Opening Moves

Mountain : This is a big one for me. Mountains allow you to build Observatories, which grant +50% science in the midgame. Having one by your capital is especially desirable.



: This is a big one for me. Mountains allow you to build Observatories, which grant +50% science in the midgame. Having one by your capital is especially desirable. Coast : Obviously we don't have this here. Can be huge, significantly boosting your trade route potential -- that means both gold from external routes and food and production from internal ones. Also allows the production of naval units. This is the biggest downside to this particular start, but it's offset a little because land starts will give you more tile options.



: Obviously we don't have this here. Can be huge, significantly boosting your trade route potential -- that means both gold from external routes and food and production from internal ones. Also allows the production of naval units. This is the biggest downside to this particular start, but it's offset a little because land starts will give you more tile options. River : Multiple smaller bonuses. Boosts trade route gold and allows building water mill for early growth and hydro plant for late game production. Most importantly, it provides fresh water, which will significantly boost your growth.



: Multiple smaller bonuses. Boosts trade route gold and allows building water mill for early growth and hydro plant for late game production. Most importantly, it provides fresh water, which will significantly boost your growth. Resources : Three salt and one wine -- awesome. Each luxury provides necessary happiness, while boosting tile yields. Salt is considered the best in the game, because it boosts both food and production. Pasture tiles also offer a great mix of food and production, and food generators like wheat, bananas and deer are also very desireable.



: Three salt and one wine -- awesome. Each luxury provides necessary happiness, while boosting tile yields. Salt is considered the best in the game, because it boosts both food and production. Pasture tiles also offer a great mix of food and production, and food generators like wheat, bananas and deer are also very desireable. Terrain: Subtler, but still very important. Many players swear by starting on a hill for the extra production. Looking around at your vicinity, you'll learn more about a city's potential. Rivers boost food, as does grassland, where plains provide a balance and hills offer more production. Chopping forests will give you a much-needed early production boost.

Pottery -- As mentioned, this comes first for me. Offers two great early buildings.



-- As mentioned, this comes first for me. Offers two great early buildings. Animal Husbandry -- Usually comes second in my games. Reveals horses and allows caravans, which will give you a gold boost and an even better science boost from the AI's tech lead. If you can connect for that science bonus, consider building a caravan early on.



-- Usually comes second in my games. Reveals horses and allows caravans, which will give you a gold boost and an even better science boost from the AI's tech lead. If you can connect for that science bonus, consider building a caravan early on. Archery -- Archers are the backbone of your army. A key tech for defense and fighting barbs. Don't skip this one. I got it from a hut, but would have teched it anyway.



-- Archers are the backbone of your army. A key tech for defense and fighting barbs. Don't skip this one. I got it from a hut, but would have teched it anyway. Mining -- Production, production, production. Allows mines and chopping.

Turn 0. I'll often reroll a couple times to find a start I like, but this one's pretty good. What should you look for? A few things:We begin the game by teching Pottery and building a Scout. Pottery gives us two crucial early buildings and opens three new tech paths; the Scout is crucial for exploring our surroundings and discovering goodie huts, which will give you significant boosts. You'll also discover city-states, identify neighbors and find some likely spots for your cities. I build two to start the game, unless I'm playing on a wet map such as archipelago.Let's take a look at our tech tree. Our eventual goal is Philosophy so we can build the NC, but that's 43 turns we can't afford when vital early game techs are left to be researched. The first four techs are crucial. The next seven are more situational.As for the rest, you'll grab Calendar and Writing on the way to Philosophy, Trapping or Masonry if they unlock a luxury, Sailing if you're on a wet map, and will probably save Wheel and Bronze for later.Here we are at turn 11. You have a few options for what to build next, but not enough time and production to build it all. I usually say pick two of the following: Shrine, Granary, Monument, Worker, Archer, Caravan. Shrine for pantheon/religion, Granary for growth (espec with wheat, bananas or deer), Worker to improve your dirt (these can/should be stolen), Archer for defense and city-state quests, Caravan situational if you can nab the early science boost. You can build a monument also to speed your policies a bit, but I usually don't find it necessary, even with the recent patch. I built a shrine and then a worker at this stage. Shrine because I'm going for a religion, worker so I can start improving this salt, and because there aren't many city-states or rivals in the area whom I could plausibly steal workers from.Take a look at the land, while we're here. We're only on turn 11, but with the vicinity revealed, we should already be thinking about where we'll expand. Pay special attention to Uluru, in the top right. It's an awesome faith wonder, making that a priority. It would actually pay off to build a Settler right away, but then this wouldn't be a guide to a standard opener. But keep an eye open to those possibilities.The AIs will constantly ask for embassies. JUST SAY NO. It shows them your turf and encourages them forward settling. I don't accept embassies until after t100 or later.Our policy screen. We're going Tradition, because it is exceptionally strong for smaller empires. Plan to go down the main line, picking up Aristocracy when necessary to speed up the NC.