Rivers (Civ5)

Rivers
Terrain feature
Introduced in Civilization V
Yields
Production	1 with Hydro Plant, else 0
Production	1 with Hydro Plant, else 0
Gold	0 with , else 1
Gold	0 with , else 1
Unit Effects
Movement cost	All remaining points if crossing

Back to the list of terrains

Rivers are a type of terrain feature in Civilization V.

Game Info

Terrain feature found everywhere across the world.

• Attributes:
  • Runs between multiple tiles rather than occupying a tile of its own.
  • Usually starts next to a Mountain tile and always ends in a larger water tile, such as a Lake or Ocean.
  • Turns adjacent flat Desert tiles into Flood Plains tiles, adjacent Snow tiles into Tundra tiles, and adjacent Tundra tiles into Plains tiles.
  • Allows adjacent cities to construct Water Mills, Gardens, and Hydro Plants.

Strategy

Traditionally, cities have been built along rivers, and for good reason. Rivers provide a steady source of fresh water for both drinking and irrigation, improving the farmland around the city - Farms can be built on Hills and Tundra adjacent to Rivers, and receive an additional +1 Food early on (whereas all other Farms have to wait until the Industrial Era). A city located on the banks of a River can also construct a number of special buildings, such as the Hydro Plant, which adds +1 Production to all tiles next to the River.

Rivers also protect a city, as it is quite difficult to mount an assault against a city across a River. Units expend all of their Movement points when crossing rivers - even if the tiles are connected by roads - until bridge-building techniques are discovered, and suffer a 20% penalty when attacking units on the other side of a River. If you control the banks of a River, you may gain a very important tactical advantage over an enemy.

As of Brave New World, Rivers no longer provide additional Gold yield for neighboring tiles. However, they become incredibly important for trade, which is reflected by the additional Gold bonus when opening International Trade routes to cities built on Rivers.

Civilopedia entry

Rivers are sources of fresh water, allowing the construction of farms on adjacent hills and tundra. Farms next to fresh water receive an additional +1 food when the Civil Service technology is researched. Units expend all of their movement points when crossing rivers. This is true even if the tiles are connected by roads, until the civilization learns the Engineering technology. Finally, units receive a -20% penalty when they are attacking across a river.

See also

• Water (Civ5)
• River(s) in other games