The best Civilization 6 mods are the interface fixes almost every player runs (Detailed Map Tacks, Quick Deals, Better Report Screen), followed by the gameplay overhauls that turn Sid Meier’s Civilization VI into a different game. The 100 below are grouped by what they change, every one is free on the Steam Workshop, and we checked all 100 against their creators’ own Workshop pages on October 21, 2026. If you like big mod lists, our 100 best Sims 4 mods are picked the same way, and so is our list for Firaxis’s other big modding game, XCOM 2.
Essentials
The interface and mod-management mods that most Civ VI players install first.
1. Detailed Map Tacks
Detailed Map Tacks turns the game’s map pins into a district planner. Drop a tack for a Campus, Holy Site or wonder and it shows the yields and adjacency bonuses that spot would give you, and whether the district can actually be placed there. It also adds hotkeys for placing tacks and deletes a tack automatically once you build on that tile. With more than 2.7 million subscribers, it is the most-subscribed Civ VI mod on the Workshop. Last updated January 2024. Creator: wltk. Download: Detailed Map Tacks on the Steam Workshop.
2. Quick Deals
Selling luxuries to the AI normally means opening every leader one at a time to see who pays most. Quick Deals asks all of them at once and sorts their offers, so you can sell to the highest bidder in one click, swap one-time gold for gold per turn, or open any offer to tweak it. Press D to open it (you can change the key in the key bindings). Its creator was still updating it on September 20, 2026. Creator: wltk. Download: Quick Deals on the Steam Workshop.
3. Better Report Screen (UI)
Better Report Screen expands the F8 reports into the empire overview Civ VI never had. It adds tabs for units, deals, policies and city-states, and its policy tab shows the exact yield each policy card would give you before you slot it. Its page lists compatibility with the base game, Rise and Fall, Gathering Storm, the official scenarios, CQUI and Concise UI. Several other mods on this list build on it. Last updated May 2023. Creator: infixo. Download: Better Report Screen on the Steam Workshop.
4. Extended Policy Cards
Extended Policy Cards puts the policy math right on the cards in the Government screen, so you can see what each card is worth without leaving the screen. It keeps the original card look and, per its page, works in multiplayer. Without Better Report Screen enabled the Government screen simply behaves like the base game, so it is safe to try. Last updated April 2021, after the final seasonal patch. Creator: Aristos. Needs: Better Report Screen (UI). Download: Extended Policy Cards on the Steam Workshop.
5. CQUI: Community Quick User Interface
CQUI is the long-running open-source interface overhaul maintained by the community on CivFanatics’ GitHub. It merges buying with gold and faith into one production panel, adds Civ V style city management, richer city banners, configurable lenses and barbarian clan details. Better Trade Screen and More Lenses come built in, so do not install them separately alongside it. If you prefer lighter tweaks, pick Sukritact’s Simple UI Adjustments instead. Last updated April 2023. Creator: the_m4a and the CQUI community. Download: CQUI on the Steam Workshop.
6. Better Trade Screen
Trade routes are one of Civ VI’s clumsiest menus, and Better Trade Screen fixes most of it. You can sort routes by any yield or by turns remaining, filter for city-states and trade quests, and see every available route in the overview, which the base game does not always list, per its page. Routes are color-coded by origin city. Skip it if you already run CQUI, which includes it. Last updated August 2023. Creator: astor. Download: Better Trade Screen on the Steam Workshop.
7. More Lenses
More Lenses adds map overlays the base game is missing. The builder lens highlights unimproved resources and removable features and turns on automatically when a builder is selected, the city overlap lens shows how many cities reach a tile (handy for placing area buildings), and a hold-Ctrl settler lens outlines a potential city’s full radius. Like Better Trade Screen, it is already part of CQUI. Last updated April 2023. Creator: astor. Download: More Lenses on the Steam Workshop.
8. Enhanced Mod Manager
Once you subscribe to more than a handful of mods, the default mod screen becomes a mess. Enhanced Mod Manager splits it into enabled and disabled lists, lets you right-click to toggle a mod or shift-select several, and adds sorting by author, last update and dependency. Its most useful filter hides or shows mods that affect saved games. Last updated April 2023. Creator: FinalFreak16. Download: Enhanced Mod Manager on the Steam Workshop.
9. Better Builder Charges Tracking
Builders are among the units you check most often, and the base game makes you select each one to see how many build charges it has left. Better Builder Charges Tracking prints the remaining charges beside every Builder’s unit flag, so the nearly spent ones stand out at a glance. It comes from the creator of Detailed Map Tacks and Quick Deals, and with more than 1.3 million subscribers it is one of the ten most-subscribed Civ VI mods on the Workshop. Last updated March 2021. Creator: wltk. Download: Better Builder Charges Tracking on the Steam Workshop.
10. Quick Start (Linux, Mac, Windows)
Quick Start skips the intro logo videos and the license screen you have already accepted and takes you straight to the main menu every time you launch. Its page says it works on Windows, Mac and Linux, and its creator warns that a Civ VI update can occasionally break it until the mod catches up. Last updated June 2020. Creator: Odin Vex. Download: Quick Start on the Steam Workshop.
Interface and Information
Panels and trackers that surface information the base game hides or buries.
11. Sukritact’s Simple UI Adjustments
Sukritact’s Simple UI Adjustments is the lighter alternative to a full overhaul. It shows worked tiles, next border growth and city yields when you hover over a city banner, lets you rename cities from the city panel, and makes the food yield account for amenities and housing. Its creator describes it as simple quality-of-life changes built on the existing interface rather than a CQUI-style rebuild. Last updated October 2024. Creator: sukritact. Download: Sukritact’s Simple UI Adjustments on the Steam Workshop.
12. Real Great People (UI)
Real Great People replaces the generic Great Person art with portraits of the real historical figures, 203 of them per its page, and rebuilds the Great People window around them. The screen shows every civilization’s progress toward each Great Person sorted by turns remaining, and adds an overview tab plus filters for previously recruited people. It is not compatible with scenarios that bring their own Great People popup. Last updated December 2022. Creator: infixo. Download: Real Great People on the Steam Workshop.
