Desert Floodplains (Civ6)

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Floodplains are a terrain feature in Civilization VI. Floodplains are found on flat Desert tiles near Rivers, whenever there are no Hills.

• Yields: +3 Food.
• Defense provided: -2 penalty
• Additional traits:
  • Can construct Farms on them
  • Lowers the Appeal of surrounding tiles by -1
  • Blocks construction of Districts and Wonders
  • The Lady of the Reeds and Marshes pantheon increases the yield of Floodplains by an additional +1 Production.

Floodplain tiles cannot typically be developed, other than via Farming (though Egypt uniquely ignores this limitation, and Nubia can construct Nubian Pyramids on floodplains). Floodplains with bonus, luxury, or strategic resources can be improved as normal.

Floodplains in Gathering Storm

Gathering Storm makes a major change towards what exactly a floodplain is. Namely, they are not an exclusive feature of desert terrain anymore, but rather a part of the new flooding mechanic. Floodplains can now appear anywhere near a River where there is flat land, and mark the area which will be affected during Flood disasters. What's more, their bonus yield has been removed, and is now a function of the flooding disaster itself. In practice, Floodplains still have the potential to become some of the most fertile lands in the game, but only after they pass through a couple of floods.

Strategy

Floodplains redeem deserts for city development, ensuring a major supply of food. Since they usually form continuous belts around a River, Farms placed there will make the best of their Adjacency bonuses (once Feudalism and later Replaceable Parts have been developed). The trade-off is that - with the exception of Egypt due to their Iteru ability - floodplains are not acceptable tiles on which to place districts (other than the City Center) or wonders. The exception to this are wonders that specifically require desert tiles (Pyramids, Petra), which may still be built on floodplains. Still, the fact that Floodplains provide plentiful food in the middle of the desert is enough, especially when they happen to have Wheat or other resources on them! Use them exclusively for farming, and place your districts away from the River.

The effect of the Petra Wonder does not apply to Floodplains.

Since Floodplains (appropriately) are always lowland, there will never be Hills on a Floodplains tile.

Civilopedia entry

Floodplains are low-lying areas adjacent to rivers, and prone to flooding each year (or more often) and hence fertile from soil deposits and some of the most productive farmland known. Perhaps the best known are those along the Nile, which helped ancient Egypt become one of history's greatest civilizations.

Gallery

A Floodplains tile, as seen in-game