Now that we have 3 game variant toggles, which will you use regularly?

[tiamats4esgares]

I see no reason to buy secret societies mode. It seems not worth it, and I like to keep the game as historically accurate as possible. The Bermuda Triangle is one thing, vampires is quiet different...

Not spending my money to support that.

But, Apocalypse mode makes Diplomacy Victories easier so I use that, even if it was recently nerfed (and I still don't like the way DV works).

Tech shuffle unsure about so far. It seems alright, but I only played part of 1 game with it cuz I got bored. Meh.

 

[Draco84]

I will most likely keep Shuffle on indefinitely, I really enjoy this mode, even if it does seem to set me back, especially when there is a converging tech that requires all previous techs to earn.

Secret Societies is a lot of fun too, the only thing I would change is to remove free governor title, sure unlock the society by finding a wonder, but make me pay to take the society with my own hard earned governor.

Apocalypse I've played almost every game since it came out, but I think I'm over it now, the tile yields get so ridiculous eventually that is make regular 3 food 3 hammer tiles feel meh.

 

[Koljar]

I'm currently playing with 4 extra civs, max. city states on a giant pangea map as the English Eleanor (going for a long marathon game of peaceful domination). Curious to see where this leads me as I was the first to meet 6 or 7 city states, closest to me is Amanitore (like 50ish tiles away), spawned next to Torres del Paine on flood plains (yes, I'm about to finish the great bath on a river that already flooded twice ).

I like all the game modes.

 

[LMT]

I've played with all modes on since each has become available. Kudos to the developers for trying something new.

To me, they've made Civ, how can I say it...fun.

I get that apocalypse mode isn't for everyone. But for me, I get an extra sense of urgency trying to launch my exoplanet expedition before the comet approaches. And when that orange-red hue takes over the screen and I've yet to launch it, I start to sweat.

Yeah, it's totally random, but I kind of like that.

 

[KayAU]

I've been playing Beyond Earth lately, but when I return to civ 6, I will be keeping Secret Societies on, and Apocalypse off. I haven't played since the last patch, so I haven't tried tech tree shuffle yet. I suspect it's another one I will like to keep on most of the time.

 

[Piranga]

Used each once. I'll never use any of them again.

 

[salty mud]

I've yet to play these modes so my opinions may be way off, but Apocalypse mode seems like a fun "play once" mode and then forget. Bit like Sunset Invasion in CK2. Secret Societies seem a bit more flavourful and seem to have some sort of historical basis (except vampires) so maybe I'll keep this on. Bit more variety can't hurt.

 

[crewealex]

Found Apocalypse mode a bit too extreme for my taste but I think the other two are great and use them all the time.
Don't really understand the need for historical accuracy, it's a game after all. And anyway I'm not convinced there's
a great deal of difference between believing in vampires and believing in more conventional religions

 

[Onii-chan]

I'll probably play with Secret Societies and Shuffle mode almost every time from now on. They add a lot of variety and variables to the game. Secret Societies could use a bit of a balance patch though

Apocalypse mode was fun once or twice but overall it basically just seemed to affect the endgame by putting you on a timer. Cool, but not really relevant for a large portion of the game so I'll probably skip that most of the time

 

[IsabelBraganca]

I find SS mode makes the game easier. I haven't finished a game with Hermetic yet. The Ley Lines positions were just too bad. The other three are ok. I don't mind the extra earlier governor titles. I will use it most of the time.

The shuffle tree is fun, although sometimes the tech tree gets too crazy. I like that religion comes later.

I haven't tried the Apocalipse mode yet. I don't like the natural disasters much. I rarely put it on level 3, and I still have to play a game on level 4.

 

[Hep Roc Heretic]

Shuffle on since it came out because it's interesting.

Secret Societies once. Meh. Didn't do anything for me.

Apocalypse, not yet, probably never.

 

[NukeAJS]

I see that a lot of people won't use apocalypse mode often. I agree with them.

There is a mod that splits the difference though -- Real All Disasters. It basically adds solar flares and comet strikes while keeping their severity/frequency in-line with the disaster slider. This means the goofy soothsayer units and the "appease the gods" emergencies are not in the game. Also, the world doesn't end when climate change hits max level.

 

[RohirrimElf]

Shuffle 50%
secret societies 33%
apocalypse: probably never (soothsayer+unpassable terrain are not to my liking)
red death: probably only for achievement hunting

 

[conorbebe]

Shuffle mode is the only one I’d consider using so far.

 

[japanesesamurai]

I tried random trees for 30’ish turns but didn’t like it that much. Never tried apocalypse mode, and didn’t like the vampire mode either

 

[EthiOPia]

Shuffle mode probably always It makes each game diffrent and remove some patterns. Also it slows down game.
.
Apocalypse probably in 90% mainly because of meteors and solar eclipse(they make late game intresting enough), although the fact that numbers of meteors doesnt scale with size of the map is kinda disapointing(cant even change it in files).

Secret Societies probably in most of games even tho they could get some rebalance or even changed how their work to for example giving goods but also giving you quest that you need to compleate because otherwise they would burn your capitol or revolt your army.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

I will be using none of the variants. Really not my cuppa.

I've played with all modes on since each has become available. Kudos to the developers for trying something new.

To me, they've made Civ, how can I say it...fun.

I get that apocalypse mode isn't for everyone. But for me, I get an extra sense of urgency trying to launch my exoplanet expedition before the comet approaches. And when that orange-red hue takes over the screen and I've yet to launch it, I start to sweat.

Yeah, it's totally random, but I kind of like that.

great avatar, great series

 

[wxstall]

Apocalypse mode: Never, it’s a little too “out there” for my tastes.

Tech Shuffle mode: Not until they fix the overlapping tech/civic bug in the trees. And probably not more than 10% of the time afterwards.

Secret societies: Used it a couple times, but will not use again until it is rebalanced or reworked. All the early governor titles feel cheap. If these societies are so “secret” then why can I easily meet all of them by turn 15? I receive scrolls with a message before I’ve even researched writing? Really? Making contact with these groups should be far more difficult, to the point where you may play through an entire game without even meeting a couple of them. It would make the player have to adapt more towards using the one or two they’ve met rather than basically being able to choose whatever they want at the start of the game.

 

[japanesesamurai]

Apocalypse mode: Never, it’s a little too “out there” for my tastes.

Tech Shuffle mode: Not until they fix the overlapping tech/civic bug in the trees. And probably not more than 10% of the time afterwards.

Secret societies: Used it a couple times, but will not use again until it is rebalanced or reworked. All the early governor titles feel cheap. If these societies are so “secret” then why can I easily meet all of them by turn 15? I receive scrolls with a message before I’ve even researched writing? Really? Making contact with these groups should be far more difficult, to the point where you may play through an entire game without even meeting a couple of them. It would make the player have to adapt more towards using the one or two they’ve met rather than basically being able to choose whatever they want at the start of the game.

It would make more sense to meet/discover them (during a dark age) in the medieval period. Giving it a CK2 kinda vibe.
And seperate them from governors for sure

 

[racha]

The only one I haven't gotten into so far is the tech/civic shuffle, and that was because a mod was preventing the civics tree from displaying. Now there's a fix for that, I'll likely leave it switched on permanently like the other two. Like a previous poster said - give me chaos!