Civilization 6 is packed with unique features and mechanics that can confuse newer players of the game, primarily due to how many there are. Including the 2 expansions added since launch, as well as the latest New Frontier Pass, there are numerous things that the players need to pay attention to.
From settling locations and first upgrades to units built and upgrades prioritized, there seem to be way too many options and not enough time to follow all of them. In Civilization 6, it is essential to make the right choices in order to succeed.
Food and Production
Food and production are the two most essential resources in Civilization 6 that will always be needed. First, food is essential for increasing the population in each city. Each citizen consumes 2 food per turn, and as long as the production is more than the amount of citizens x2, then the city will grow (e.g. a city with 10 food per turn can quickly gain up to 5 citizens).
Production allows building everything faster. The more production a city has, the faster each building, unit, or project will be produced. It is essential to always keep track of each city's food and production.
Enable Yield Icons
Probably the first thing to do in Civilization 6 is to enable yield icons from the interface. To enable them, on the bottom left of the screen, right above the minimap, click the second icon from the left named map options, and then enable yield icons.
Now the player can see the production and the food offered by each tile (which can be improved by upgrades), and thus understand why their cities are thriving, or why they aren't.
Settling Locations
Settling new cities is one of the most important aspects of Civilization 6 and should be done as early as possible. It is essential, at least for the first 4 cities, to choose ideal locations that will help them improve.
Some popular strategies involve placing a city on or near high yield icons, placing it on top of a luxury resource (citizens start gathering it immediately even if it disappears), or placing it on a hill as a more strategic position that makes attacking the city much harder.
Build Wide
One of the best strategies in Civilization 6 is to build wide, which means to build as many cities as possible. After the first few cities, the settling location doesn't really matter; it's all about just getting an extra city. More cities equal faster progression, and there is no setback for having too many of them.
One thing to note is that this is the rule, but there are always exceptions like the Japanese and the Mayans who favor playing tall, with only a few big cities.
Build Districts
Probably the most important type of building in Civilization 6, districts should almost always be built whenever available. Each city has a limit of how many districts they can place.
They can place one district when they have 1 citizen, and then gain 1 additional district slot for every 3 citizens (so on 4 citizens the city can build 2, on 7 it can build 3, and so on). Whenever the city's population allows building a district, it is recommended to do so, as they offer significant bonuses.
Choose Wonders Carefully
One of the most game-changing building types is the world wonder buildings. Each wonder can only be built once in the entire match (whoever manages to build it first) and provides significant bonuses for their empire.
However, there are way too many wonders in the game, and most of them are very expensive to build. It is important for the player to build only the ones that they will need based on their win condition, and not waste production on less important ones.
Choose Win Condition
A common mistake that new players often make is not choosing which win condition to pursue, and then getting lost among all of the options available. It is key to victory to choose which win condition to pursue (domination, science, culture, religion, diplomacy, or score) at the latest within the first turns of the game based on the leader chosen and on the starting position.
For instance, playing with Russia and finding a natural wonder nearby (which buffs Astrology) is an ideal start for a religious victory, while having a starting position that involves a lot of mountains (which buff campuses), favors science-focused gameplay.
Don't Always Rush Units
Unless the player aims for a domination victory, building units should be restricted to a minimum. Having just a few units that will be garrisoned in the player's cities, and which will get upgraded throughout the game would be the best strategy.
If the neighbor gets aggressive then the player can always build more, but in any other case using production on units can be a waste of time and materials.
Prioritize Research and Civic
The two main upgrade trees in Civilization 6 are research and civics. Both of them allow the player to unlock new units, buildings, world wonders, and actions that guide them to victory. It is always essential to upgrade these trees relatively quickly in order to not stay behind.
This is also why the Campus and the Theater Square districts should be built on most of the player's cities. It is essential to take a look into these trees before playing, and then decide which upgrades to prioritize based on win condition.
Change Policy Cards
Whenever a new civic is unlocked, the player gets access to new policy cards and on top of that, can freely change policy cards during that turn. These policy cards can offer significant situational bonuses that the player should always try to take advantage of.
For instance, the player should start building settlers when they unlock the policy card that makes settlers produce faster, and create builders later on when their respective card is equipped. The same goes with wonders, units, and most buildings. Policy cards are essential in order to maintain efficiency throughout the game.