Civilization VI getting new mode inspired by "Pirates!"

[Armada]

Two of Sid Meier's beloved franchises are coming together in glorious piratey fashion.

It seems the legendary Sid Meier's influence is still alive and well at Firaxis Games, as they announced today that Civilization VI will get a new "Pirates" scenario inspired by Sid Meier's Pirates!.

The multiplayer scenario will support 1-4 players and will be playable on either a random map or a hand-crafted Caribbean, both with updated art assets for a more tropical aesthetic.

Players will get to choose from four pirate factions with unique abilities, but they will also have to contend with the British, Spanish, French and Dutch navies trying to hunt them down.

There also appear to be some new mechanics for this mode which give it a more piratey feel, such as plundering relics and repairing ships at sea.

The "Pirates" scenario will be available on 22nd October as a free update for Civilization VI, so anyone who owns that game can try it out.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

Hey, cool!
But only for multiplayer...?

 

[Armada]

Yeah, though I think you can play it solo against AI opponents like some of their other multiplayer-centric modes. I'll try it out when it launches so I'll be sure to share my impressions of it.

 

[Old Salt]

That sounds pretty wild. Was waiting on some kind of update for Pirates. This will do for now.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

That sounds pretty wild. Was waiting on some kind of update for Pirates. This will do for now.

Hey, long time no see!
Welcome back.

 

[Armada]

More information has been released detailing the four pirate factions, gameplay and the victory conditions of this mode. It certainly is shaping up to be a worthy Pirates! tribute!

Key points:

• You gain score from three categories: Fighting, Treasure and Infamy. The player with the highest score after 60 turns wins.
• You can plunder trade routes or go after tougher treasure fleets.
• Buccaneers appear instead of barbarians, sometimes including "infamous pirates" with stronger ships.
• You can visit ports to recruit crew, find treasure maps and uncover relics.
• You can land a shore party to bury treasure.

 

[Pieter Boelen]

What's the point of burying treasure, I wonder?

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

To be cool?

 

[Pieter Boelen]

To be cool?

"Why are you burying that chest?"
"That's what all the cool kids do!"

Finding treasure: even cooler.

 

[Armada]

What's the point of burying treasure, I wonder?

To gain treasure points, apparently. Though if another player comes across your treasure, they can pillage it and you'll lose the points you gained from burying it, so you need to choose your locations wisely!

The devs did a livestream the other day showing a full playthrough (nearly 2 hours) with 4 players, if anyone's curious.

I gave it a go as a single-player game against AI and then with two players and two AI, and it's pretty fun! The Caribbean map is great, though as the devs admit, it's not the most balanced experience due to its layout and Spain's dominance, so it's possible to get a poor start and struggle to find a ship to capture for the first few turns. But it soon becomes a race to see who can have the most ship combats, pillage the most trade routes and bury the most treasures, and if you meet another player, you'll have to decide whether to parley or fight to the death.