Hands on: Civilization VI in its entirety has made its way to the iPhone

Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2018
Civilization VI is now available not just for the iPad but for the iPhone as well. AppleInsider has spent several hours (for science) testing it out to see how it compares to its iPad and Mac counterparts.




It wasn't long ago we were declaring our love of Civilization VI on iPad, so we were thrilled to see it on the iPhone. This couldn't come at a better time with the recent release of the new iPhone XS Max, the biggest screen ever on an iPhone. We spent many, many hours toiling away on Civ VI both on the new iPhone XS Max, as well as our smaller-screened iPhone X.






Civ VI does a great job of making use of the display, regardless of which phone you're on. The turn-based menu system is easily navigated and animations feel fluid and natural.

There are user interface concessions that still need to be made for the Phone, though. For instance, some of the values on the top of the display are a bit small. On the iPad, it made a bit more sense to exit menus by tapping the screen with three fingers, but that seems slightly out of place on the iPhone.

Hands down the best aspect of the game is the fact it is a full-featured port of the title. There aren't any shortcuts or pared-down mechanics to compensate for hardware.




When we played the game on our iPad Pro, there were slowdowns late in the game as turns became more complex. The same holds true when playing on the iPhone, though they did seem to take a bit longer to process than the iPad, even on our iPhone XS Max. The A12 Bionic processor is a beast, but -- especially with a larger map and many players -- wait times can be a bit long by the end of the game.

For most, the longest load times will be simply at the start of the game before it begins, where you have to patiently wait a few moments for everything to get going.

It still amazes us that the entirety of Civilization VI has made its way not just to iPad, but to the iPhone. There is so much to do with hours of entertainment, without timers, premium currencies, or other nonsense getting in the way.

Civilization VI is free to download, and allows you to play the first 60 turns of a game for free. A $60 in-app purchase at full price gives the user the full game, which gives you unlimited turns, custom scenarios, and multiplayer. Since we originally picked up this game a year or so ago, many expansion packs have also landed on iOS, providing additional civilizations, leaders, and maps to take the game even further.

Presently, the full game is on sale for $23.99. The other in-app purchases are expansions, and vary from $5 to $8, and are completely optional.

Civilization VI requires iOS 11 and an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, iPhone 8 or 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XS or XS Max, iPad Air 2, iPad 2017, or any iPad Pro. AppleInsider recommends the most powerful hardware you can bring to bear.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    Sid, Gettsyburg! next please
  • Reply 2 of 17
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    I play Civ6 a lot. On my Mac. So I have to pay for it a second time if I want to play it on my iPhone? I thought if you bought stuff on the App Store you could run it on 5 different devices. I guess there's really App Store 1 and App Store 2.

    I apologize for using the word "buy" because I'm not really buying it. If I were buying it I would be able to resell it when I'm done with it, or pass it off to someone else in my will. But I can't do those things, so it's not really a purchase. It's a rental.
  • Reply 3 of 17
    icoco3icoco3 Posts: 1,474member
    I play Civ6 a lot. On my Mac. So I have to pay for it a second time if I want to play it on my iPhone? I thought if you bought stuff on the App Store you could run it on 5 different devices. I guess there's really App Store 1 and App Store 2.

    I apologize for using the word "buy" because I'm not really buying it. If I were buying it I would be able to resell it when I'm done with it, or pass it off to someone else in my will. But I can't do those things, so it's not really a purchase. It's a rental.
    Them 5 device/user limit is on the iOS platform only.  That is ALL it was ever promoted as meaning.
    randominternetpersonfastasleepwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 17
    I play Civ6 a lot. On my Mac. So I have to pay for it a second time if I want to play it on my iPhone? I thought if you bought stuff on the App Store you could run it on 5 different devices. I guess there's really App Store 1 and App Store 2.

    I apologize for using the word "buy" because I'm not really buying it. If I were buying it I would be able to resell it when I'm done with it, or pass it off to someone else in my will. But I can't do those things, so it's not really a purchase. It's a rental.
    There's an iOS App Store and a Mac App Store.  I think we all knew that.  And what you are buying is a software license.  It's not a rental.  You could use the software for 100 years (if you can keep the hardware alive and skip OS updates).
    fastasleepguscatwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 17
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    Amazing! Also, there goes my productivity. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 17
    So hopefully Apple or the Civ crew realize (and correct it) that the app is showing me that my iPhone 6S is compatible with this game...in the App store information compatibility section. "Works on this iPhone". Even though the dev says I need at least an iPhone 7 or newer to run it.
    edited October 2018 watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 17
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    There's an iOS App Store and a Mac App Store.  I think we all knew that.  And what you are buying is a software license.  It's not a rental.  You could use the software for 100 years (if you can keep the hardware alive and skip OS updates).
    Apple's purchasing buttons always said "Purchase" not "License". They recently changed the term to "Get" but that still sounds more like "Buy" than "License". I love Apple but I wish they would be honest and forthright with this issue.
  • Reply 8 of 17
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    icoco3 said:
    Them 5 device/user limit is on the iOS platform only.  That is ALL it was ever promoted as meaning.
    I hope someone smarter than me corrects you because when I buy an app on the macOS App store I'm able to run it on all my Mac computers which are logged into the same iCloud account. 
    chasm
  • Reply 9 of 17
    hqnychqnyc Posts: 2unconfirmed, member
    icoco3 said:
    Them 5 device/user limit is on the iOS platform only.  That is ALL it was ever promoted as meaning.
    I hope someone smarter than me corrects you because when I buy an app on the macOS App store I'm able to run it on all my Mac computers which are logged into the same iCloud account. 
    icoco3 is talking about family sharing. You can only add up to six people from your household to family sharing, hence the limit. But if you're using your own appleid for your devices, you can run the same app/software on all compatible devices. 

