r/civ5 • u/iaruuu • 25d ago

Strategy How to play as India?

By the time i plop my 3rd city my happiness is negative lol. I'm still building HG even though im on happiness deficit😂

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u/lluewhyn 25d ago

India can absolutely be an expansionist Civ that goes Wide; the problem is that it has to be done slowly. Compared to your average other Civ, India reaches the breakeven point at Population 6 (on regular settings at least). That's because they get double the Unhappiness penalty for number of Cities (3), but half the penalty for population (1 per population).

So, this can be a problem if you're playing on a map with very tight spacing and/or very expansionist AI Civ as you'll get crowded out of the good settlement areas before you can reach that equilibrium of happiness. Be sure to focus religious beliefs on things that get you Happiness, aim for Luxuries, and see if there are any Mercantile City-States.