13. Better Tech Tree (UI)
Better Tech Tree adds about 150 icons to the tech and civic trees so each node shows what it really unlocks: Eureka and Inspiration boosts, resource harvests, improvement yield bonuses and more. It makes planning a beeline far quicker than reading tooltips one at a time. Its page notes that it overwrites CQUI’s own tree features if you run both. Last updated December 2023. Creator: infixo. Download: Better Tech Tree on the Steam Workshop.
14. Real Era Tracker (UI)
Golden and Dark Ages hinge on era score, and the base game never tells you what historic moments are still up for grabs. Real Era Tracker lists every moment you have not earned yet, split into world firsts, civilization firsts and repeatable moments, so you can find the last few points you need before the era ends. Last updated December 2023. Creator: infixo. Needs: Rise and Fall or Gathering Storm. Download: Real Era Tracker on the Steam Workshop.
15. Sukritact’s Global Relations Panel
Civ VI diplomacy keeps you guessing about what the AI leaders think of each other. The Global Relations Panel shows, at a glance, every leader’s opinion of every other leader, who is at war with whom, what kinds of alliances exist, and deals such as open borders and defensive pacts. It opens from a button at the top left of the screen. It has passed a million subscribers. Last updated July 2020. Creator: sukritact. Download: Sukritact’s Global Relations Panel on the Steam Workshop.
16. Detailed Wonder Reminder Enhanced
Losing a wonder you spent 20 turns on is a Civ rite of passage. Detailed Wonder Reminder Enhanced adds a wonder panel showing which wonders are built, under construction or still open, how many turns other civilizations need, and which of your cities can build each one. It warns you when a rival starts a wonder you are building and will finish first. Its page says it works with wonder mods. Last updated September 2025. Creator: 榊野木乃实. Download: Detailed Wonder Reminder Enhanced on the Steam Workshop.
17. Extended Diplomacy Ribbon
Extended Diplomacy Ribbon turns the row of leader portraits at the top of the screen into a diplomatic dashboard. Hovering over, clicking or middle-clicking a leader brings up their score, yields, relationship, alliances and deals, information the base game spreads across several screens, per its page. It works in multiplayer and with the base game and both expansions, and its creator updated it for the April 2021 patch. Last updated May 2021. Creator: Aristos. Download: Extended Diplomacy Ribbon on the Steam Workshop.
18. Better Loading Screen (UI)
Better Loading Screen replaces the loading screen’s one-line summaries of your civilization’s uniques with the full details, so you can read what your unique unit, building and abilities actually do while the map loads. Its page says it works with modded civilizations, both expansions and CQUI, and an option in its settings file turns off the Dawn of Men narration if you have heard it enough. Last updated April 2023. Creator: infixo. Download: Better Loading Screen on the Steam Workshop.
19. Better Espionage Screen
From the creator of Better Trade Screen and More Lenses, Better Espionage Screen cuts down the clicks needed to run spies. You can filter target cities by the districts they have (only cities with both a Spaceport and an Industrial Zone, say) or by civilization, and the mission list opens as a side panel instead of replacing the screen. Its page lists compatibility with CQUI. Last updated April 2023. Creator: astor. Download: Better Espionage Screen on the Steam Workshop.
20. Tech Civic Progress Plus
Tech Civic Progress Plus shows the exact progress of every tech and civic in the tree’s tooltips, how far a Eureka or Inspiration would push it, and how much research overflow you are carrying. Its page says it improves on the older Tech Civic Progress and does not need the original installed. Its creator also works on Harmony in Diversity, further down this list. Last updated October 2021. Creator: D. Download: Tech Civic Progress Plus on the Steam Workshop.
21. Great Works Viewer
Great Works Viewer makes a big art collection manageable. It sorts the Great Works screen by building type so similar works sit together, expands the view to fill your screen, filters by slot type and adds a helper for chasing theming bonuses, per its page. Last updated March 2024. Creator: Glindor. Download: Great Works Viewer on the Steam Workshop.
22. Better City States (UI)
Better City States rebuilds the city-state screen into a compact table that shows each city-state’s quest, its suzerain and who is second in line, your spies and its resources, per its page. It also marks which city-state holds your Amani, which the base game makes surprisingly hard to track. It works with CQUI, but its page says it cannot run alongside CIVITAS City-States Expanded, which brings its own city-state screen. Last updated June 2021. Creator: infixo. Download: Better City States on the Steam Workshop.
23. Envoy Quest List
Envoy Quest List adds a launch bar button that opens one screen listing every city-state quest available to you, so you no longer have to open each city-state to find easy envoys. Its page says it is compatible with Unique District Icons. Last updated January 2022. Creator: Dr. Pepper and Mr. Sprite. Download: Envoy Quest List on the Steam Workshop.
24. Better Religion Window (UI)
Better Religion Window adds the overview a religious game needs: which civilizations and how many of their cities each religion has converted, a filter for cities not yet following your religion sorted by how much pressure each one needs, and your total followers. Each city row shows its pressure and pantheon. Its page lists compatibility with both expansions and CQUI. Last updated August 2020. Creator: infixo. Download: Better Religion Window on the Steam Workshop.
25. Better World Rankings (UI)
Better World Rankings prints the numbers behind the World Rankings icons so you can compare civilizations without hovering over every tooltip. Its culture view is the highlight: it shows how much Tourism each visiting tourist costs and how many turns until your next tourist from each civilization, which makes a Culture Victory far easier to plan. Its page notes it does not work with scenarios. Last updated June 2021. Creator: infixo. Download: Better World Rankings on the Steam Workshop.
26. Real Governor Inspector (UI)
Real Governor Inspector adds a report that shows, city by city, what each Governor promotion would actually earn if you stationed that Governor there, covering Liang, Magnus, Pingala, Reyna and Victor. It opens from the Global Reports. Its page warns that percentage-based effects are approximate and that it assumes the standard Gathering Storm governors. Last updated December 2023. Creator: infixo. Needs: Gathering Storm. Download: Real Governor Inspector on the Steam Workshop.
