I’m sharing my blueprint for achieving what I think is the most satisfying win in Civilization VI: the Cultural Victory. This isn’t about conquering the world with force, but about making your civilization so influential that it becomes the envy of the globe, the number one spot for tourists. Follow this guide, and I’ll walk you through how to turn your empire into a cultural powerhouse.
The Foundation: Your Shield and Sword
Before we dive in, you need to understand the two pillars of this strategy: Culture and Tourism. The easiest way to think about it is that Culture is your defense, and Tourism is your offense.
- Culture: Your turn-by-turn culture output unlocks new civics, policies, and governments. But more importantly, all the culture you generate over the entire game creates your domestic tourists. The civilization with the most domestic tourists is the one you have to beat. So, while culture itself doesn’t win you the game, ignoring it lets a rival build a defensive wall you’ll never be able to climb.
- Tourism: This is how you win. You generate tourism from all sorts of things, and it applies to every other civ you’ve met. How fast you attract tourists from another empire is affected by a few huge modifiers:
- Trade Routes (+25%): A must-have with every single civilization.
- Open Borders (+25%): Another easy boost.
- Different Governments (-50%): This is a big penalty, but don’t worry, it disappears once you research the Enlightenment civic.
- Policy Cards: You’ll unlock plenty of these that give you percentage-based boosts.
Your mission is to build a tourism-generating machine that just overwhelms everyone else’s cultural defenses.
The First Brushstrokes: Early Game Strategy (Ancient to Classical Era)
The late game is where you’ll see the big numbers, but you lay the groundwork for your win right from the start. Your first moves are critical.
Picking Your Leader: The Best of the Best
Your choice of leader is the most important one you’ll make. Some civs are just built for this:
- Pericles (Greece): A total powerhouse. He gets extra culture for every city-state he’s the Suzerain of, letting you fly through the Civics Tree. His unique Acropolis district is an amazing culture generator.
- Kristina (Sweden): Her ability to automatically theme museums is a lifesaver. It takes all the guesswork out of it so you can just focus on pumping out Great People.
- Pedro II (Brazil): If you want to focus on Great People, Pedro is your guy. He gets a 20% point rebate every time he recruits one, letting you snowball into more and more Great Writers, Artists, and Musicians.
- Qin Shi Huang (China): Being able to rush early wonders with Builders is incredibly strong. Snagging an early Oracle can put you way ahead in the Great Person race.
- Eleanor of Aquitaine (England/France): Her main game is about flipping cities with loyalty pressure from Great Works, but that focus on generating art and artifacts transitions perfectly into a massive tourism game.
Your Opening Moves
Focus on building a strong base for your future cultural empire.
- Scout, Scout, Scout: Your first priority. Get at least two scouts out there finding city-states, natural wonders, and your rivals. The sooner you meet everyone, the sooner you can start influencing them.
- Settle Your Core: Get 3-4 cities down quickly. Look for spots with good production, but also pay attention to high-appeal tiles. You’ll need those for National Parks and Seaside Resorts later.
- The Holy Site Gambit: You don’t have to found a religion, but it can be insanely powerful. The Faith you generate can be used to buy Naturalists and Rock Bands in the late game. If you go for it, try to get beliefs like Choral Music (adds Culture to your Faith buildings) or Reliquaries (triples Faith and Tourism from Relics).
- Must-Build Early Wonders:
- The Oracle: I’d argue this is the most important early wonder for a culture game. It gives you a discount on buying Great People with Faith and boosts the Great Person Points from your districts. Build it.
- Apadana: If you can get it, Apadana gives you free envoys every time you build another wonder. This helps you lock down Suzerainty of key city-states.
- Theater Squares: As soon as you unlock Drama and Poetry, start building Theater Squares. The Amphitheater inside gives you your first slot for a Great Work of Writing, which is your first real source of tourism.
The Renaissance of Influence: Mid-Game Strategy (Medieval to Industrial Era)
This is where your cultural engine really starts to roar. You’ll shift from building a foundation to actively generating as much tourism as possible.
The Art of Theming
Theming your Museums is non-negotiable if you want to maximize your tourism. An unthemed museum is a massive missed opportunity.
- Art Museums: You need to fill the three slots with three different types of art (Religious, Landscape, Portrait, or Sculpture) from three different artists. This doubles the museum’s Culture and Tourism. It’s a puzzle, so don’t be afraid to trade Great Works with the AI to get the pieces you need.
- Archaeological Museums: These need three Artifacts from the same historical era but from three different civilizations. You’ll need Archaeologists to dig up Antiquity Sites and Shipwrecks. You can even dig in other civs’ territory if you have Open Borders, but be warned, they don’t like it when you steal their history.
