There are a variety of ways to win Civilization 6. Here’s a look at how you can secure a cultural victory.
Despite not being the most straightforward way to win in Civilization 6, winning by a cultural victory in the game provides its own kind of satisfaction and challenge. Cultural Victories have a lot of stipulations to be made for them to work, and they rely a lot on a player’s ability to do diplomacy well with the other nations in the game.
Related: Civ 6: Tips On How To Get A Diplomacy Victory
This is why it is important to know every little tip and trick that is out there so that any player deciding to play the game with the goal of a cultural victory in mind is ready for anything!
Updated on May 13, 2023 by Rhenn Taguiam: Fans eagerly awaiting for Civilization 7 after 2K Games announced its development in February 2023 might want to explore what Civilization 6 has to offer as one of the most acclaimed 4X titles in gaming. And as with other titles in the genre, Civ 6 has more to offer players than traditional victory through conquest.
For instance, Cultural Victories exist to ensure that while entire nations aren’t destroyed, one civilization stands out as the most culturally diverse of them all. While a huge part of Cultural Victories involve being the world’s most dominant tourism destination, the steps leading up to such a success still involves planning things as early as Turn 1, focusing on specific tech trees, and prioritizing development in certain locations.
Unlike other victory setups in Civilization 6 where players can bounce back from a disadvantage in the middle of the playthrough, the winning a Cultural Victory begins as early as the first turn. It’s ideal that players fill up both their Science and Civic Trees as soon as possible and skipping any upgrade that doesn’t improve Tourism. This means targeting improvements such as Writing (for double Tourism) and opting for unique monuments such as the Chateaux (in France) and the Great Wall (in China).
Additionally, it’s ideal that the player civilization also has a Trade Route for all other civilizations and having open borders with each of them as they offer a 25% bonus on both trading and diplomatic arrangements. On top of securing eventual Artifacts, Great Works, and Relics, starting good relations with other civs on top of securing Trees can fast-track the players for a Cultural Victory.
Before players get to the specifics of securing their Cultural Victory, they need to understand what they’re aiming for in their Civilization 6 gameplay. At its core, when translating Cultural Victory into “combat,” the Culture stat is for “defense” and Tourism is for “offense.” To “win” against another civilization, players need to attract more Tourists versus the opposing civ’s Culture stat. In real world analogy, the strength of a location’s cultural offerings won’t be as impactful if their citizens are tourists in another location.
Without dwelling into unnecessary statistics, “winning” in culture wars against another Civ 6 faction means having to attract more tourists from a civ than what that location can offer. Unlike usual victory routes that involve making successful Civ 6 businesses, understanding a Cultural Victory’s focus on travel can at least give players an idea as to the progress of other civs in this department depending on the kind of progress they’ve made with their own Culture/Tourism slant.
Building upon the Civ 6 gameplay approach of boosting Culture to obtain a Cultural Victory, players can do this process much easier through Civic Tree progresses that boost Inspiration. For instance, it’s ideal to get the Drama and Poetry Civics that unlock Theater Squares and Amphitheaters, which could then attract tourists early on in the match. In fact, Theater Square districts give +2 Culture for each assigned citizen, whereas each Amphitheater gives +2 to Culture output.
In addition, acquiring Civil Service can unlock the Meritocracy Economy Policy Card, which then gives another +1 Culture bonus to districts. On the other hand, Humanism opens access to archaeological and art museums in Theater Square districts that add +2 Culture on top of an extra citizen slot. Another target around the Atomic Era should be the Cultural Heritage Civic, which doubles general Tourism in the museums of Theater Squares via the Heritage Tourism Economic Policy.