27. Radial Measuring Tool
Radial Measuring Tool helps you pick city sites and plan around radius effects. It draws a circle on the map, shows the yields of unowned tiles inside it, compares the spot with the last one you measured and makes it easy to count which cities fall within a six-tile wonder or district effect. Its button sits next to the Civilopedia button, and its page says it works with Gathering Storm. Last updated March 2020. Creator: Zur13. Download: Radial Measuring Tool on the Steam Workshop.
28. Detailed Appeal Lens
The base game’s Appeal lens only says whether a tile is Breathtaking, Charming and so on. Detailed Appeal Lens shows the exact Appeal number on every tile, which is what matters when you place Neighborhoods, National Parks and Seaside Resorts. Last updated September 2021. Creator: D. Download: Detailed Appeal Lens on the Steam Workshop.
29. Better Deal Window
Better Deal Window makes trading with the AI less of a scroll. It adds a history of your past deals with the selected civilization, greys out luxuries you already receive, highlights resources the other side already has, splits each side’s goods into columns and adds bigger steps for gold and favor. Its page says it does not affect saves, and its creator confirmed it still works with every update up to February 2024. Last updated July 2021. Creator: gliding. Download: Better Deal Window on the Steam Workshop.
30. Greatest Cities
Greatest Cities brings back a feature from older Civilization games: a ranking of the world’s top cities, now and at the end of every era, plus a list of every World Wonder built and when. It opens from the reports menu, and its page explains exactly how city scores are calculated. By default it reveals little that the map does not already show, and some history features only work if the mod is on from the first turn. Last updated October 2021. Creator: Technoluddite. Download: Greatest Cities on the Steam Workshop.
31. Happiness and Growth Indicators
Happiness and Growth Indicators adds small indicators for happiness, growth, spies and luxury resources to the top panel, per its page, so you can keep an eye on your empire without opening the city list. It does not affect saved games. Last updated April 2021. Creator: lockstep. Download: Happiness and Growth Indicators on the Steam Workshop.
32. What Did I Promise?
AI leaders ask you to keep troops away, stop converting their cities or stop settling nearby, and the base game never shows what you agreed to or when it expires. What Did I Promise? lists your promises in each leader’s tooltip, adds a lens for tiles covered by military promises (with CQUI or More Lenses), and warns you two turns before troops near a border would break a promise, per its page. Last updated November 2021. Creator: Technoluddite. Download: What Did I Promise? on the Steam Workshop.
33. Map Search Extension
Map Search Extension upgrades the built-in map search with a search-area selector and a panel of quick search terms, so you can find resources, tribal villages or barbarians without typing at all, per its page. Last updated May 2021. Creator: Zur13. Download: Map Search Extension on the Steam Workshop.
34. Sukritact’s Civ Selection Screen
Sukritact’s Civ Selection Screen replaces the long leader dropdown in game setup with a proper selection screen that groups leaders under their civilizations and lets you jump through the list by letter. It handles modded civilizations and lets you choose specific color jerseys in single player. Its page says it is not compatible with YnAMP and that there are no plans to change that. Last updated April 2021. Creator: sukritact. Download: Sukritact’s Civ Selection Screen on the Steam Workshop.
35. Sukritact’s Tourism Overview Screen
Culture Victory math is famously opaque, and its creator says on the page that they did not understand Tourism either before making this screen. It explains how a Culture Victory works and breaks down your Tourism and visiting tourists so you can plan your next moves. The button appears at the top left once you start generating Tourism. Last updated March 2023. Creator: sukritact. Download: Sukritact’s Tourism Overview Screen on the Steam Workshop.
36. Unique District Icons
Unique District Icons gives every unique district from the base game, Rise and Fall, Gathering Storm and the New Frontier Pass its own icon, so an Acropolis no longer looks like the plain district it replaces. Its creator kept a custom Diplomatic Quarter icon that predates Firaxis’s own, and the page explains how to switch back to the official one. Last updated June 2023. Creator: Leugi, janboruta and sukritact. Download: Unique District Icons on the Steam Workshop.
37. Colorized Historic Moments
Colorized Historic Moments replaces the artwork for historic moments with colorized versions, more than 250 of them per its page. It is purely cosmetic and, its page says, can be switched on or off without harming a save. With more than a million subscribers it is one of the most popular Civ VI mods of any kind. Last updated April 2021. Creator: MiniRagnarok and Green. Download: Colorized Historic Moments on the Steam Workshop.
38. Enhanced Camera
Enhanced Camera widens the zoom range in both directions, so you can pull back further to survey a big map or push in closer for screenshots, and it retunes the camera tilt and fog to match. Its page credits an older mod, Tactical Camera, for the idea. Last updated May 2021. Creator: DahakaMVl. Download: Enhanced Camera on the Steam Workshop.
Notifications and Reminders
Small mods that tell you what the base game forgets to mention, or clear away what it mentions too often.
39. Policy Change Reminder
Civ VI lets you swap policy cards for free when you finish a civic, and it is easy to forget to do it. Policy Change Reminder pops up a prompt if you try to end the turn without changing policies on a free turn. It only appears when a change is actually free, and its creator says finishing a Future Civic no longer triggers it. Last updated March 2023. Creator: FinalFreak16. Download: Policy Change Reminder on the Steam Workshop.
40. Great Person Recruited Notification
A small mod for a real blind spot: it shows a notification whenever another player recruits a Great Person, and clicking it opens the Great People window. Its page says it works with existing saves and in multiplayer. Last updated June 2021. Creator: Yokuyin and cptpuk. Download: Great Person Recruited Notification on the Steam Workshop.
41. Simplified Gossip
Simplified Gossip cuts the flavor text from the gossip log in the diplomacy screen, so “Your lady in waiting, Aalis, heard at the court ball that Rome has denounced the evil deeds of China” becomes “Rome denounced China,” with an icon for each kind of event. Its page says the CQUI community edition already includes it, so skip it if you run CQUI. Last updated March 2023. Creator: FinalFreak16. Download: Simplified Gossip on the Steam Workshop.
