The Civilization series has taken players throughout history, but the next step for the series may be to discover new kinds of civilization underground. While the series' primary appeal has come from featuring various leaders and civilizations over the years, a more fantastical spin-off isn't out of the question. After all, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri came out near the turn of the millennium, and it was essentially an offshoot of Civilization that starred a collection of fictional space colonies. While space may seem like a good expansion for the series, going underground could bring about more unique possibilities.
One of the strong points of achieving win conditions in Civilization games is the amount of power and choice at the player's disposal. While every civilization has its strengths and weaknesses, it is ultimately up to the player to determine how they build. They have the freedom to create a thriving trade empire, a pinnacle of scientific achievement, or play as a warlord who conquers the world. The sheer amount of options available through the tech tree and available buildings offer incredible replay value even before the large roster comes into play. Civilization's formula is peak for its genre, and it could be effectively adapted for more outlandish spinoffs.
Civilization's Classic Gameplay Could Translate Well To An Underground Environment
People living in underground cities in a world similar to Fallout's wasteland setting or any other situation would be a far cry from usual Civilization scenarios, but it would still be workable. Similar to Alpha Centauri, players could have a selection of leaders and civilizations to play, or perhaps it could take a page from Stellaris' book and let players design their own. Since the main game of Civilization is all about an alternate Earth in the first place, playing historical leaders underground could be possible as well, although fictional leaders would still likely be the better choice for the concept.
A subterranean setting could also provide a different flavor for some classic mechanics as well as likely remove the focus on Civilization's historical leaders and icons. For food, developing ways to effectively grow crops underground could add a new dimension to farms, essentially putting food production and science hand-in-hand. Likewise, other sorts of luxuries and resources may need to be rebalanced as well. For example, precious metals and gemstones could be the most available luxuries, with players mining them out for use in trade. A lot of aspects of the game would need to be changed for flavor purposes, but ultimately, the game would still be recognizable as a Civilization offshoot.
The most major changes to an underground Civilization game would come in the form of exploration and combat. Since starting locations in CIvilization are important, it would make sense to give players a spacious cave to start, but players would likely need to dig paths for most of their exploration outside of their home base. This would make workers or whatever other unit was required to dig more important than ever before. Likewise, since movement would likely involve narrow tunnels, that could also change the dynamic of combat as well. There could even be an option to use explosives to close or destroy tunnels, setting back the opponent's options.
Taking the Civilization formula underground would be one of the series' stranger moves, but it has the potential to be a rousing success. A post-apocalyptic mode in Civilization could take its tried and true gameplay and mold it into a viable spinoff. While some redesigns would be necessary to account for mechanics such as digging tunnels and combat in such close quarters, the biggest concern may be making a playable roster as engaging as Civilization's list of historical figures. A subterranean version of Civilization could be an entertaining spin-off for players to create whole new worlds in.
Civilization 7 is in development.