Civilization V happiness, luxury resources and city growth
Manage the original game's global happiness while developing and connecting cities.
Edition covered
Civilization V with its original base-game systems, including global happiness and the five-policy-branch cultural victory. Gods & Kings and Brave New World add religion, tourism and other changes that are excluded here. Publisher media shows the base PC game.
Read the empire-wide balance
Happiness belongs to the empire rather than a separate mood bar for each city. New cities and population add unhappiness, while resources and buildings provide relief.
| Factor | Effect | Practical response |
|---|---|---|
| New city | Adds unhappiness | Plan happiness before settling |
| Population | Adds unhappiness | Match growth to available support |
| Distinct luxury | Provides happiness when available | Improve and connect it |
| Duplicate luxury | Useful for trade | Seek a different luxury in exchange |
| Happiness building | Adds support under its rules | Check cost and local limits |
Connect distinct luxuries
An improved luxury must be available to the empire to help. Multiple copies of the same luxury do not each supply another ordinary happiness bonus; spare copies can support trades.
| Symptom | Check | Response |
|---|---|---|
| Slow growth | Food and happiness | Improve food or resolve unhappiness |
| Gold deficit | Maintenance | Review roads and buildings |
| Luxury seems absent | Improvement and connection | Finish the required work |
| Weak production | Citizen assignments | Work productive tiles |
| Expansion stalls | Happiness and defense | Consolidate before settling again |
Control growth when necessary
More population is useful when happiness and food support it. Inspect citizen assignments and growth settings if another citizen would worsen an existing empire-wide problem.
Compare maintenance and benefits
Roads and buildings have ongoing costs. Connect cities where the benefit justifies the expense. Avoid constructing every available building in a city with a different priority.
Roads and buildings have ongoing costs. Connect cities where the benefit justifies the expense. Avoid constructing every available building in a city with a different priority.
References
| Reference | Website |
|---|---|
| Sid Meier's Civilization V publisher listing | store.steampowered.com |
| Firaxis Civilization V manual | store.steampowered.com |
| 2K digital manual support | support.civilization.com |