Civilization II · Terrain
River
+1 trade · move ⅓ · def +50%
Not a terrain type so much as a gift laid over one. A river adds trade, speeds movement, shelters defenders and lets you irrigate — which is why the best city sites on any map are the ones with water running through them.
What it does
Rivers can run through any land terrain. They add 1 trade to the square, reduce movement along them to ⅓ of a point, grant a +50% defense bonus, and provide the water access irrigation needs. Roads cannot cross a river until Bridge Building is discovered.
Key details
- Yield bonus
- +1 trade, on top of the terrain
- Movement cost
- ⅓ point along the river
- Defense bonus
- +50%
- Irrigation
- Supplies the required water access
- Requires
- Bridge Building to road across
- Appears on
- Any land terrain
About terrain in Civilization II
Every land square is one of eleven terrain types, and a river can run across any of them. Each type has a yield in food, shields and trade, a movement cost and a defense multiplier. Settlers irrigate, mine and build roads; Engineers — unlocked by Explosives — go further and transform one terrain type into another entirely, which is how a swamp becomes farmland and a mountain becomes hills.
Strategy — A river is the best thing that can happen to a city site in Civilization II: +1 trade on the square, a 50% defense bonus, and the water access irrigation needs without a lake or coast nearby. After that, look for hills — a city built on one is mined and irrigated for free and doubles every defender standing in it.