Pro-Tip: Get the Governor Pingala and give him the “Curator” promotion. He’ll double the tourism from all Great Works of Art and Artifacts in his city. Stick him in whichever city has the most themed museums.
Wonders for Cultural Dominance
The mid-game is packed with wonders that will boost your game. Prioritize these:
- Mont St. Michel (Medieval): Gives all your Apostles the Martyr promotion, which creates a Relic if they die in theological combat. This is a great way to get a powerful early tourism source.
- St. Basil’s Cathedral (Renaissance): Doubles the religious tourism in its city. A must-have if you’re going for a Relic strategy.
- Bolshoi Theatre (Industrial): Gives you slots for Great Works of Writing and Music.
- Hermitage (Industrial): A huge boost, giving you four slots for any type of Great Work of Art.
Weaving Your Web of Influence
Diplomacy isn’t just for avoiding war; it’s a tool for victory.
- Make Friends: Alliances give you all sorts of bonuses and make it easier to get those crucial Open Borders agreements.
- Trade With Everyone: Make it a priority to have one trade route going to every single civilization on the map. That +25% tourism modifier is too good to pass up.
- Control City-States: Suzerainty over city-states gives you powerful bonuses. Cultural ones like Kumasi and Antananarivo give you direct tourism, while religious ones like Yerevan and Kandy are essential for a Relic-focused game.
The Modern Masterpiece: Late Game Strategy (Modern to Information Era)
The late game is a sprint to the finish. This is where your tourism output should explode.
National Parks: Nature’s Magnets
Once you unlock Conservation, you can use Faith to buy Naturalists and create National Parks. A park is a diamond of four tiles that must all belong to the same city, have “Charming” appeal or better, and have no improvements on them. The park’s tourism is equal to the combined appeal of its tiles. To make them effective, you need to boost your tile appeal:
- Planting Woods is the easiest way to boost the appeal of nearby tiles.
- Build the Eiffel Tower. It gives +2 Appeal to every single tile in your empire.
- Be smart with your district placement. Holy Sites and Theater Squares improve appeal, while Industrial Zones and Encampments wreck it. Plan ahead!
Seaside Resorts: Coastal Hotspots
Radio lets you build Seaside Resorts on coastal tiles with “Breathtaking” appeal. Their tourism is equal to their appeal. With the Eiffel Tower and some woods, you can create incredibly lucrative coastlines.
Power Spikes: Flight and Computers
Two technologies will change the game for you. Flight is a massive turning point, giving you tourism from any improvement that provides Culture. Later, Computers unlocks a policy card for a +25% tourism bonus across your entire empire, and the Internet technology doubles your total tourism, which is often the final push you need to win.
Rock Bands: Your Secret Weapon
Rock Bands are a high-risk, high-reward unit you can buy with Faith. You send them to perform concerts in other civs’ territory for huge bursts of tourism.
- Promotions are Everything: Their promotions are key. Look for Indie (lets them play at any district), Album Cover Art (generates a Great Work of Music), and Goes to 11 (boosts tourism).
- Target Your Rivals: Send your best bands to the civilization with the most domestic tourists. A good concert can cripple their defense.
- Expect Losses: They can fail and be disbanded, so be ready to lose a few. It’s part of the cost of doing business.
Final Wonders
- Eiffel Tower (Modern): As I said, it’s essential for National Parks and Seaside Resorts. Just build it.
- Cristo Redentor (Modern): A must-have if you have a lot of religious tourism or Seaside Resorts.
- Sydney Opera House (Atomic): Gives you a ton of slots for Great Works of Music.
The Unseen Hand: Advanced Tactics
To get that extra edge, keep these tricks in mind:
- World Congress: Use it to your advantage. Ban luxury resources that a rival depends on or push for resolutions that help cultural city-states.
- Espionage: Want to play dirty? Use spies to steal Great Works. This boosts your tourism and hurts their cultural defense at the same time.
- Playing Defense: If you’re falling behind, you can fight back. Build up your own culture, refuse Open Borders and Trade Routes with the leader, and use the Music Censorship policy to ban their Rock Bands from your territory.
Conclusion: A World in Awe
Pulling off a Cultural Victory is one of the most satisfying feelings in Civ VI. It’s a victory that proves that real power isn’t about the size of your army, but the appeal of your story. By carefully building your cultural engine, making connections across the globe, and unleashing the power of your art and wonders, you can create a masterpiece of influence that brings the whole world to your doorstep.