Using the World Congress becomes even more important as the danger increases. Like other emergencies, they're framed as competitions, which each civ attempting to excel, whether it's at being very charitable or stopping Katherine of Sweden from converting another city to Taoism. Through the World Congress, motions can be put to the other civs, creating an emergency event where everyone is called on to send aid to the victim of the disaster. Gathering Storm doesn't treat natural disasters or climate change as the concerns of individual civs. No matter the civ you're playing, you'll still need to spend a bit more time considering where to establish your first city.

There are some unusual twists among the expanded roster that make them stand out even as the list grows massive. If you're playing as the Maori, for instance, you start at sea and get bonuses for every turn you choose to forgo putting down roots, while the Phoenicians get more flexibility later on, thanks to their ability to move their capital to any other city with their unique building. Straight away, Gathering Storm flings a few more decisions into the mix. The very first choice you make after picking a civ-there are eight new ones, and nine new leaders-is finding a hex to settle on, typically on your first turn. Foul weather, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, however, can interfere with your empire-building plans whenever, so nature is a persistent adversary. It's not until resources like coal and oil start being exploited that CO2 emissions start to increase and transform the map, mostly through rising sea levels. For most of history, civs have barely any impact on the climate.

Civ 6 settling on a resource