River:

Learn how to maximize River tiles in Sid Meier's Civilization VII. Discover food, build, and trade gains, plus irrigation, road, and railroad improvements for early and late game.

Alright, let's talk about River tiles in Sid Meier's Civilization VII. These are super important, especially early on, because they give you a nice boost without needing any extra work.

Food Gain: Normally, a River tile gives you 2 Food. If you're rocking Despotism or Anarchy, that's what you get. But once you get into other governments and irrigate them, that jumps up to 3 Food per tile!

Build Gain: You don't get any direct 'Build' points from a River tile itself, but the spots around it can be good for building things.

Trade Gain: A basic River tile gives you 1 Trade point. However, if you build roads on it, that number goes up. With Republic or Democracy, you'll get 2 Trade points, and 1 Trade point for other governments.

Movement Cost: It costs 1 movement point to enter a River tile.

Defense: Units on a River tile get a sweet +50% defense bonus, making them much harder to take down.

Early Game Advantage: The best part about Rivers early on is that you get that 2 Food bonus right away, without needing to irrigate. Just be aware that you can't build roads over them from the start. If you want to build a city on a river, that city can act as your 'road' connection for now.

Improving Rivers:

• Irrigation: Later in the game, irrigating a River tile is totally worth it. Instead of the usual 2 Food, you'll get a whopping 4 Food points! It takes about 5 turns to irrigate, so consider irrigating ground spots first in the very early game.
• Roads: Building a road on a River tile makes your units move three times faster and really speeds up trade. It only takes 2 turns to build a road, but remember you need the 'Bridging' technology first.
• Railroads: Once you've got a road, upgrading to a railroad is even better. This takes 4 turns to build but multiplies your gains by 1.5. So, if you were getting 2 Food, you'll now get 3. If you had 3 Food, you'll get 4. This applies to Food and Trade points, and it always rounds down to the nearest whole number.

Maximum Potential: An ideal, fully improved River tile can give you up to 4 Food, 1 Build point (indirectly through surrounding improvements), and 2 Trade points.