A Culture Victory with Bull Moose Teddy Roosevelt is one of the most satisfying pursuits in Civilization 6. His abilities are tailor-made for a tourism-heavy strategy, turning breathtaking landscapes into engines of cultural dominance. While the late game, with its National Parks and Rock Bands, often gets the spotlight, the foundation for this victory is poured during the crucial mid-game. The wonders you choose to build—or ignore—during the Medieval, Renaissance, and Industrial Eras will determine whether your cultural influence blossoms or withers. This guide provides an in-depth analysis of the most effective mid-game wonders for a Teddy Roosevelt culture win, drawing upon extensive community analysis and strategic breakdowns from seasoned players.
The Strategic Framework: Teddy’s Path to Cultural Hegemony
Before diving into specific wonders, it’s essential to understand the strategic landscape of a Bull Moose Teddy culture game. Your primary goal is to maximize Appeal across your empire. Teddy’s “Roosevelt Corollary” ability grants +2 Science to tiles with Breathtaking Appeal adjacent to a Natural Wonder and +2 Culture to tiles with Breathtaking Appeal adjacent to a Wonder or Woods. This ability is the cornerstone of your strategy, turning high-appeal terrain into a significant source of yields long before you even begin to generate tourism.
The mid-game, therefore, is a race to secure land, identify future National Park locations, and begin constructing the infrastructure that will later support a tourism explosion. Your wonder selection should not be arbitrary; it must directly support this framework. The best mid-game wonders for Teddy fall into three primary categories:
- Appeal Enhancement: Wonders that directly boost the Appeal of your tiles, making it easier to create Breathtaking landscapes for Teddy’s bonuses and, eventually, for National Parks and Seaside Resorts.
- Great Work Generation: Wonders that provide slots for Great Works of Art, Music, and Writing. A steady stream of Great People is the lifeblood of any culture game, and you need places to house their masterpieces.
- Policy and Economic Flexibility: Wonders that grant extra policy slots or economic boosts, allowing you to tailor your government and economy to the demands of a culture victory.
Tier S: The Indispensable Wonders
Analysis on player forums consistently places one wonder in a tier of its own for a Bull Moose Teddy culture victory. Its impact is so profound that it can single-handedly reshape your entire strategy.
Eiffel Tower (Industrial Era)
Analysis: The Eiffel Tower is, without exaggeration, the single most important wonder for a Bull Moose Teddy culture win. Many professional gamers suggest that you should be prepared to “drop everything” to build it. Its effect is simple but game-changing: +2 Appeal to every tile in your empire.
For any other leader, this is a strong bonus. For Bull Moose Teddy, it’s a cataclysmic power spike. Tiles that were merely “Charming” (Appeal of +2 or +3) are instantly elevated to “Breathtaking” (Appeal of +4 or higher). This immediately activates Teddy’s “Roosevelt Corollary” across your empire, potentially adding dozens of extra Culture and Science per turn.
Strategic Application:
- National Park Creation: The primary function of the Eiffel Tower in a culture game is to supercharge your National Parks. A National Park requires four vertically-contiguous, government-owned tiles that are all at least “Charming” in Appeal. The Eiffel Tower makes creating valid National Park locations trivial. Vast swathes of your territory will suddenly become eligible, allowing you to spam Naturalists in the late game and generate enormous bursts of tourism.
- Seaside Resorts: Don’t underestimate the power of Seaside Resorts. With the Eiffel Tower, even mediocre coastal tiles can become Breathtaking, allowing you to build highly effective resorts that provide tourism equal to their Appeal.
- Timing is Everything: The Eiffel Tower becomes available with the Steel technology. Player communities often advise that you should start planning for its construction well in advance. Have a high-production city ready, and don’t be afraid to use military engineers to chop down forests or harvest resources to speed its completion. Losing the Eiffel Tower to another civilization is a significant blow to a Teddy culture game.
Tier A: High-Priority Wonders
These wonders provide significant, often game-changing, bonuses that directly align with a cultural strategy. While not as singularly critical as the Eiffel Tower, securing one or two of these can dramatically accelerate your path to victory.
Forbidden City (Renaissance Era)
Analysis: The Forbidden City is a deceptively powerful wonder. Its +5 Culture is a nice bonus, but its true strength lies in the extra Wildcard policy slot it provides. A popular strategy is to use this slot to gain a permanent advantage in culture, tourism, or Great Person generation.
Strategic Application:
- Policy Flexibility: The extra Wildcard slot is invaluable. In the mid-game, it can be used for policies like “Inspiration” (extra Great Writer points) or “Meritocracy” (extra culture and science from districts). In the late game, it can hold powerful tourism-boosting policies like “Satellite Broadcasts” (triples tourism from Great Works of Music). This flexibility allows you to adapt to the changing needs of the game without sacrificing other crucial policy cards.
- Government Synergy: The Forbidden City synergizes beautifully with governments that have a high number of Wildcard slots, like Democracy. With the Forbidden City, a Democracy can have a staggering five Wildcard slots, allowing for an unparalleled level of policy customization.
- Early Acquisition: The Forbidden City becomes available with the Printing technology. It’s a highly competitive wonder, so you’ll need a city with solid production to secure it. The investment is almost always worthwhile, as the benefits of the extra policy slot will pay dividends for the rest of the game.
