Suggestion: Wonders That Transform Their Own Tile – A Fix/ small buff for the Inca and New Strategic Depth in Civ 7?

[PauI]

DISCLAIMER: this was originally a reddit post from me pre launch:Original Reddit Post

The Inca in Civ 7 have some great mechanics on paper—being able to work mountain tiles, Terrace Farms, and synergy with their Machu Pikchu wonder. But let’s be real: they’re considered one of the more volatile civs right now because they’re heavily dependent on mountainous starting locations. Without mountains nearby, their bonuses can feel lackluster, and unlocking Exploration Age bonuses becomes a real challenge.

What if Civ 7 introduced a way to reshape terrain through wonders, giving players more agency and opening up new synergies for civs like the Inca? Here’s the idea:

The Core Idea: Wonders That Transform Their Own Tile​

In Civ 7, some wonders could transform the tile they’re built on into a mountain. This would:

• Count as a mountain for civs that benefit from them (e.g., the Inca’s Apus ability and mountain-based Era requirements).
• Offer a strategic solution for players who lack ideal terrain while rewarding long-term planning.
• Maintain balance by limiting transformation to just the wonder’s tile.

This change wouldn’t just benefit the Inca—it would add a new layer of strategic depth for terrain planning, making wonders more dynamic and allowing players to adapt to suboptimal starts.

How This Fixes the Inca​

Right now, the Inca can feel like a high-risk, low-reward civ, entirely dependent on RNG to spawn near mountains. If you don’t have mountains, their bonuses fall flat. This mechanic could change that:

1. Unlocking Exploration Age Bonuses: One of the Inca’s Exploration Age requirements is to have mountains in your empire. By transforming a wonder’s tile into a mountain, you gain more control over meeting this condition, even on flat maps.
2. Terrace Farm Synergy: Creating a mountain through a wonder would open up rough terrain for adjacent Terrace Farms, allowing players to get better food yields on maps that aren’t naturally rough.
3. Scaling Mountain Yields: The Inca’s unique Apus ability adds food and production to mountains, so even a single transformed mountain could improve the city’s productivity significantly.

Imo this wouldn’t make the Inca overpowered—it would just give them the tools to be more consistent and versatile.

How the Greeks And Potential Other Civs Would Benefit​

The Greek already gain a rough terrain starting bias and bonuses for their Parthenon and Acropolis + their Oracle wonder requires rough terrain. Allowing the Oracle to transform its tile into a mountain would:

• Create a gameplay synergy between Antiquity civs like the Greeks and the Inca(& now Nepal). The Greeks could establish mountains that the Inca(and now Nepal) could exploit in later ages.
• Make wonders like the Oracle more impactful beyond adjacency bonuses, tying them thematically to their mystical or strategic significance.
• Broaden map viability for rough-terrain-dependent civs.

Other civs that could benefit include:

• Ethiopia: A civ historically tied to mountainous terrain that could gain flexibility through this mechanic.
• Switzerland or a potential Alps civ: A future civ designed around mountains could find creative uses for this mechanic(Update: Nepal yay).

The Bigger Picture: New Strategic Depth for Civ 7​

This mechanic wouldn’t just help the Inca—it would encourage cross-civ synergies and create more engaging terrain planning. Players would have to weigh:

• Immediate trade-offs vs. long-term benefits: Is losing alot of prod worth gaining a mountain adjacency? Should you build a wonder to support a terrain-dependent civ in your future path?
• Wonder placement: Wonders would have more strategic value, especially for civs reliant on specific terrain types.

For players frustrated by bad starts or limited map diversity, this mechanic would offer a creative, balanced way to adapt while staying true to Civ’s strategic depth.



Important: Make wonder created mountain tiles passable, so that you cant block off entire landsections!
this was an valid critic point made by a reddit user

 

[PauI]

some examples for potential tile transforming into mountain wonders: Oracle, Serpent Mound, Monks Mound, Petra, Chengde Mountain Resort, Doi Suthep

 

[PauI]

push! got pushed down cause of delayed verification