There is a simple version of this and a complete version, and both are below in that order.

Short answer

Do the simple thing first. It is correct more often than the complicated thing people recommend instead.

  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Do not build a routine around an edge case.
  • If a menu path does not exist for you, your build is older or newer than the one described.

Each Civilization entry reshuffles the rules enough that habits from the last one quietly stop working. The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively.

The practical answer

Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of Civilization. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

Why it works this way

Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.
  • Check the version you are actually running before assuming anything is broken.
  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.

What to do instead

A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about.

None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

Worth knowing alongside this

What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. Civilization is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

When the usual advice fails

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see.

Where people go wrong

  • Treating a rare edge case as the normal behaviour and planning around it.
  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
  • Downloading a helper tool for something the game already does in its own menu.

Civ FAQ

How long does this take?

Minutes if it goes cleanly, an evening if you hit the edge case in the caveats list. Neither is unusual.

Is there a faster method?

Sometimes, at the cost of reliability. Where that trade exists it is described rather than recommended blindly.

Why do other guides describe this differently?

Most were written for an earlier version and never revisited. Compare the steps against what your build actually shows.

Does this change between platforms?

The behaviour does not. Where menu paths or prompts differ, that is noted above.

Bookmark it if you like, but honestly, once you have done it once you will not need to come back.