A Tier List of All Wonders for America in Civilization 6
A definitive analysis of wonder selection for the American civilization in Civilization 6 reveals a strategic landscape heavily influenced by their unique leader abilities and victory inclinations. While any wonder can be beneficial, a tiered approach, focusing on synergies with America’s strengths, is paramount for achieving dominance. This guide provides a comprehensive tier list of all wonders for America, offering a deep dive into the strategic reasoning behind each placement, drawing upon extensive community analysis and pro-player insights.
The American Advantage: A Strategic Overview
Before delving into the tier list, it’s crucial to understand the core mechanics that define American gameplay. With leaders like Teddy Roosevelt (in both his Bull Moose and Rough Rider personas), the civilization gains significant advantages related to culture, tourism, and continental warfare. The Bull Moose persona, in particular, transforms the game into a puzzle of maximizing tile appeal, making wonders that enhance this aspect incredibly valuable. The Rough Rider persona, on the other hand, thrives on a strong military and a well-developed empire, favoring wonders that support rapid expansion and unit production.
This tier list is primarily geared towards the Bull Moose Teddy’s culture-focused gameplay, as it offers the most unique and powerful synergies with wonders. However, strategic considerations for the Rough Rider persona will also be noted where applicable.
S-Tier: Game-Changing Wonders for American Dominance
The S-Tier wonders are those that provide such a significant advantage to America that they should be prioritized above all others. These wonders directly amplify America’s core strengths, leading to a faster and more decisive victory.
Eiffel Tower
According to the player community, the Eiffel Tower is arguably the most critical wonder for a culture-focused American game. Its effect is simple yet profound: it grants +2 Appeal to every tile in your empire. For Bull Moose Teddy, this is a game-changer. His leader ability, “Antiquities and Parks,” provides +2 Science to Breathtaking tiles adjacent to a Natural Wonder or Mountain, and +2 Culture to Breathtaking tiles adjacent to a World Wonder or Woods. The Eiffel Tower single-handedly elevates a vast number of tiles to Breathtaking status, resulting in a massive surge of Culture and Science across your empire. This synergy is so powerful that many professional gamers suggest rushing this wonder as soon as it becomes available in the Modern Era.
Furthermore, the increased appeal directly translates to higher tourism yields from National Parks and Seaside Resorts. A well-placed National Park on tiles boosted by the Eiffel Tower can generate an astronomical amount of tourism, accelerating a Cultural Victory.
Cristo Redentor
Analysis on forums shows that Cristo Redentor is another cornerstone of a successful American Cultural Victory. Built in the Modern Era, this wonder provides a significant boost to your tourism output. Its primary benefit is that it doubles the tourism from all Seaside Resorts in your empire. Given America’s propensity for building on coastal cities and the appeal-boosting potential of the Eiffel Tower, this wonder can be the final push needed to secure a Cultural Victory.
Moreover, Cristo Redentor provides a substantial amount of Culture and has slots for Great Works of Art, further contributing to your cultural output. Its synergy with the Eiffel Tower and America’s natural inclination towards high-appeal coastal cities makes it an indispensable wonder.
A-Tier: Powerful Wonders That Fuel Your Engine
A-Tier wonders are not as game-changing as their S-Tier counterparts, but they provide significant and often victory-defining advantages. These wonders should be actively pursued and can be the difference between a comfortable win and a hard-fought struggle.
Kilwa Kisiwani
A popular strategy is to prioritize Kilwa Kisiwani, a wonder that leverages America’s diplomatic strengths. America’s unique ability to gain envoys more easily, especially with the Rough Rider persona, makes becoming the Suzerain of multiple city-states a common occurrence. Kilwa Kisiwani capitalizes on this by providing a 15% boost to a specific yield (Science, Culture, Gold, etc.) in every city of your empire for each city-state of that type you are the Suzerain of.
For a culture-focused America, becoming the Suzerain of two cultural city-states will grant a 30% boost to Culture in every city. This is a massive advantage that can significantly accelerate your progress through the civics tree and unlock key tourism-boosting policies. The versatility of Kilwa Kisiwani also allows you to adapt your strategy based on the city-states available in your game.
Forbidden City
Many professional gamers suggest that the Forbidden City is a must-build for any civilization aiming for a Cultural or Diplomatic Victory, and America is no exception. This wonder, available in the Renaissance Era, provides an additional Wildcard policy slot. This extra slot is incredibly flexible, allowing you to slot in powerful policies that can boost your tourism, Great Person generation, or provide crucial defensive bonuses.
For America, this extra Wildcard slot is particularly valuable. It can be used to slot in the “Wish You Were Here” policy for a massive tourism boost, or a policy that increases Great Writer or Artist points, accelerating the creation of Great Works. The Forbidden City’s immediate and long-lasting impact on your government and policy flexibility makes it a top-tier choice.
