What Genre Is Civilization II?

Civilization II (1996) is a **Turn-Based Strategy (TBS)** game — specifically, the quintessential **4X** (Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate) empire builder.

Core Mechanics

• Turn-Based: You move units, manage cities, conduct diplomacy, research tech. Then AI takes its turn. No real-time pressure.
• 4X Loop:
  • Explore: Fog of war, map revelation, goody huts, barbarians.
  • Expand: Settlers found cities. City placement = everything (food/production/trade).
  • Exploit: Workers improve tiles (irrigation, mines, roads). City management (tax/science/luxury sliders, build queues, wonders).
  • Exterminate: Military units (stacks of doom), combat RNG (firepower vs armor), conquest, diplomacy (threats, alliances, tech trade).
• Tech Tree: 100+ advances, prerequisites, eras (Ancient → Future). Defines units, buildings, wonders, abilities.
• Wonders of the World: Unique global effects (Pyramids → Granaries, Copernicus → Science, Hoover Dam → Hydro plants). Race to build.
• Diplomacy: AI personalities (Gandhi = nuke happy), treaties, espionage, UN victory.
• Victory Conditions: Conquest (kill all), Spaceship (Alpha Centauri), Score (2050 AD), Cultural (20k culture in 1 city - added in expansions).

Why It's Not Just “City Builder” or “Wargame”

• City management is deep but *serves* the 4X loop.
• Combat is abstract (stack vs stack, RNG), not tactical (no hex grid, flanking, morale like Panzer General).
• Scale is **civilization-level**, centuries per game.

Civ II defined the genre. Civ VI is its modern heir (1UPT, districts, active research).