In the grand strategy landscape of Civilization 6, America stands as a titan of cultural and diplomatic prowess. Its potential for generating staggering amounts of Tourism is nearly unmatched, making it a perennial favorite for players aiming for a Cultural Victory. However, the path to this victory is not monolithic. The choice between its two charismatic leaders, Bull Moose Teddy and Rough Rider Teddy, fundamentally alters the strategic calculus of empire building, particularly concerning the placement of districts.
Understanding how to maximize adjacency bonuses is the cornerstone of any successful Civilization 6 strategy, but for America, it is an art form. A well-placed district can mean the difference between a trickle of resources and an overwhelming flood of Culture, Science, or Faith that propels your civilization into a golden age. This guide provides a definitive analysis of the optimal district adjacency strategies for both of America’s leaders. We will dissect the nuanced approaches required to leverage their unique abilities, transforming your cities from simple settlements into masterpieces of synergistic design. Whether you are painting the world with the breathtaking beauty of National Parks or forging a dominant diplomatic and military presence, mastering district placement is the key to unlocking America’s manifest destiny.
The Universal American Advantage: The Film Studio
Before delving into the specific strategies for each leader, it is crucial to recognize the single most powerful tool in America’s cultural arsenal: the Film Studio. This unique building, which replaces the standard Broadcast Center in the Theater Square, provides an unparalleled +100% Tourism pressure from its city. This bonus applies to all forms of tourism generated by that city—from Wonders and Great Works to National Parks and Seaside Resorts.
Analysis on player forums consistently highlights this building as the primary reason for America’s dominance in the cultural game. The implication is clear: for any player pursuing a Cultural Victory as America, the Theater Square is not just another district; it is the heart of your entire strategy. Every other decision should, in some way, support the goal of maximizing the number and effectiveness of your Theater Squares.
To that end, achieving a high adjacency bonus for your Theater Squares is paramount. A high base Culture yield not only accelerates your acquisition of vital civics but also contributes directly to the Tourism generated by the Film Studio later in the game.
Optimal Theater Square Adjacency
According to the player community, the formula for a high-yield Theater Square is straightforward and should be a priority from the moment you found a city.
- Entertainment Complex / Water Park (+2 Culture): This is the most significant and reliable adjacency bonus for a Theater Square. A common strategy is to plan your cities around a triangular or diamond-shaped core of a City Center, an Entertainment Complex, and one or two Theater Squares to guarantee this powerful bonus.
- Wonders (+2 Culture per adjacent Wonder): Planning for future Wonders is a hallmark of an experienced player. If you know you will be building the Colosseum or Bolshoi Theatre, reserving an adjacent tile for a Theater Square can create an incredibly potent cultural hub.
- Other Districts (+1 Culture for every two adjacent districts): While a minor bonus, this should not be ignored. Clustering your districts is a fundamental principle of good city planning, and it provides a consistent, if small, boost to your Theater Squares.
A popular strategy is to envision a city’s core as a “diamond of culture.” For example, placing a City Center, then placing an Entertainment Complex on one side and a Wonder on the other. The tile between the Entertainment Complex and the Wonder becomes the perfect location for a Theater Square, starting with a base of +4 Culture before even factoring in other nearby districts. This level of planning ensures your Film Studios will have a massive foundation of Culture to amplify into game-winning Tourism.
Bull Moose Teddy: Architect of a Breathtaking Empire
Bull Moose Teddy Roosevelt turns the very concept of tile yields on its head. His “Antiquities and Parks” ability grants +2 Science to tiles with Breathtaking appeal adjacent to a Natural Wonder or Mountain, and +2 Culture to tiles with Breathtaking appeal adjacent to a Wonder or Woods. This ability fundamentally reshapes city planning, making tile Appeal not just a metric for housing or National Parks, but a direct source of powerful yields.
For Bull Moose Teddy, the goal is to “paint” your empire with high Appeal, creating a vibrant tapestry of Culture and Science that flows directly from the land itself.
The Cornerstone District: The Preserve
Many professional gamers suggest that the Preserve is the single most important district for Bull Moose Teddy, often more so than the Campus or Theater Square in the early game. The Preserve and its buildings (the Grove and Sanctuary) are yield multipliers that synergize perfectly with Teddy’s ability.
- Preserve: +1 Appeal to adjacent tiles.
- Grove: +1 Food and +1 Faith on adjacent unimproved Charming tiles. +2 Food, +2 Faith on adjacent unimproved Breathtaking tiles.
- Sanctuary: +1 Science and +1 Culture on adjacent unimproved Charming tiles. +2 Science, +2 Culture on adjacent unimproved Breathtaking tiles.
The strategy is to place a Preserve in a location where it can affect the maximum number of tiles with high potential Appeal, particularly those adjacent to mountains and woods. By leaving these tiles unimproved, you allow Teddy’s ability and the Preserve’s buildings to stack, turning a simple forest tile next to a mountain into a powerhouse generating Food, Faith, Science, and Culture simultaneously.
