Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Cleopatra and her sphinx lead Egypt to victory in ‘Sid Meier’s Civilization VI’

Queen Victoria and Teddy Roosevelt will give the world’s greatest powers a run for their money in Civilization VI, but don’t count out Egypt. Backed by the legendary ruler Cleopatra and the mythical sphinx, Egypt is among the most valuable ally for other nations in the game.

The Nile River is an indispensable resource for Egypt, allowing the land’s crops to flourish, and the importance of this water source was been replicated in Civilization VI. By building districts and other structures close to rivers, the construction period is reduced due to the Egyptian “Iteru” special ability. “Wonders,” which provide additional bonuses to the civilization, will also be completed faster by building them on rivers. If you place a sphinx — Egypt’s famous human-lion hybrid structure — close to a Wonder like the pyramids, you will also receive additional bonuses.

Cleopatra’s leadership also comes with its own bonus: additional trade routes to help connect Egypt to other economies. These external trade routes can give Egypt food and gold, helping to make the country and surrounding allies economically interdependent.

“Rather than isolating themselves, the Egyptians remain central to the political landscape throughout the game,” the narrator says in the game’s “First Look: Egypt” video.

If it comes to war, however, Egypt’s Maryannu Chariot Archer units will help you out, as well. The archers, who were among the “elite units in the pharoah’s army,” are most effective when on flat terrain.

“Early in the game it is best at fast attacks,” the narrator adds. “Its mobility means it can respond to wide-ranged threats.”

And while it probably doesn’t need to be said at this point, archers are no match for a hundred of Gandhi’s nukes. If you pick Egypt, you better hope he’s on your side.

Civilization VI hits PC on October 21.

Pre-Order on Amazon

Editors' Recommendations

Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
All Baobab Tree locations in Tales of Kenzera
Zau fights a dragon in Tales of Kenzera: Zau.

While it wasn't marketed as being a particularly punishing game, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is by no means easy. You will have plenty of environmental challenges that can instantly sap your life, and the enemies you face -- especially the bosses -- are no slouches. When you first begin, it will only take a couple of bad hits to send Zau to the land of the dead himself. Alongside the Trinkets you can unlock through hidden challenges around the map, there are also Baobab Trees where Zau can stop to reflect on his journey thus far, have a short dialogue with Kalunga, and get a small addition to his health bar. Like everything in the game, these trees aren't prohibitively hidden, but you could easily pass one by and have no idea where it was when trying to backtrack. These are all the Baobab Tree locations so you can max out your health bar.
All Baobab Tree locations
There are six Baobab Trees to find in Tales of Kenzera: Zau and each adds a small segment of health to your total. When you collect them all, you will roughly double your HP bar. Here are each of their locations in the rough order you should naturally find them in. Most can be picked up on your first time through that area.
Ikakaramba

This one is very hard to miss as it is directly on your critical path. If you do, you can fast travel to the nearby campfire to grab it.
The Great Cliffs

Read more
All Fallout games, ranked
The courier in his nuclear gear and holding his gun in Fallout: New Vegas key art.

Who would've thought the post-apocalypse could be such a fun time? The Fallout franchise has taken the idea of a Mad Max-like future and not only made it into a wildly popular game franchise but also a hit TV series. The core franchise has been around since the late '90s, and yet we've had only a handful of mainline entries in the series since it was revived by Bethesda with Fallout 3. With Starfield in the rearview mirror and the next Elder Scrolls title currently being the dev team's focus, it could be close to another decade before we can set foot in the wasteland ourselves once again. What better time, then, to look back at the franchise and rank all the games from best to worst?

Fallout: New Vegas

Read more
Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble is as fun to watch as it is to play
Monkeys race one another in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble.

I couldn’t tell you what the last Super Monkey Ball game I played was, but I can still talk your ear off about the series. That’s thanks to the speedrunning community that has formed around the franchise, making it into the most exciting game to watch when it's played at a high level. After spending close to a decade watching old games turned inside and out, I’m ready to finally dig into a new entry for myself.

Thankfully, I’m getting that chance on June 25 when Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble launches on Nintendo Switch. The latest entry in Sega’s precise platforming series comes loaded with content, from an adventure mode with 200 stages to multiple 16-player multiplayer modes. That’s all exciting, but my attention was on one question when I sat down to demo all of that last week: How fun will it be to watch players master it?

Read more