Culture is a Civilization 6 resource that represents your civilization’s arts and crafts progress. It is one of Civ 6’s most important resources, alongside science, that determines your civilization’s civic research speed and border expansion rate. It is a crucial resource for winning cultural victories but is also broadly important for all victory conditions. These are some of the ways you can increase Civilization 6 culture output to thrust ahead on the civic tree.
Looking for other Civilization 6 guides from KeenGamer?
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- 6 of the Best Civilizations in Civilization VI
- 9 of the Best Civilization VI Civics to Unlock
- 7 of the Best Civilization VI Policy Cards
- 6 of the Best Civilization VI Wonders
Add Monuments to Your Cities
Monument is a building immediately available from the outset in Civilization 6. Nor do you need a Theater Square to build it. Adding this building to a city will increase its cultural output by +2. You should build lots of these to increase Civilization 6 cultural output in any game because they’re quick to construct.
Build Theater Square Districts With Adjacency Bonuses
Theater Square districts are among the biggest cultural sources in Civilization 6. A Theater Square with two specialist citizens generates +2 culture. However, its district adjacency bonuses further increase its Civilization 6 culture output bonuses. Adding Theater Squares beside Wonders and other districts provides +2 and +1 culture bonuses.
A Theater Square district
Theatre Squares also enable you to build four cultural buildings that further increase Civilization 6 culture output. You can fill those buildings with great works, which generate both culture and tourism. These are the four Theatre Square buildings that generate culture:
- Amphitheater +2
- Archaeological Museum +2
- Art Museum +2
- Broadcast Center +4
Build Lots of Wonders of the World
Nine of the wonders will increase the culture output of your civilization when built. So, building many of them can considerably boost your nation’s cultural output. These are the nine wonders of the world in the base game that increase Civilization 6 culture yields:
- Pyramids: +2 culture yield
- Estádio do Maracanã: +4 culture yield
- Oracle: +1 culture yield
- Forbidden City: +5 culture yield
- Potala Palace: +2 culture yield
- Colosseum: +2 culture yield for all cities within six tiles of where it’s built
- The Sydney Opera House: +2 culture yield
- Redentor statue: +4 culture yield
- