; All ground units spending one turn on the city are repaired

• Cost: 160 Shields

• Upkeep: 3 Gold

• Prerequisite: Radio

• Usage: Your city will now produce Gold instead of Shields.

• Cost: 600 Shields

• Upkeep: N/A

• Prerequisite: Corporation

• Usage: Four Citizens made content. Reduced to three Citizens if Communism is learned.

• Cost: 120 Shields

• Upkeep: 3 Gold

• Prerequisite: Monotheism

• Usage: Total defense of units inside the city is tripled against ground units (unless the attacker can ignore City Walls)

• Cost: 80 Shields

• Upkeep: 0 Gold

• Prerequisite: Masonry

• Usage: Total defense of units inside the city is doubled against sea units

• Cost: 80 Shields

• Upkeep: 1 Gold

• Prerequisite: Metallurgy

• Usage: Three Unhappy Citizens are made content (Four if Electronics is learned)

• Cost: 100 Shields

• Upkeep: 4 Gold

• Prerequisite: Construction

• Usage: Decrease corruption by 50%; City is more resistant to bribes; In Democracies, makes one content citizen happy.

• Cost: 80 Shields

• Upkeep: 1 Gold

• Prerequisite: Code of Laws

• Usage: Increase Shield production by 50%

• Cost: 200 Shields

• Upkeep: 4 Gold

• Prerequisite: Industrialization

• Usage: City only needs to fill half of its Food Store to grow in size, resulting in much faster population growth.

• Cost: 60 Shields

• Upkeep: 1 Gold

• Prerequisite: Pottery

• Usage: +1 Food on all Ocean squares within city limits.

• Cost: 60 Shields

• Upkeep: 1 Gold

• Prerequisite: Seafaring

• Usage: Increase Factory output by 50%; Reduce Shield-based pollution by 50%

• Cost: 240 Shields

• Upkeep: 4 Gold

• Prerequisite: Electronics

• Usage: Increase science output by 50%

• Cost: 80 Shields

• Upkeep: 1 Gold

• Prerequisite: Writing

• Usage: Increase Shield production by an additional 50% along with a Factory (you must build a Factory first)

• Cost: 320 Shields

• Upkeep: 6 Gold

• Prerequisite: Robotics

• Usage: Increase tax and luxury output by 50%

• Cost: 80 Shields

• Upkeep: 1 Gold

• Prerequisite: Currency

• Usage: Completely eliminates population-based pollution

• Cost: 160 Shields

• Upkeep: 4 Gold

• Prerequisite: Mass Production

• Usage: Increase Factory output by 50%; Reduce Shield-based pollution by 50%; Nuclear Plants have a small risk of suffering meltdowns until you learn Fusion Power.

• Cost: 160 Shields

• Upkeep: 2 Gold

• Prerequisite: Nuclear Power

• Usage: +1 Shield for all Ocean squares in city limits.

• Cost: 160 Shields

• Upkeep: 3 Gold

• Prerequisite: Miniaturization

• Usage: This is your avatar's palace. Makes the current city who builds it the capital of your empire, which in turn eliminates corruption/waste in the city forever and has a radius effect against corruption and waste towards the rest of your cities. In other words, if you wish to move your capital, have the new city build the Palace.

• Cost: 100 Shields

• Upkeep: 0 Gold

• Prerequisite: Masonry

• Usage: In a Republic/Democracy, it reduces number of unhappy citizens caused by units abroad by one per unit.

• Cost: 60 Shields

• Upkeep: 2 Gold

• Prerequisite: Communism

• Usage: All sea units made are automatic Veterans; Sea units spending a turn in the city are repaired.

• Cost: 80 Shields

• Upkeep: 3 Gold

• Prerequisite: Amphibious Warfare

• Usage: Increase Factory output by 50%

• Cost: 160 Shields

• Upkeep: 4 Gold

• Prerequisite: Refining

• Usage: Decreases Shield-based pollution by 2/3.

• Cost: 200 Shields

• Upkeep: 2 Gold

• Prerequisite: Recycling

• Usage: Increase science to 150% along with a Library and a University (you must build them first before building a Research Lab).

• Cost: 160 Shields

• Upkeep: 3 Gold

• Prerequisite: Computers

• Usage: Total defense of all units in city are doubles

• Cost: 100 Shields

• Upkeep: 2 Gold

• Prerequisite: Rocketry

• Usage: Protects all within city limits from nuclear weapons.

• Cost: 200 Shields

• Upkeep: 4 Gold

• Prerequisite: The Laser

• Usage: Allows city to grown beyond a Size-12 population

• Cost: 120 Shields

• Upkeep: 2 Gold

• Prerequisite: Sanitation

• Usage: Increase Factory output by 50%; Completely eliminates all Shield-based production; If Global Warming is in effect, building enough Solar Plants will cancel it out

• Cost: 320 Shields

• Upkeep: 4 Gold

• Prerequisite: Environmentalism

• Usage: Increases tax and luxury output to 150% along with Marketplace and Bank (you must build them first before a Stock Exchange).

• Cost: 160 Shields

• Upkeep: 4 Gold

• Prerequisite: Economics

• Usage: All squares in city limits with roads/railroads produce 50% more Trade; All trade routes created by Caravans/Freights are increased.

• Cost: 200 Shields

• Upkeep: 5 Gold

• Prerequisite: Automobile

• Usage: All farmland in city limits produce 50% more Food.

• Cost: 80 Shields

• Upkeep: 3 Gold

• Prerequisite: Refrigeration

• Usage: Makes one unhappy citizen content (two if you've learned Mysticism)

• Cost: 40 Shields

• Upkeep: 1 Gold

• Prerequisite: Ceremonial Burial

• Usage: Increase science output by 100% along with Library (you must build the Library first before a University)

• Cost: 160 Shields

• Upkeep: 3 Gold

• Prerequisite: The University

• Overview
• Cities
• City Improvements
• Elements of the World
• Units
• Unit List
• Special Units
• Civilization Advances
• Wonders of the World
• Governments
• Goals