Early 'Civ 6' mod lets you play on real-world Earth — if your PC can handle it

Mod culture is deeply woven into Civ fandom. With Civilization mods, you can add new cultures, new military units and new world leaders like Donald Trump. Civilization 6 is still brand new — it was released Friday — but the creativity and inventiveness of the Civ mod community will keep the game developing long after its release. 

Civ 6 mods aren't quite a thing — yet. But there's already one mod out there worth considering, if you want to create a unique Civ 6 experience.

You can (figuratively) conquer the real world in Civ 6.

Civ 6, like all games in the Civilization series, has multiple victory scenarios that require careful planning, like with your district placement and choice of world leader.

A religious victory is one potential way to beat the game. Another scenario imagines you as a Napoleon, Caesar, Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan, and it's that type of player who might enjoy this new mod the most.

Posted to the Civilization Fanatics Center, a hub for Civ mod software distribution, the Yet (not) Another Maps Pack adds to Civ 6 the ability to play the game on a map of Earth. Now you can play as the Romans, starting in Italy, and conquer most of the Mediterranean — just like they did!

Make sure your PC has enough space for the real-Earth Civ 6 mod.

"The giant map is already way above the size of the huge map, it may or may not load on your PC,"  the warning reads on the download page for the real Earth map mod. 

"Alpha means 'need to be tested'; do not use this mod for a serious game before a good number of people have tested it," reads the other, important notice on the download page. 

The question is whether you're willing to volunteer as an early alpha tester for the real Earth map mod, and check for other players to make sure that it's safe. It depends on how badly you want to be Genghis Khan.