42. Notification Log
Notification Log moves gossip and combat pop-ups into a log panel in the World Tracker, so they stop covering the screen but stay available to read back. You can resize the log, let it scale itself, and keep the last 50 entries instead of clearing them every turn. It is built to pair with Simplified Gossip. Last updated May 2021, for the April 2021 patch. Creator: FinalFreak16. Needs: Gathering Storm. Download: Notification Log on the Steam Workshop.
43. Custom Notifications
Custom Notifications adds alerts the base game leaves out: when a city’s borders grow, when a city gains population, when a trade deal expires, and when your religion becomes or stops being dominant in a city. Each one can be switched off from the mod’s menu, and its creator says it replaces no game files, so game updates should not break it. Last updated February 2022. Creator: qqqbbb. Download: Custom Notifications on the Steam Workshop.
44. NotificationClear
NotificationClear adds a single button to the notification panel that clears every notification except deal (transaction) notifications, per its page, a quick fix for the late-game pileup of alerts. Last updated October 2023. Creator: 336tarot. Download: NotificationClear on the Steam Workshop.
45. Auto Record Goody Huts
Also from the creator of Detailed Map Tacks, Auto Record Goody Huts drops a map tack recording what each tribal village gave you. Its creator says the idea came from streamers who track their goody hut rewards with tacks by hand. Last updated January 2022. Creator: wltk. Download: Auto Record Goody Huts on the Steam Workshop.
Multiplayer and Competitive
Tools the competitive community runs, usually alongside Better Balanced Game (below).
46. Multiplayer Helper (MPH)
Multiplayer Helper started as a tournament tool to stop the AI taking over a disconnected player’s units, and it has grown into the standard kit for competitive Civ VI. Its page lists in-game remap votes, tournament turn timers, an automatic tech or civic pick if you forget, lobby drafts with leader bans, limits on trading and surprise wars, and Anonymous and Sudden Death modes. Everyone in the lobby needs the same version. A separate Lite fork (v1.8.0) is maintained alongside it and gets updates first, per that fork’s page. Last updated October 2024. Creator: D. / Jack The Narrator, with Ciscö, Vodairo, FlashyFeeds, Apeul and Elden. Download: Multiplayer Helper (MPH) on the Steam Workshop.
47. Better Balanced Maps (BBM)
Better Balanced Maps evens out start locations for competitive games, placing players by their civilization’s start biases while guaranteeing minimum yields and room to settle, per its page. It is meant to be played with Better Balanced Game, and its page says it is not compatible with the older Better Balanced Starts (BBS), Terra Mirabilis or other mods that change map generation. Version 1.39.5 was updated on August 6, 2026. Creator: BaNiPouZ and OneMoTurn. Needs: Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm. Download: Better Balanced Maps (BBM) on the Steam Workshop.
48. Production Overflow Bug Fix
Civ VI has a long-standing bug that can swallow part of your production overflow when an item finishes. This mod applies the overflow to the next thing you build automatically, or lets you apply it by hand in manual mode, and its page explains the bug’s math. Its page says to use the automatic version in multiplayer. Last updated August 2021. Creator: D. Download: Production Overflow Bug Fix on the Steam Workshop.
Gameplay Changes
Targeted additions that change how a game plays without replacing the whole rulebook.
49. Movable Districts
Placed a district in the wrong spot 100 turns ago? Movable Districts lets you move it, buildings and all, for gold equal to twice its original production cost. A move button appears on eligible districts in the city’s production panel, and unfinished building progress carries over. It supports one-per-city districts only; Neighborhoods, Canals and Dams cannot be moved. Last updated February 2022. Creator: wltk. Download: Movable Districts on the Steam Workshop.
50. Removable Districts
Where Movable Districts relocates a district, Removable Districts demolishes one. Every district gets a city project that removes it for half the district’s normal cost, freeing the tile for something better (a Holy Site that never earned a Great Prophet, say). Wonders cannot be removed, and its page notes that yields take a turn to update afterward. Last updated March 2020. Creator: TC. Download: Removable Districts on the Steam Workshop.
51. Real Strategy (AI)
Real Strategy is one of the most-subscribed attempts to make Civ VI’s AI a tougher, more deliberate opponent. Its creator describes a mix of Lua “thinking” and retuned AI priority lists, and the latest version, per its page, teaches the AI to build walls. The page says it works with every expansion configuration but is balanced for Gathering Storm, should not be used with scenarios, and does not affect saves, so you can switch it on or off at any time. Last updated August 2023. Creator: infixo. Download: Real Strategy on the Steam Workshop.
52. AI+
AI+ makes the AI play better without handing it extra bonuses, improving how it settles, builds and improves tiles and, above all, how it wages aggressive wars. Leaders also get more distinct personalities, so warlike civilizations build more units and expansive ones grab more land. Its page says not to combine it with other big AI mods unless their authors say they are compatible. As of October 21, 2026, it was last updated in March 2019 (for Gathering Storm), and its creator says on the page that they are no longer developing it. Creator: Siesta Guru. Download: AI+ on the Steam Workshop.
53. Good Goody Huts
Good Goody Huts doubles the number of tribal villages, lets them sit closer together and makes the better rewards come up more often. Every hut also pays 20 extra gold, scouts earn double experience for claiming one, and rewards that used to need a city or a Trader can appear from the first turn, per its page. Last updated March 2019. Creator: ST4RL1FT3R. Download: Good Goody Huts on the Steam Workshop.
54. Expanded Initial Vision
Expanded Initial Vision reveals the map within seven tiles of your starting position (the radius is adjustable), so you can decide whether to settle in place or walk to a better spot. It does not trigger meetings with other civilizations, and natural wonders stay hidden so you can still earn the Astrology boost. Its page says it works in single player and online multiplayer but not for every player in hotseat. Last updated March 2020. Creator: TC. Download: Expanded Initial Vision on the Steam Workshop.
55. Starting Scout
Starting Scout gives every player, AI included, a Scout alongside the usual Settler and Warrior, which speeds up early exploration and goody hut hunting. The same creator’s Starting Builder adds a Builder the same way, and the two work together. Last updated February 2019. Creator: NoShotz. Download: Starting Scout on the Steam Workshop.