Mastering Appeal for Maximum Yield
To excel as Bull Moose Teddy, you must become a master of landscape architecture. You need to know precisely what adds to a tile’s Appeal and what detracts from it.
Positive Appeal Modifiers:
- Natural Features: Mountains, Coast, Rivers, Lakes, Oases, and Natural Wonders provide a base of positive Appeal to surrounding tiles.
- Woods: Planting and preserving forests is essential, as they grant +1 Appeal to adjacent tiles.
- Districts: Holy Sites, Theater Squares, Entertainment Complexes, and Water Parks all increase the Appeal of nearby tiles.
- Wonders: All Wonders provide a significant Appeal boost. The Eiffel Tower (+2 Appeal to all tiles in your empire) and the Golden Gate Bridge (+4 Appeal to its city’s tiles) are considered game-changing acquisitions.
- City Parks: The City Park improvement, buildable by a Builder, grants +2 Appeal to adjacent tiles.
Negative Appeal Modifiers:
- Districts: Industrial Zones, Encampments, Aerodromes, and Spaceports all inflict a heavy -1 Appeal penalty on adjacent tiles.
- Improvements: Mines, Quarries, Oil Wells, and Offshore Oil Rigs are necessary for production but will damage the Appeal of your cultural centers.
- Features: Rainforests, Marshes, and Floodplains all carry a base -1 Appeal penalty.
The strategic implication is to divide your empire into zones. Designate pristine areas with high natural Appeal as your cultural and scientific heartlands, where you will build Preserves and plan for National Parks. In less appealing areas, such as deserts or floodplains, you can consolidate your industrial and military districts to minimize their negative impact.
The National Park Gold Rush
National Parks are the capstone of a Bull Moose Teddy cultural victory. They require a vertical diamond of four land tiles, all owned by the same city, all with at least “Charming” Appeal, and all unimproved. The Tourism they generate is equal to the combined Appeal of all four tiles.
This synergizes magnificently with Teddy’s other abilities. His leader ability provides +1 Appeal to all tiles in a city with a National Park, which in turn makes it easier to create more National Parks and boosts the yields from his “Antiquities and Parks” ability.
The Holy Site: Fueling the National Parks
A crucial, and sometimes overlooked, component of this strategy is Faith generation. National Parks can only be created by the Naturalist unit, which is purchased with Faith. Therefore, building effective Holy Sites is not optional; it is a core requirement.
- Optimal Holy Site Adjacency:
- Mountains (+1 Faith per adjacent mountain): This is the most common and effective way to secure a high-yield Holy Site.
- Natural Wonders (+2 Faith): A nearby Natural Wonder can provide a massive initial boost.
- Woods (+1 Faith for every two adjacent woods): Surrounding a Holy Site with forests is a reliable secondary strategy.
Many players recommend prioritizing the Earth Goddess pantheon, which grants +1 Faith from tiles with Breathtaking Appeal. For Bull Moose Teddy, this pantheon is a force multiplier, providing a steady stream of Faith that will be essential for fielding an army of Naturalists in the late game.
Sample City Plan for Bull Moose Teddy
Imagine a city settled near a mountain range with a large forest. A highly effective plan would be:
- Place a Holy Site directly adjacent to as many mountain tiles as possible to maximize Faith generation.
- Place a Preserve on the other side of the forest, ensuring its radius covers numerous forest tiles adjacent to the mountains.
- Identify a 4-tile diamond of high-appeal tiles within this sanctified area for a future National Park.
- Place your Theater Square and Entertainment Complex nearby to further boost Appeal and benefit from the cultural atmosphere.
- Consolidate any necessary Industrial Zones or Encampments on the far side of the city, away from your pristine wilderness, to contain their negative Appeal.
Rough Rider Teddy: Forging a Nation on Two Fronts
Rough Rider Teddy offers a completely different, yet equally potent, path to victory. His “Roosevelt Corollary” ability grants +5 Combat Strength to units on their home continent and provides envoys to city-states you have a trade route with. This steers him towards a Domination or Diplomatic victory, but a formidable Cultural game is still well within reach.
His district strategy is less about the intrinsic yields of the land and more about building a powerful economic and production engine to outpace his rivals.
The Economic Engine: Commercial Hubs and Harbors
For Rough Rider Teddy, the Commercial Hub is a district of paramount importance. His ability to gain envoys through trade routes is the fastest way to establish suzerainty over the world’s city-states, unlocking their unique bonuses and securing a steady flow of Diplomatic Favor.
- Optimal Commercial Hub Adjacency:
- River (+2 Gold): Always place your Commercial Hubs on a river. This is the most basic and essential adjacency bonus.
- Harbor (+2 Gold): In coastal cities, pairing a Commercial Hub with a Harbor is a classic strategy for creating a powerful economic center.
- Optimal Harbor Adjacency:
- City Center (+2 Gold): Placing a Harbor next to your City Center is a guaranteed bonus.
