Happiness control

Well it took me a couple of goes, but I think it is manageable.
Initially my larger empires of 5+ cities were struggling economically and plunging into negative happiness.
However now I find with judicious use of policies and luxuries you can keep it under control.

The next step I think is finding the balance on puppet cities and annexing them.

i am gonna get flamed for this. when i am expanding w liberty i hold growth on cities that have reached a threshold, expand, and focus on happiness. the threshold varies based on turn, AI civ population, and circumstance. my last emperor game I had 10 cities 17 +. empire wide growth is the ultimate goal. still won, 52 turns remaining.

I had problem with this, but I've learned to just keep 2-4 cities big when you play wide, and keep all the other cities you found after small, just big enough to work the most optimal tiles and give you luxuries/resources.

the Default city governor REALLY prefer food over anything else, don't trust him.


After you get lots of happiness buildings, you can grow those cities, library+market tiems.