There are already Civilization 7 mods that improve the UI, unlock all civs, and add 'ludicrous'-sized maps

Civilization 7 is officially here, and with it comes (at least for now) a "Mixed" review status on Steam and a lot of complaints about the 4X strategy's UI. While we're keeping up with all the latest Civ 7 news and developments, the community has been busy too: the first Civ 7 mods have arrived on the same day as the game's global launch.

This is the rare occasion where I'm not directing you to Nexus Mods: the early mods that have appeared for Civ 7 are over at the civfanatics.com forums. There aren't a ton of them yet, but there are definitely a few to point out.

Right out of the gate, there are a couple of mods that address one of the biggest complaints about Civ 7: the UI. Civ 7's interface is taking a serious pounding: I've seen Steam reviewers calling it "buggy," "inconsistent," "junk," "a total disaster," and most damningly, "somehow worse than Civ 6."

Firaxis has already issued a patch to address a few of the complaints about the UI and I suspect there will be more coming, but in the meantime you might check out Sukritact's Simple UI Adjustments. I haven't tried it myself yet, but it's got nothing but 5-star ratings in the forums. Here's a quick rundown on its features:

• Diplomacy with other Civs and IPs can now be initiated by clicking on the city banner (provided you have met them).
• Plot Yield icons are smaller on tiles that are not improved/worked
• Tooltips are enhanced.
  • The default improvement is now shown on unimproved tiles.
  • All Constructibles now display their icon.
  • Wonders receive a large fancy icon with description.
  • Buildings now note if they are damaged or in-progress or ageless.

Another mod is also focused on improving the UI: TCS Improved Plot Tooltop adds tons more info so it's easier to find what you need, including leader relationship status, settlement ownership, flags for obsolete or unique buildings, district types, and other useful tidbits you can spy at a glance.

If you're an eager beaver and are interested in instant gratification, check out the Civ 7 Unlock All Civs mod. With it, you no longer have to meet the requirements to access civilizations when you reach the Exploration and Modern Ages, they're all immediately available to you.

Work is already underway on bringing you bigger maps, with a beta of Larger Map, TSL, Continents++ available to download. It unlocks "large" and "huge" map sizes and adds a "massive" (128x80) map. The mod also lists experimental (not playable) "giant" maps (180x94) and "ludicrous" maps (230x116) to test out.

That's not bad for a game that only just came out, and you can find more mods at the Civ Fanatic forums. Make sure you carefully read the installation instructions on each mod's page before downloading.