56. Sailor Cat’s Watchtower Improvement
Sailor Cat’s Watchtower lets Scouts and other recon units build a watchtower that gives a unit standing on it +2 Sight and lets it see over woods and jungle. Per its page, it can be built outside your borders and on woods, rainforest and marsh without clearing them, it stops barbarian camps spawning, building one does not use up the unit, and its look changes with the terrain and era. Last updated October 2022. Creator: Sailor Cat. Download: Sailor Cat’s Watchtower Improvement on the Steam Workshop.
57. Capture Unique Improvements
In the base game, conquering, trading or flipping a city destroys the unique improvements around it. Capture Unique Improvements keeps them, covering civilization, city-state and governor improvements, and it can be switched on or off at any time. As of October 21, 2026, its page says it is no longer maintained: it was last updated in September 2019, before the New Frontier Pass, and its creator invites anyone to fork it. Creator: Sejick. Download: Capture Unique Improvements on the Steam Workshop.
58. City Roads
City Roads makes every improvement a Builder places lay a road too, so moving within your cities is as quick as moving between cities connected by road, and the road type upgrades with the era. Its page says it works with Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm but needs neither. Last updated February 2019. Creator: AOM. Download: City Roads on the Steam Workshop.
59. More Barbarian EXP
Fighting barbarians stops giving full experience very early in the base game. More Barbarian EXP raises that cap from level 2 to level 4 and doubles the minimum experience after it, so clearing camps stays worthwhile without letting anyone farm fully promoted units, per its page. Last updated February 2019. Creator: Josh Mate. Download: More Barbarian EXP on the Steam Workshop.
60. CIVITAS City-States Expanded
CIVITAS City-States Expanded adds four new city-state types (Agricultural, Consular, Entertainment and Maritime) and more than 40 new city-states, bringing the total above 70. It also makes city-states sturdier with free Ancient Walls, stops them from spamming scouts, and gives them historically sensible start locations. Its page notes it is incompatible with Better City States (UI). Last updated October 2021. Creator: thecrazyscotsman. Download: CIVITAS City-States Expanded on the Steam Workshop.
Resources and Religion
More to find on the map and more ways to shape a faith. The resource mods here are built to run together.
61. Tomatekh’s Historical Religions
Tomatekh’s Historical Religions adds a large set of pre-modern and indigenous religions to found, and gives leaders who had no religious preference (such as the Aztecs and Greece) a fitting historical one. It also updates some existing religious symbols. Its page recommends disabling it before scenarios that define their own religions, and says every player in multiplayer needs identical settings. Last updated March 2023. Creator: Tomatekh. Download: Tomatekh’s Historical Religions on the Steam Workshop.
62. Religion Expanded
Religion Expanded raises the number of religions a game can have to as many as 16, adds more than 40 new beliefs and a set of new worship buildings, and rewrites many original beliefs for clarity, per its page. The 16-religion cap needs Gathering Storm plus Tomatekh’s Historical Religions (above); without them the maximum is 12. Last updated December 2022. Creator: p0kiehl, with Sailor Cat, SeelingCat, chimp and Chrisy15. Download: Religion Expanded on the Steam Workshop.
63. Resourceful 2
Resourceful 2 adds 51 new resources to the map, making starts more varied and trade more interesting. Every luxury resource can be harvested, and the new resources tie into existing pantheons: Aloe, Berries and Saffron benefit from Oral Tradition, for example. Its page says it fully supports the Monopolies and Corporations game mode from the New Frontier Pass. Last updated August 2022. Creator: Amatheria. Download: Resourceful 2 on the Steam Workshop.
64. Sukritact’s Resources
Sukritact’s Resources adds new resources with their own art: Cheese and Camels on pastures, Obsidian quarries, Gold mines, Bison camps and Sharks for fishing boats, per its page. It is built to work alongside CIVITAS Resources, so you can run both. Last updated July 2021. Creator: sukritact and Deliverator23. Download: Sukritact’s Resources on the Steam Workshop.
65. CIVITAS Resources
CIVITAS Resources adds six luxuries, Penguins, Opals, Maple, Papyrus, Plums and Pomegranates, each working with the base game’s pantheons and abilities. Its page says it is compatible with Gathering Storm, the Monopolies and Corporations mode and the other resource mods on this list (with Resourceful or Resourceful 2 on, its Maple is removed). Last updated August 2021. Creator: p0kiehl, with thecrazyscotsman, Sailor Cat, SeelingCat and chimp. Download: CIVITAS Resources on the Steam Workshop.
66. Latin American Resources
Latin American Resources adds six resources from the region, Potatoes, Capybaras, Coca, Llamas, Quinoa and Yerba Mate, and gives them industry and corporation bonuses in the Monopolies and Corporations mode. Its page says it works with all DLC and other resource mods, though with Resourceful 2 you may end up with two kinds of potato. Last updated July 2022. Creator: Leugi and p0kiehl. Download: Latin American Resources on the Steam Workshop.
67. Monopoly++: Tycoons and Investors
Part of Leugi’s Monopoly++ collection for the Monopolies and Corporations mode, this mod hands Industries and Corporations to two new gold-only units: Tycoons, which also build railroads and Stations, and Investors, which also build Warehouses and Container Ports. Investors can also claim luxury and strategic resources in neutral territory, per its page. Last updated May 2023. Creator: Leugi. Needs: Gathering Storm, plus the Monopolies and Corporations mode from the Vietnam and Kublai Khan Pack for most of its features, per its page. Download: Monopoly++: Tycoons and Investors on the Steam Workshop.
Districts, Buildings and Wonders
New things to build in your cities, from reworked districts to single World Wonders with their own 3D models.
68. District Expansion: Commerce
JNR’s District Expansion series reworks each district’s buildings, and Commerce is the most-subscribed entry. It reworks the eight existing Commercial Hub, Harbor and Aerodrome buildings and adds 12 new ones, many with new 3D models, giving each city several different ways to earn gold for tall or wide play. The series also covers Industry, Campus, Theater and more if you like it. Last updated September 2024. Creator: JNR. Needs: Gathering Storm. Download: District Expansion: Commerce on the Steam Workshop.
