Culture Victory is undoubtedly one of the most interesting victory conditions to pursue in Civilization VI. That is a victory condition fulfilled by having more foreign tourists visiting your civilization than the highest number of domestic tourists a rival civilization has. For example, if 199 is the highest number of domestic tourists for another civilization, you’ll need to attract 200 foreign tourists. Here are a few Civilization VI tips for Culture Victory that will help you obtain that victory condition.
Read also: 6 of the Best Civilization VI Wonders.
1. Establish envoys at cultural city-states
As the civic tree is a bit more important than the tech tree for the Culture Victory condition, you need to prioritize increasing culture output. Then you’ll unlock the civics that are crucial to boosting your tourist industry more quickly.
Establishing envoys at cultural city-states is a great way to boost your culture. Six envoys at a cultural city-state will give each of your Theater Squares a +4 culture boost. That will amount to a big culture output boost when you have lots of Theater Squares. Furthermore, you’ll also gain additional cultural bonuses for city-states that you’re a Suzerain at.
2. Build a good number of wonders
Wonders should be a big part of your Culture Victory game plan. All wonders of the world in Civilization VI generate general tourism (+2 per turn). So, wonders will be among the biggest tourist attractions in your civilizations. Therefore, you should aim to build a good number of wonders throughout the game, but especially during the early game.
The best wonders to build for a Culture Victory are those that offer cultural and tourist bonuses. The Forbidden City, Christo Redentor, Sydney Opera House, and Colosseum wonders offer some of the best cultural bonuses. The Redentor is an especially good wonder for the Culture Victory as that also doubles the tourist output of seaside resorts in your civilization. Redentor combines well with the Eiffel Tower that provides a +2 appeal bonus to all tiles within three hexes of your city centers.
The Colosseum and other Wonders
3. Purchase Writers, Musicians, and Artists with Faith
Holy Sites can generate tourism with relics. However, that’s not the only reason to build them in pursuit of a Culture Victory. The faith Holy Site districts and buildings generate can also come in handy for recruiting great musicians, writers, and artists with Patronage. Although you might need gold for other things, you can also claim Great Persons more quickly by investing in Patronage grants with faith. So, it’s worth building a few Holy Sites just to amass faith with which to purchase the required Great Persons later in a game.
The Oracle wonder also reduces Patronage costs by 25 percent. Thus, you’ll be able to attract artists, musicians, and writers to your civilization more quickly with that wonder and a good amount of faith. In addition, the Oracle provides +1 culture and +1 faith bonuses. So, that wonder can come in handy for the Culture Victory condition.
Great People window
4. Play with a civilization that offers cultural benefits
Select to play with a civilization that provides cultural or tourist bonuses. America, France, China, and England are four civilizations that offer some notable tourist or cultural bonuses. In Civ 6’s Rise and Fall expansion, Sweden is another good civilization to play with for a Culture Victory thanks to its Open-Air Museum. The Open-Air Museum provides a +2 culture and tourism bonus for each terrain type you establish a city on.
5. Build more Archaeological Museums than Art Galleries
In Civilization VI, you can establish an archaeological collection that would make Indiana Jones proud! That’s exactly what you should be aiming to do to win a Culture Victory. So, build more archaeological museums than art galleries, which you have to choose between at each Theater District. Archaeological Museums are the preferable option as you can build one archaeologist for each city they’re at instead of waiting to get a great person for them. Furthermore, archaeological sites at both land and sea are usually plentiful on the map.
A museum’s archelogy collection displayed on the Great Works window
6. Be prepared to go to war with some civilizations
The Culture Victory condition might be a more peaceful alternative to Domination Victory. However, victorious wars can still help you win a Culture Victory in a few ways. Firstly, you can capture cities with Theater Squares from other civilizations that will boost your cultural output. Secondly, you might be able to capture cities with seaside resorts. You might even be able to capture a few wonders from rival civilizations when at war, which will give your tourist industry an even bigger boost. So don’t neglect your military too much; be prepared to go to war with a few civilizations.
7. Build walls in your cities
Did you know that city walls will also become tourist attractions after you unlock the Conservation civic? The Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance walls can provide up to a +6 tourism boost combined at a city they’re built at. It’s worth building a few walls at your city for both defensive purposes and to give your civilization’s tourist industry a boost later in a game.
A city with ancient walls that attracts two tourists
Those Civilization VI tips for the Culture Victory condition will help your tourist industry boom. With a booming tourist industry, you can win a Civ 6 game by the early 20th century.
