A distinctive feature of the New Frontier Pass is the introduction of eight new game modes.
I have tried them all and won at least one game with each except the Zombie Defense mode. That one was so weird in that it was virtually constant combat because each time you killed a zombie, eventually it would respawn again. In addition, each unit killed – whether your own or of an AI civ or city-state that was at war – eventually returns as a zombie thereby increasing the number to deal with. Since I am not a great fan of continuous combat, I ended up just quitting that game. Maybe someday I will try again, but not anytime soon. For gamers who like playing for domination wins and relish the combat, this mode probably is an enjoyable challenge, but for me, it was just not fun.
The game modes are not exclusive – one can use one or more simultaneously.
The two I have enjoyed the most and use together almost every game I play now are ‘Monopolies and Corporations’ and ‘Barbarian Clans’. I like the former because it enhances the gold per turn production significantly (among other things) and I always seem to need more gold! The latter I really like a lot because Barbarian Camps not destroyed eventually evolve into new city-states. That expands the number of possibilities for trade routes and suzerains as the game progresses, both of which make a Diplomatic victory easier to achieve, and that has become my favorite way to play. Another side-effect of the larger than normal number of city-states is the probability that Valletta is one of them is greatly increased. Valletta is by far my favorite city-state to have as a suzerain because of being able to buy city projects, including flood barriers later in the game, with faith.
For a challenge with some unpredictability, the ‘Tech and Civic Shuffle’ mode can be added. It changes the sequence of the techs and civics in a random shuffle with all techs/civics in a given era all mixed up so planning ahead for boosts (Eurekas in the tech tree or Inspirations in the civics tree) is much more difficult. I will play this occasionally just for variety.
I don’t particularly like the other four modes much, so rarely play with any of them on anymore.
- ‘Apocalypse’ mode makes play more chaotic in the late game due to intensified disasters, comets especially. One comet can actually destroy a complete city if it happens to hit the city center.
- ‘Dramatic Ages’ mode is a little too dramatic for me. After the initial Ancient Era as a Normal Age, you are either in a Dark Age or a Golden Age, depending on how successful you have been in navigating the current age challenges. Special policy cards for each type of age help some to mitigate the issues that arise, but not enough as far as I’m concerned.
- ‘Heroes & Legends’ can be interesting because the characters are useful in unique ways for various aspects of the game. When I choose to use this mode, I try to get Hercules because of his ability to complete districts, even ones just started. That is a very powerful dynamic. The down side of this mode is recruiting a hero or legend takes city production time that many times I prefer to devote to other needs.
- ‘Secret Societies’ is a bit too much fantasy to my liking. I also do not like having to use Governor slots to advance the chosen society.
For more detail about all of the modes, visit the game modes page of the Civ Wiki.
I suspect for most Civ VI players, myself included, the introduction of the modes has made the game more interesting to continue playing. The variety they offer keeps the game somewhat fresh, although whether one uses any of the modes or not, no two play-throughs are at all alike.
Probably one reason I keep playing!
Tech Muddler 