Bolshoi Theatre (Industrial Era)
Analysis: The Bolshoi Theatre is a pure culture wonder, and an excellent one at that. It provides slots for a Great Work of Writing and a Great Work of Music, and it immediately grants two free civics upon completion.
Strategic Application:
- Great Work Slots: The music slot is particularly valuable, as they are harder to come by than writing or art slots. Housing a Great Work of Music is essential for a culture victory, and the Bolshoi Theatre provides a themed home for one.
- Civic Boost: The two free civics are a significant tempo advantage. This can help you rush to key late-game civics like “Cultural Heritage” (doubles tourism from themed museums) or “Social Media” (provides a massive tourism boost). According to the player community, this civic boost can be the equivalent of 10-15 turns of culture generation, a huge advantage in a tight race.
- Great Person Points: The Bolshoi Theatre also provides Great Writer and Great Musician points, helping you to attract more Great People and fill your growing collection of museums and wonders.
Cristo Redentor (Modern Era)
Analysis: While technically a Modern Era wonder, Cristo Redentor’s impact is felt so strongly in the mid-to-late game transition that it warrants inclusion here. Its effect is twofold: it doubles the tourism output of all Seaside Resorts in your empire, and it negates the effect of the Enlightenment civic for other civilizations, meaning your religious tourism never fades.
Strategic Application:
- Seaside Resort Powerhouse: For a coastal-heavy empire, Cristo Redentor is a game-winner. Combined with the Eiffel Tower, it can turn a string of coastal cities into a tourism juggernaut. A single Breathtaking Seaside Resort can generate 6-8 tourism per turn; with Cristo Redentor, that becomes 12-16.
- Religious Synergy: If you’ve pursued a religious strategy in the early game, Cristo Redentor is essential. It ensures that the tourism from your relics and holy sites remains potent throughout the entire game. A popular strategy is to combine it with Mont St. Michel and the “Reliquaries” belief to create a powerful religious tourism engine.
- Strategic Placement: Cristo Redentor must be built on a hill. Plan accordingly, and ensure you have a suitable location in a high-production city.
Tier B: Situational and Supporting Wonders
These wonders are not always essential, but in the right circumstances, they can provide a powerful boost to your culture game. Their value depends heavily on your starting location, your religious and economic strategy, and the actions of your opponents.
Mont St. Michel (Medieval Era)
Analysis: Mont St. Michel is a wonder with a very specific, but potentially very powerful, purpose. It grants all of your Apostles the “Martyr” promotion, which causes them to generate a Relic if they die in theological combat.
Strategic Application:
- The Relic Strategy: Analysis on forums shows that a “relic rush” can be a viable, if risky, path to a culture victory. The strategy involves founding a religion with the “Reliquaries” belief (triples faith and tourism from Relics), building Mont St. Michel, and then sending waves of Apostles to their doom in theological combat against another civilization. Each dead Apostle generates a Relic, which, when placed in a temple or cathedral, can generate a massive amount of tourism.
- High Risk, High Reward: This strategy is not for the faint of heart. It requires a significant investment in faith generation and can be easily countered if your opponent simply refuses to engage in theological combat. However, if you can pull it off, you can generate a huge amount of tourism long before other civilizations have even begun to think about culture.
Kilwa Kisiwani (Medieval Era)
Analysis: Kilwa Kisiwani is one ofthe most powerful wonders in the game, but its effectiveness for a culture victory is indirect. It provides a 15% boost to a specific yield in your capital for every city-state of that type you are the suzerain of. If you are the suzerain of two cultural city-states, it provides a 15% boost to culture in all of your cities.
Strategic Application:
- Suzerain Focus: If you are playing a game with a large number of cultural city-states, Kilwa Kisiwani becomes a top-tier wonder. The empire-wide culture boost can be enormous, accelerating your progress through the civic tree and increasing your domestic tourism.
- Economic Investment: Becoming the suzerain of multiple city-states requires a significant investment in envoys and diplomacy. You’ll need to be actively engaged in the world congress and be prepared to compete with other civilizations for city-state loyalty.
Colosseum (Classical Era)
Analysis: While an early wonder, the Colosseum’s effects are felt most strongly in the mid-game. It provides +2 Culture and +2 Amenities to its city and all other cities within a 6-tile radius.
Strategic Application:
- Wide Empire Synergy: The Colosseum is at its best in a wide empire with a dense cluster of cities. In the right setup, it can provide a significant culture and amenity boost to 6-7 cities simultaneously. The amenities are particularly valuable, as happy and ecstatic cities receive a bonus to all of their yields, including culture.
- Placement is Key: The value of the Colosseum is entirely dependent on its placement. Before building it, carefully map out the 6-tile radius to ensure you are maximizing its effect.
Weaving a Tapestry of Culture
A Teddy Roosevelt Culture Victory is a symphony of moving parts. It requires careful planning, strategic expansion, and a keen eye for Appeal. The mid-game is where the conductor—you—truly begins to shape the performance. By prioritizing the right wonders, you can create a cultural powerhouse that will leave the rest of the world in awe. The Eiffel Tower stands alone as the undisputed masterpiece of your mid-game strategy, but the Forbidden City, Bolshoi Theatre, and Cristo Redentor are all powerful instruments in their own right. By understanding the strategic application of each of these wonders, you can transform America’s beautiful landscapes into an unstoppable force of cultural influence, securing a victory that is both elegant and decisive.