Civilization 7 Overbuilding Explained: Ages and New Buildings
The arrival of a new Age in Civ 7 marks changes to technology, policy, and new game mechanics that everyone can use. However, overbuilding is a critical part of Ages, which allows players to transition their old structures into more advanced ones that boost resource production. Here’s how overbuilding works and how you can take advantage of it.
Table of Contents
Ages Explained
Every campaign will go through 3 different Ages: Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern. The Antiquity Age is the starter period where players pick a precursor Civilization. After Antiquity, the Exploration Age comes next, and all players can now go beyond their own borders and explore the rest of the world. This is when the overbuilding mechanic starts. Finally, the Modern Age will be the last period in the game, and more advanced technologies can be unlocked.
Age Transitions
Whenever a new Age arrives, all your current buildings in the previous Age will be considered outdated and can be upgraded with new technologies for the current period. However, the new structures are locked behind either the Civics or Technology research tree, so you’ll need to prepare ample resources ahead of time.
Benefits and Downsides of Overbuilding
- Overbuilding your outdated structures significantly boost the economic, cultural, and military resources of the old building.
- There are specific structures that are Age-agnostic and will not be available for overbuilding, like Granaries, Saw Pits, or Stonecutters that will remain static until the end of the match.
- If you overbuild the old structure with a new one that outputs a different resource, this will significantly reduce the new building’s yield. When overbuilding, make sure the new structure outputs the same resource as the old building.
- While an overbuild structure provides a nice boost to your economy, always prioritize getting as many core buildings as you can before committing to overbuilds.