69. District Expansion: Industry
The Industry entry in JNR’s District Expansion series stretches the Industrial Zone over four building tiers, adds new buildings such as the Water Mill, Wind Mill, Manufactory and Chemical Plant with their own 3D art, unlocks the district earlier at Construction and makes every power plant give Production to nearby cities. With the Corporations mode on, its page says, factories can also be turned toward new products. Last updated August 2024. Creator: JNR. Needs: Gathering Storm, with Rise and Fall installed (its page says it borrows art from both, though Rise and Fall does not have to be switched on). Download: District Expansion: Industry on the Steam Workshop.
70. Better Coastal Cities and Water Tiles
Water tiles are weak in Civ VI, so coastal cities usually trail inland ones. This mod reworks the Harbor and its buildings: Harbors add Food to all water tiles, Shipyards and Seaports add Production, Housing and Gold, and city centers gain Food and Production from adjacent coast, per its page. Its creator says it leans more toward Production than other water mods. Last updated September 2019, when its page called it fully compatible with Gathering Storm and the latest patch. Creator: p0kiehl. Download: Better Coastal Cities and Water Tiles on the Steam Workshop.
71. City Lights
City Lights lets each city specialize as Urban or Rural with two mutually exclusive sets of districts: three tiers of Borough districts that turn urban cities into late-game yield engines, and Rural Community districts that make rural cities all about their tiles. Its creator describes it as a mini expansion and recommends pairing it with a mod that slows the game’s pace. Last updated January 2023. Creator: Albro, with Geminus Leonem and biblybobbly. Needs: Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm. Download: City Lights on the Steam Workshop.
72. National Wonders
National Wonders brings back a mechanic from older Civ games: wonders only you can build, each unlocked by a condition, such as converting eight cities for the Grand Temple or finishing three Campus Research Grants for the National College, per its page. The first version adds five of them, covering faith, science, war, Great People and tourism. Last updated July 2021. Creator: Albro. Download: National Wonders on the Steam Workshop.
73. Green Cities: Districts in Forest
Green Cities lets you build most districts on forest without chopping it first, keeping the forest’s appeal and adjacency bonuses, so cities end up full of trees. Encampments, Industrial Zones, Aerodromes and Spaceports still need clear ground, and Brazil can do the same on rainforest. Its creator says the main goal is visual and admits some of the gameplay effects may be slightly overpowered. Last updated April 2021. Creator: JNR. Download: Green Cities on the Steam Workshop.
74. Renewable Energy Complexity
Renewable Energy Complexity makes Gathering Storm’s late-game green power worth planning around. Solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric improvements unlock earlier and grow stronger with technology and smart placement, and new Substation and Power Station buildings let you move green electricity to other cities, per its page. Last updated May 2024. Creator: JNR. Needs: Gathering Storm. Download: Renewable Energy Complexity on the Steam Workshop.
75. Three Gorges Dam
This modern-era wonder, unlocked at Electricity and built with a full 3D model, makes the floodplains along its river immune to flood damage (at the cost of half the flood bonuses) and gives every city Power from renewable water sources, with extra Power for cities within 12 and 6 tiles, per its page. It must be built next to both a river and a mountain. Last updated April 2019. Creator: WindFly. Needs: Gathering Storm. Download: Three Gorges Dam on the Steam Workshop.
76. Neuschwanstein Castle
Part of the Community Wonders series, Neuschwanstein adds the Bavarian castle as a wonder unlocked by the Opera and Ballet civic. Per its page, it gives every city with Medieval or Renaissance Walls extra Culture, Gold and an Amenity, provides two Great Work of Music slots, and must be built on hills next to a mountain. It is the most subscribed of Deliverator’s many single-wonder mods. Last updated October 2019. Creator: Deliverator23. Download: Neuschwanstein Castle on the Steam Workshop.
77. Empire State Building
The most subscribed of this creator’s standalone wonders, the Empire State Building unlocks with the Capitalism civic, adds 20 percent Gold in its city and gives every wonder in that city extra Gold and 50 percent more Tourism, per its page. It must be built on flat land next to the City Center, and its creator credits YouTuber Citymaker with the base 3D model. Last updated February 2021. Creator: Albro and Alejandro Diaz. Download: Empire State Building on the Steam Workshop.
78. Temple of Heaven
Temple of Heaven adds the Beijing landmark as a wonder unlocked by the Divine Right civic, with Faith, Culture and a Great Engineer point of its own plus +1 Housing and +1 Amenity in every city and +1 Food on all Farms, per its page. It must be built on flat land next to the City Center. As of October 21, 2026, it was last updated in November 2017, before either expansion, so check its page’s recent comments if it misbehaves in Gathering Storm. Creator: Isukaci, Shirotora Kenshin and furion1986. Download: Temple of Heaven on the Steam Workshop.
Units and Civilizations
New units for every era, and new or reworked civilizations to lead. Custom civilizations are a huge part of the Workshop, so we kept to the most subscribed.
79. Steel and Thunder: Unit Expansion
Steel and Thunder fills gaps in Civ VI’s unit upgrade lines, adding eight global units (five with Gathering Storm installed) such as the Gatling Gun, Mortar, Self Propelled Artillery, Cog and Galleass. Its page shows exactly where each one slots into the melee, cavalry and ranged upgrade paths. Units that Firaxis later added officially, like the Man-at-Arms, were retired from the mod. Last updated June 2021, marked as updated for the final patch. Creator: Deliverator23. Download: Steel and Thunder: Unit Expansion on the Steam Workshop.
80. Steel and Thunder: Unique Units
The companion to Steel and Thunder: Unit Expansion adds one more unique unit for every civilization in the game, from the Longbowman for England to the Turtle Ship for Korea, covering all DLC, both expansions and the New Frontier Pass civilizations, per its page. Unit Expansion is recommended but not required, and neither works with Deliverator’s older Moar Units. Last updated September 2021, for the New Frontier Pass and the final patch. Creator: Deliverator23, janboruta and chimp. Download: Steel and Thunder: Unique Units on the Steam Workshop.
81. R.E.D. Modpack
R.E.D. resizes Civ VI’s units and puts more soldiers in each one, with new formations, so armies look like armies instead of three figures on a tile. This pack covers the base game’s units; its page links a collection of add-ons for the expansions, DLC and other unit mods. Last updated November 2022. Creator: Gedemon, CMDR Sheploo and GeloDGreat. Download: R.E.D. Modpack on the Steam Workshop.
