Civilization 7 inevitably leads to meeting other Leaders, and how you respond to them can have a lingering impact throughout a campaign. As your exploration of the new world continues, gamers might find themselves in a situation where they need to cross over to an opponent's territory or vice-versa.
Civilization 7: All Leaders, Ranked
This Civ 7 Tier List ranks all Leaders based on the strength of their Unique Leader Abilities and how easy it is for each Leader to secure Victories.
Opening borders is one of the earliest Diplomatic Actions that you'll encounter, and there can be an Influence cost tied to both the request and your response. With the importance of these neighboring Leader relationships, it's important to know exactly what might happen if you Open Borders in Civilization 7.
What Does Open Borders Do in Civilization 7?
When you Open Borders in Civ 7, it allows another Civ to freely move their own Units through your territory without having to declare war. The same is true if your request for Open Borders is accepted by another Leader, and doing this often helps with clearing Fog of War and uncovering the entire map.
Some Units like the Explorer and Missionary can move freely in other Civs without Open Borders, but this can be impacted by war. If another Leader is at war with you, those Units can't enter a space already occupied by a Unit belonging to that Leader.
Players can request Open Borders by entering a leader's menu and selecting the option from the Treaties section. Initiating an Open Borders request has a base cost of 30 Influence per Age, but the exact amount can vary. The biggest factor in this cost is usually the strength (or weakness) of the relationship between Leaders, but some abilities that impact Diplomatic Actions can also change the cost.
When Should You Accept Open Borders in Civilization 7?
Choosing to Accept Open Borders when another Leader makes the request has no Influence cost, grants Gold per turn, and will slightly improve your relationship with that Leader. In most cases, Open Borders will be worth accepting for the bonus Gold per turn.
The only real risk for Open Borders is the possibility that another Leader is using it to strategically scope out your Civ prior to a military attack, but even in that case you may find the Gold gained makes it worth the risk.
Open Borders is a temporary action that only lasts for 15 turns, and Influence has to be spent again to reactivate it at the end of that duration.
Open Borders will become less beneficial later in each Age as your usual Gold per turn income increases. In those cases, the importance of that Leader relationship will become the more significant factor in deciding whether to Open Borders.
When Should You Reject Open Borders in Civilization 7?
When the request is made by another Leader, you also have the option to Reject Open Borders. There's a base cost of 20 Influence for doing this, and it will also refund the Influence that the Leader spent on initiating the Open Borders action.
If you Reject Open Borders, it damages your relationship with that Leader and blocks each of you from initiating new Diplomatic Endeavors with the other for 10 turns. This will be most beneficial when you're already planning an eventual military attack on that Leader.
Additionally, if you Reject Open Borders and follow that up with additional Sanctions, it may do enough damage to provoke the other Leader into declaring war on you . In most cases, the Leader who declares war will begin that conflict with less War Support.
If another Leader already has a negative relationship with you, they'll likely choose to Reject Open Borders if you make a request. Doing this can help provoke them into declaring war, but don't risk it unless you can do without the Influence should they Accept Open Borders.
Every campaign is going to be different, but keeping these tips in mind will help you consider all the angles when an Open Borders request arrives in Civilization 7.
Sid Meier's Civilization VII
- Released
- February 11, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Firaxis Games
- Publisher(s)
- 2K
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Cross-Platform Play
- Yes - all platforms, restrictions apply
- Cross Save
- Yes, via 2K account
- Franchise
- Sid Meier's Civilization
- Number of Players
- 1-8 players
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- PC Release Date
- February 11, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- February 11, 2025
- PS5 Release Date
- February 11, 2025
- Nintendo Switch Release Date
- February 11, 2025
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC
- Genre(s)
- Grand Strategy, Turn-Based Strategy, 4X
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- Local Co-Op Support
- No
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