    In my opinion, the "limit" is pretty generous. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 17
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    hqnyc said:
    In my opinion, the "limit" is pretty generous. 
    Yes. And I'm not asking for that limit to be increased. I just want it to count across platforms.
  • Reply 11 of 17
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,274member
    Yes. And I'm
    not asking for that limit to be increased. I just want it to count across platforms.
    But you're pretending that iOS and Mac aren't separate platforms, and that the number of users applying only to the same platform is a change or a new thing. It isn't. This has been in place since the introduction of the App Store on iOS in 2008 (iirc).

    Mac apps run only on Macs, but you can family share to other Macs. Apps using iOS run on other iOS devices using the same Apple ID. Despite each of the two platforms borrowing more and more from each other, they are still two entirely different platforms and programs that want to run on both Macs and iOS devices must be custom rewritten/rewritten for the two separate platform. For the past 10 years and, I would expect, into the foreseeable future (though Apple has taken steps to make that rewriting/customizing process a lot easier).
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 17
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    chasm said:
    Yes. And I'm
    not asking for that limit to be increased. I just want it to count across platforms.
    But you're pretending that iOS and Mac aren't separate platforms, and that the number of users applying only to
    the same platform is a change or a new thing. It isn't. This has been in place since the introduction of the App Store on iOS in 2008 (iirc).

    Mac apps run only on Macs, but you can family share to other Macs. Apps using iOS run on other iOS devices using the same Apple ID. Despite each of the two platforms borrowing more and more from each other, they are still two entirely different platforms and programs that want to run on both Macs and iOS devices must be custom rewritten/rewritten for the two separate platform. For the past 10 years and, I would expect, into the foreseeable future (though Apple has taken steps to make that rewriting/customizing process a lot easier).  
    Steam has no issue with selling licenses for software that can be installed across Mac, Windows and Linux, which are definitely different platforms which require additional coding. It'd require a re-architecture of the stores, but Apple could provide a way for developers to do this if they wanted. 

    I think it'd be nice.  Buy once, use everywhere. 

    They're already part way there, Watch and TV apps can be bunded in with iOS apps, and while there may be a common code base, they're not the same platform.
    edited October 2018
  • Reply 13 of 17
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    How do you choose what Civilisation you want to be, do you have to buy it to get that? If so they need to explain it somewhere, because currently when you download it there is no "new game" option only "play now" and if it seems like I can't choose my Civ I won't buy in the first place.
  • Reply 14 of 17
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    ascii said:
    How do you choose what Civilisation you want to be, do you have to buy it to get that? If so they need to explain it somewhere, because currently when you download it there is no "new game" option only "play now" and if it seems like I can't choose my Civ I won't buy in the first place.
    Until you unlock the full game you're limited to China, a preset world, and 60 turns.
    fastasleep
  • Reply 15 of 17
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    crowley said:
    ascii said:
    How do you choose what Civilisation you want to be, do you have to buy it to get that? If so they need to explain it somewhere, because currently when you download it there is no "new game" option only "play now" and if it seems like I can't choose my Civ I won't buy in the first place.
    Until you unlock the full game you're limited to China, a preset world, and 60 turns.
    Ok, thanks, but I think this should be clearly displayed on the main menu. For example have a "greyed out" new game button that when you tap it says you have to buy. Maybe it was in the App Store description and I didn't read it, but it should be on the main menu anyway.
  • Reply 16 of 17
    I play Civ6 a lot. On my Mac. So I have to pay for it a second time if I want to play it on my iPhone? I thought if you bought stuff on the App Store you could run it on 5 different devices. I guess there's really App Store 1 and App Store 2.

    I apologize for using the word "buy" because I'm not really buying it. If I were buying it I would be able to resell it when I'm done with it, or pass it off to someone else in my will. But I can't do those things, so it's not really a purchase. It's a rental.
    That is for IOS based App store(Up to but not necessarily iPhone(and iPod touch), iPad, Apple TV and Probably Apple Watch. As of now the Apps on Mac AppStore are totally different, but given Mac OS Mojave’s now supporting App ports, that may change in the near future.
  • Reply 17 of 17
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    ascii said:
    crowley said:
    ascii said:
    How do you choose what Civilisation you want to be, do you have to buy it to get that? If so they need to explain it somewhere, because currently when you download it there is no "new game" option only "play now" and if it seems like I can't choose my Civ I won't buy in the first place.
    Until you unlock the full game you're limited to China, a preset world, and 60 turns.
    Ok, thanks, but I think this should be clearly displayed on the main menu. For example have a "greyed out" new game button that when you tap it says you have to buy. Maybe it was in the App Store description and I didn't read it, but it should be on the main menu anyway.
    Just buy it while it's still $24. :) It's totally worth it and a great price compared to the normal $60. You'll never go to bed at a decent hour again.
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