82. Civilizations Expanded
Civilizations Expanded buffs every civilization and leader in the game, along with their unique units, buildings, districts and improvements, with the stated goal of making every civilization strong and fun. It also lets every civilization work mountain tiles. Its page says it is not compatible with other mods that rework existing civilizations or leaders. Last updated February 2023. Creator: p0kiehl, with Leugi and sukritact. Needs: Rise and Fall, Gathering Storm and the Australia, Aztec, Indonesia and Khmer, Macedon and Persia, Nubia and Poland packs, per its page. Download: Civilizations Expanded on the Steam Workshop.
83. Soviet Union
The most-subscribed custom civilization on the Workshop, Soviet Union adds the USSR with a trait that turns Campus and Industrial Zone buildings into a source of Culture and Tourism, a unique science district called the Naukograd, and the Pekhota, a modern-era unique unit, per its page. Its two leaders, Joseph Stalin and Vladimir Lenin, are separate Workshop uploads from the same team, and its page lists both as required. Last updated July 2020, for the New Frontier Pass. Creator: JFD, with Deliverator23, janboruta, RFormica, Leugi and Dray. Needs: Rise and Fall, plus the Soviet Union: Joseph Stalin and Soviet Union: Vladimir Lenin leader mods. Download: Soviet Union on the Steam Workshop.
84. Sukritact’s Siam: Ramkhamhaeng
Sukritact’s Siam adds Siam led by Ramkhamhaeng, with bonuses for cities founded on rivers, a Floating Market district in place of the Commercial Hub and the Chang Suek in place of the Knight, per its page. Ramkhamhaeng earns Gold whenever you trigger a Eureka or Inspiration. It is the most subscribed of Sukritact’s many custom civilizations. Last updated October 2024. Creator: sukritact. Download: Sukritact’s Siam: Ramkhamhaeng on the Steam Workshop.
Total Overhauls
Big mods that rewrite large parts of the game. Run one at a time, and do not combine them with the smaller balance mods above.
85. Better Balanced Game (BBG)
Better Balanced Game is a community rebalance of civilizations, leaders and systems aimed at fairer matchups, and it is still actively maintained: version 7.5.1 was updated on September 28, 2026. Its page links a full summary of changes at civ6bbg.github.io and a Discord for bug reports. Balance mods matter most in multiplayer, and if your group wants something else to play together, see our best PC co-op games of 2026. Creator: Vodairo and the BBG team. Needs: Rise and Fall and Gathering Storm. Download: Better Balanced Game on the Steam Workshop.
86. Civ6 Plus: Harmony in Diversity
Harmony in Diversity is a large-scale overhaul built on Gathering Storm that aims to make civilizations develop in a more natural, historical way. It rebalances terrain and resource yields, reworks map generation and starting spots, and adds regional building effects, with companion mods for districts, city-states and corporations. Its team updated it on August 26, 2026. Creator: the Harmony in Diversity team. Needs: Gathering Storm. Download: Harmony in Diversity on the Steam Workshop.
87. GoldenAge: Brave New World
GoldenAge is built around one idea: in its creators’ view, the base game rewards spamming small cities, so this mod rewards tall play instead. A penalty grows with your city count, cities upgrade from Village to Metropolis, and matching districts placed together earn large adjacency bonuses. Its page says every civilization and leader has been reworked too. It was updated on October 7, 2026. Creator: the GoldenAge team (Gold, Clear8Sky and others). Download: GoldenAge: Brave New World on the Steam Workshop.
Maps, Terrain and Visuals
New worlds to play on and ways to make the existing one look better.
88. Yet (not) Another Maps Pack
Yet (not) Another Maps Pack, known as YnAMP, is the go-to mod for giant Earth maps with true starting locations, plus map sizes beyond anything the base game offers. It has more than a million subscribers. Its creator warns that since Gathering Storm, maps larger than Enormous crash in the late game, so play the big Earth maps as a smaller region. Last updated March 2021. Creator: Gedemon. Download: Yet (not) Another Maps Pack on the Steam Workshop.
89. TSL Earth Remastered
TSL Earth Remastered is a pack of five Earth maps, from Tiny to Giant, with true start locations for every civilization, real city names and real-world resource placement. Ice caps melt with global warming in Gathering Storm, and every map supports up to 60 players with YnAMP, per its page. It makes a few rule changes for crowded maps, which you can switch off in its settings file, and its page says Religion Expanded (above) is required when you play with the maximum number of players. Last updated April 2021. Creator: totalslacker. Needs: Yet (not) Another Maps Pack (above). Download: TSL Earth Remastered on the Steam Workshop.
90. Sukritact’s Oceans
Oceans is a new game mode that brings the coasts to life. Kelp Forests grow beside land, rich in food but slowing units that pass through, and new resources such as Seals, Squid and Coral appear. Each continent now gets its own pair of coastal luxuries, so far shores yield different riches, and improvements like the Fishery are adjusted to match. Its page warns it may not be compatible with YnAMP. Last updated April 2023. Creator: sukritact. Download: Sukritact’s Oceans on the Steam Workshop.
91. Terra Mirabilis
Terra Mirabilis reworks Civ VI’s natural wonders and adds 20 new ones, including Krakatoa, Old Faithful, Victoria Falls, the Rock of Gibraltar and Salar de Uyuni. Each has its own yields and effects, detailed on the mod’s page, so maps feel less familiar game to game. It was last updated in August 2020 and is still one of the most-subscribed map mods. Creator: Deliverator and ChimpanG. Download: Terra Mirabilis on the Steam Workshop.
92. Sukritact’s Great Blue Hole
Sukritact made a whole series of single natural wonders, and the Great Blue Hole is the most subscribed. The one-tile ocean wonder yields Food, Science and Culture, and gives Culture to nearby Fishing Boats and Science to nearby Campuses no matter who owns it, per its page. It supports YnAMP. Last updated July 2022. Creator: sukritact. Download: Sukritact’s Great Blue Hole on the Steam Workshop.
