Dorset > Inuit > Iceland Civs

evonannoredars

Chieftain
Joined
Nov 17, 2024
Messages
38
Now that civs have been decoupled from leaders, this might be our best chance to get an Inuit civ in the franchise. I am holding out hope an arctic civ will be added eventually - we've had tundra-focused civs before, but those have been relatively modern and with the three-age system, ancient and exploration tundra civs would be required to make a full branch, although this here is more a rough vision for how I could see this working out than a detailed pitch.

Dorset (Ancient)
Could be replaced by Thule, but the Dorset fit the Ancient timeframe better.
Abilities: Since the tundra will presumably be a fairly unproductive tiles and the extent of Dorset expansion, I think it's fitting for the Dorset to be suited to an expansionist, wide gameplay style to maximise yields through a large number of settlements, as well as potentially a cultural second trait. Subsequently their abilities would be geared towards establishing large numbers of comparatively low-population towns in the tundra and increasing yields on primarily coastal tiles through improvements and civics.
Wonder: Deltaterrasserne - Must be built on tundra adjacent to coast, provides two free settlers, towns within a certain radius do not count towards the settlement limit. Not technically a Dorset site, but is Pre-Inuit. Any abandoned large settlement site would be fitting thematically (there's unfortunately not a lot else that could be a Dorset wonder), Deltaterrasserne is just the most interesting imo.

Inuit (Exploration)
Abilities: Similar to the Dorset, one of the Inuit traits would be expansionist. May be impossible due to how the game is coded, but a unique dog-sled scout (qamutik) with highly limited ability to traverse ocean tiles but then an ability to climb onto and cross polar ice would provide an alternative way to cross the ocean in the Exploration age (or alternatively a qajaq which significantly reduces damage from ocean tiles when adjacent to ice), with the ability to build a unique inuksuk improvement, providing sight on adjacent tiles and healing for units outside of territory, or bonuses to adjacent yields within territory. Generally the Inuit would gain improvements geared towards improving yields on tundra tiles, allowing them to move inland from the coastal tundra Dorset or settling in the (likely vacant) tundra areas in distant lands.
Wonder: Inuksugalait (Inuksuk Point) - Must be built on tundra, provides increased sight range for scouts, increased sight for all units on tundra tiles. Again, not many other likely candidates for an Inuit wonder, so I'd be curious if they go for this or pick something else if the Inuit are added.

Iceland (Modern)
Although I initially considered Greenland as the Modern civ in the arctic branch, especially as it would allow a Norse civ to be an alternate default route into Greenland, I couldn't think of how to make it an interesting civ. Iceland is a more significant geographic and cultural jump, but easier to design! Canada could also be a more appropriate alternative modern civ, although I'd hope they'd be less caricatured if they show up in Civ 7.
Abilities: Hard to come up with much as we don't know much about the modern age yet, but Iceland would break the trend of being expansionist (it is just one island irl after all) and focus on turning all the settlements from previous ages into geothermal-powered tourism-attractive cities.
 
Top Bottom