Broadway
Analysis on forums shows that Broadway is a cornerstone of a late-game Cultural Victory push. This Atomic Era wonder provides a significant boost to your cultural output by granting a free Great Writer, a free Great Musician, and slots for their Great Works. The real power of Broadway, however, lies in its ability to boost the tourism of all Great Works of Writing, Music, and Art in the city where it is built.
For an American civilization that has been diligently collecting Great Works throughout the game, Broadway can be the final piece of the puzzle. Placing it in a city with a high concentration of Great Works will result in a massive surge of tourism, often enough to win the game.
B-Tier: Strong and Reliable Wonders
B-Tier wonders are not as essential as the S or A-Tier wonders, but they are still powerful and can provide a significant advantage. These wonders are often situational, but in the right circumstances, they can be just as effective as their higher-tiered counterparts.
Oracle
According to the player community, the Oracle is a powerful early-game wonder that can set you on the path to victory. Its primary benefit is that it reduces the cost of purchasing Great People with Faith by 25%. For a culture-focused America, this is a significant advantage. It allows you to snatch up key Great Writers, Artists, and Musicians before other civilizations, giving you a head start in the race for tourism.
Furthermore, the Oracle provides Great Person points itself, further accelerating your Great Person generation. While its impact diminishes in the late game, the early advantage it provides can be invaluable.
Colosseum
A popular strategy for early-game expansion is to build the Colosseum. This wonder provides a significant boost to Culture and Amenities in a wide radius, making it an excellent choice for a rapidly expanding American empire. The Colosseum’s +2 Culture and +2 Amenities to all cities within six tiles can help to keep your citizens happy and your borders expanding, which is crucial for securing the land needed for National Parks in the late game.
For the Rough Rider persona, the Colosseum is particularly valuable. It helps to offset the happiness penalties associated with conquering new cities, allowing you to maintain a strong and stable empire.
Big Ben
Analysis on forums shows that Big Ben is a powerful economic wonder that can provide a significant boost to your treasury. Its primary benefit is that it doubles your current gold reserves upon completion. This can be a massive influx of cash that can be used to purchase key buildings, units, or even Great People.
For America, Big Ben is particularly useful for funding the creation of National Parks, which can be expensive. It also provides an additional Economic policy slot, which can be used to further boost your economy or tourism.
C-Tier: Situational and Niche Wonders
C-Tier wonders are not bad, but they are highly situational and should only be built if the circumstances are right. These wonders often have powerful effects, but they are either too difficult to build or their benefits are too niche to be consistently reliable.
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is an iconic American wonder, but its in-game representation is often considered underwhelming. Its primary benefit is that it provides a significant boost to Diplomatic Victory points. However, for a culture-focused America, these points are often irrelevant. The wonder’s other benefit, which is to grant all friendly cities within six tiles have their Loyalty locked at maximum, is also highly situational.
While the Statue of Liberty can be a decent choice if you are pursuing a Diplomatic Victory, it is generally not worth the production cost for a culture-focused America.
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is another visually impressive American wonder that often falls short of expectations. Its primary benefit is that it provides a massive boost to the Appeal of the tiles in the city where it is built. This can be a powerful effect for a Bull Moose Teddy, but the wonder’s placement requirements are so restrictive that it is often impossible to build it in a location where it can be truly effective.
If you are lucky enough to have a coastal city with two landmasses that can be connected by the Golden Gate Bridge, it can be a decent choice. However, in most cases, the production cost is better spent on other, more reliable wonders.
D-Tier: Wonders to Avoid
D-Tier wonders are those that are generally not worth building as America. Their benefits are either too weak or too situational to justify the production cost.
Huey Teocalli
The Huey Teocalli is a wonder that provides bonuses to Lake tiles. While this can be a powerful effect in the right circumstances, it is highly unlikely that an American civilization will have enough Lake tiles to make this wonder worthwhile. America’s strengths lie in its ability to utilize mountains, woods, and coastal tiles, not lakes.
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is a wonder that provides adjacency bonuses for Commercial Hubs and Industrial Zones near mountains. While America often has cities near mountains, the bonuses provided by this wonder are not significant enough to justify the production cost. There are far better wonders to build that will provide a more significant and immediate impact on your game.
Conclusion: A Strategic Approach to Wonder-Building
The key to success as America in Civilization 6 is to adopt a strategic and synergistic approach to wonder-building. By focusing on wonders that amplify your civilization’s core strengths, you can create a powerful engine of culture, tourism, and military might. This tier list provides a roadmap for that success, but it is important to remember that every game of Civilization 6 is unique. The best players are those who can adapt their strategies to the specific circumstances of their game. Use this guide as a starting point, but don’t be afraid to experiment and find the wonder combinations that work best for you.