93. Wetlands
Wetlands gives Civ VI’s marshes and floodplains real depth. It adds tundra floodplains, a Peat resource and a Swamp feature for Production, and three new improvements: the Oasis Garden, the Irrigation Farm for desert floodplains and the Reed Home, which natural disasters cannot destroy, per its page. Last updated August 2024. Creator: JNR. Needs: Gathering Storm. Download: Wetlands on the Steam Workshop.
94. Denser Vegetation (Standalone)
Denser Vegetation turns Civ VI’s sparse tree clusters into thick forests and jungles, and gives each forest a distinct look based on the terrain underneath so you can still read the map. The changes are purely cosmetic. Its page says you need High-Detail Clutter switched on in the graphics options, and that Civ V Environment Skin users should grab the separate version it links. Last updated August 2024. Creator: JNR. Download: Denser Vegetation on the Steam Workshop.
95. Environment Skin: Sid Meier’s Civilization V
If Civ VI’s bright, cartoon-leaning palette never won you over, this mod brings the map closer to Civilization V: retextured terrain, water, forests and ice, and a color key that mutes buildings and units. Its author says it was built with ModBuddy as an example of how far visual mods can go. It dates from April 2019, but its page lists it as compatible up to and including Gathering Storm. Creator: GrrrArrrg. Download: Environment Skin: Civilization V on the Steam Workshop.
96. Hillier Hills
Hillier Hills raises the height of hills so they stand out on the map and the terrain is easier to read at a glance. Its page lists it as compatible with the Civilization V Environment Skin above; if you use Leugi’s Colder Tundra, grab the combined Colder Tundra Edition instead. Last updated January 2021. Creator: Deliverator23. Download: Hillier Hills on the Steam Workshop.
97. Prettier Lakes
Prettier Lakes gives lakes, oases and lake natural wonders (including Terra Mirabilis’s Lake Victoria) a richer water texture while keeping them dark. It replaces the same creator’s older Vibrant Waters, which brightens all fresh water instead, and the two cannot be used together. Last updated January 2021. Creator: p0kiehl. Download: Prettier Lakes on the Steam Workshop.
98. Tsunami Waves: Lite Version
Tsunami Waves: Lite makes ocean waves bigger without going to the full Tsunami Waves mod’s extremes. It does not affect saves, so you can switch it on or off mid-campaign, and its page says it should work with every other mod except the full version. Last updated February 2019. Creator: p0kiehl. Download: Tsunami Waves: Lite Version on the Steam Workshop.
99. City Sprawl Graphics
City Sprawl Graphics edits the city art so more buildings spill out around your districts, making big cities look the part. Its page notes that the extra buildings only appear around districts placed next to the City Center, and it credits JNR with fixing the mod for the Workshop. Last updated June 2021. Creator: Hiraeth. Download: City Sprawl Graphics on the Steam Workshop.
100. City Canal Rework
Coastal city centers often show a canal running through them for no reason. City Canal Rework removes that graphic and keeps it only where it means something: next to a Canal district, on a city that links two bodies of water, or on a cliff, per its page. It makes no gameplay changes. Last updated May 2022. Creator: Rdner. Needs: Gathering Storm. Download: City Canal Rework on the Steam Workshop.
How to Install Civ 6 Mods
Subscribe to a mod on the Steam Workshop, then switch it on under Additional Content in the game’s main menu. Where a mod’s page says it needs an expansion, a DLC pack or another mod, its entry above lists it under Needs, and every entry notes when its mod was last updated. Mods that change gameplay usually affect saved games, which means a save made with one will not load without it.
How We Chose These Mods
We started from the Steam Workshop’s all-time most-subscribed list for Civilization VI and worked down it, keeping mods that are still downloadable and that cover a different need from the rest of the list. We checked all 100 against their creators’ Workshop pages on October 21, 2026, and we note each mod’s last update in its entry. An old mod can still belong here: Civ VI’s patches have slowed to a crawl, and when a mod’s page says it is no longer maintained, or that a later update may have broken it, we keep it if players still love it and say so in its entry. We left out cheat menus and map-editor cheats, translation packs and near-duplicates (one version of each mod, and one or two wonders from each big wonder series rather than every one), and where two mods conflict (CQUI and Better Trade Screen, for example) we say so.
Only download from the Workshop links above, or from a creator’s own CivFanatics page if that is where they host their files. Re-upload and “Workshop downloader” sites often serve outdated copies that break saves. Our Valheim mods list and our Crusader Kings 3 mods list follow the same rule.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most popular Civilization 6 mod? Detailed Map Tacks, with more than 2.7 million lifetime subscribers on the Steam Workshop. Quick Deals and Extended Policy Cards are close behind.
Do Civ 6 mods work in Civilization 7? No. Civilization VII is a separate game with its own Steam Workshop, and Civ VI mods cannot be loaded in it. Everything on this list is for Civ VI.
Do Civ 6 mods still work after the Leader Pass? Yes, for the most part. The current version of Civ VI is Gathering Storm plus the Leader Pass, and the last gameplay patch arrived in August 2023, per the official update notes, so a mod last updated in 2021 or 2022 can still be up to date. Each entry above lists when its mod was last updated. A few on this list have not been updated in years, and two say on their pages that they are no longer maintained; their entries flag it. If a mod misbehaves, check its Workshop page and comments for a newer version before loading an old save.
Which Civ 6 mods work in multiplayer? Many do, and their pages usually say so: Extended Policy Cards, Extended Diplomacy Ribbon, Great Person Recruited Notification and Expanded Initial Vision all list multiplayer support. For competitive games, Better Balanced Maps recommends pairing it with Better Balanced Game, and Multiplayer Helper’s page says every player in the lobby must be on the same version of it.
Can you use Civ 6 mods on console? No. Mods are a PC feature; the Switch, PlayStation and Xbox versions of Civ VI do not support them. Console mod support is rare in general, as our look at how mods work in The Witcher 3 Remastered shows.
Are Civ 6 mods free? Yes. Every mod on this list is free on the Steam Workshop. Some creators link optional tip pages, but nothing here is locked behind a payment.