- Coastal Resources (+1 Gold per resource): Settle coastal cities near resources like Fish, Crabs, or Whales to enhance your Harbor’s yield.
Analysis on forums shows that a common strategy is to use the extra economic power to purchase buildings and units, and to use the diplomatic leverage from city-states to pass favorable resolutions in the World Congress, including those that boost Culture or Tourism.
The Industrial Heartland: Powering the War Machine
To support a strong military and to be a contender in the race to build Wonders, Rough Rider Teddy needs a robust production base. The Industrial Zone is the key.
- Optimal Industrial Zone Adjacency:
- Aqueduct / Dam / Canal (+2 Production per district): This is the “industrial triangle” strategy. Planning a city to accommodate an Industrial Zone adjacent to an Aqueduct and a Dam can result in a massive +4 or even +6 production bonus from adjacency alone.
- Mines and Quarries (+1 Production for every two): Surrounding your Industrial Zone with mines is a secondary but still effective way to boost its output.
The strategic trade-off for Rough Rider Teddy is deciding when and where to place these districts. While they are crucial for his primary victory paths, their negative Appeal can hinder a late-game pivot to a Cultural Victory. A balanced approach is to build these powerful industrial centers in a few dedicated production cities, while allowing other cities to focus on Culture and Wonders.
A Different Path to Culture
Rough Rider Teddy can absolutely achieve a Cultural Victory. His approach is simply different. Instead of relying on the innate appeal of the land, he leverages his superior production and economy to:
- Build Wonders: A strong production base allows him to secure more World Wonders than his rivals, each contributing Tourism and Great Works slots.
- Build Districts Faster: He can quickly construct the Theater Squares, Entertainment Complexes, and other districts needed for a cultural infrastructure.
- Leverage the Film Studio: The +100% Tourism bonus from the Film Studio is just as powerful for him. His strategy is to fill his Great Work slots and build Wonders in those cities to maximize the multiplier effect.
Furthermore, his unique Rough Rider unit generates Culture from kills on the capital’s continent, providing a small but consistent boost to the civics tree, helping him unlock key policies like those that increase Tourism from Great Works.
Essential Adjacency Principles for Any American Leader
Regardless of which Teddy you choose, some principles of district placement remain universal.
The Government Plaza: The Heart of Your Empire
The Government Plaza is a one-per-civilization district that should be placed with the utmost care. It provides a +1 adjacency bonus to all adjacent districts. The ideal placement is in a central location where it can boost the yields of your most important districts. For a cultural player, placing it adjacent to a Theater Square and a Holy Site is a powerful move.
The Campus: The Engine of Innovation
While America is not primarily a scientific civilization, neglecting science is a recipe for disaster. Campuses are vital for keeping pace with technology.
- Optimal Campus Adjacency:
- Mountains (+1 Science per adjacent mountain): The classic way to build a strong Campus.
- Rainforests (+1 Science for every two): A good secondary option, especially in jungle-heavy areas.
- Geothermal Fissures (+1 Science): A situational but welcome bonus.
A strategic dilemma often arises for Bull Moose Teddy, as mountains are coveted for both Holy Sites and Campuses, and also for their Appeal. The decision often comes down to the immediate needs of the empire.
Planning for the Future: Using Map Pins
The complexity of these adjacency bonuses makes on-the-fly placement a risky proposition. The most successful players plan their cities dozens of turns in advance using map pins.
A recommended process is as follows:
- When you settle a new city, immediately switch to the map pin view.
- Identify key geographical features: rivers, mountains, coasts, and high-appeal areas.
- Place a pin for your Aqueduct (if needed) and your Government Plaza (if in that city).
- Pin your key districts first, placing them on tiles that grant the highest adjacency bonuses (e.g., Commercial Hub on the river, Holy Site by the mountains).
- Plan out your district clusters, such as the Industrial Zone/Dam/Aqueduct triangle or the Theater Square/Entertainment Complex pair.
- For Bull Moose Teddy, pin potential National Park locations and Preserve sites to protect them from accidental improvement.
Conclusion
The American civilization in Civilization 6 offers two distinct but equally compelling journeys to victory, both deeply rooted in the strategic placement of districts. For the Bull Moose leader, the empire itself becomes a work of art, with districts placed to enhance the natural beauty of the world and draw forth a torrent of Culture and Science from the very soil. The Preserve, Holy Site, and National Park form a holy trinity of synergistic development. For the Rough Rider, the empire is an engine of production and influence, with districts placed to fuel a dominant economy and military, capable of either conquering the world or winning its friendship, while still possessing the industrial might to pivot to a wonder-driven Cultural Victory.
Ultimately, for any player aspiring to see their culture span the globe, the Theater Square and its uniquely American Film Studio remain the ultimate destination. How you arrive there—whether by following the breathtaking trails of the wilderness or by paving a road of gold and steel—is the strategic choice that defines your American saga. Through careful planning, a deep understanding of adjacency, and a clear vision for your empire’s future, you can lead America to its rightful place as the shining city upon a hill.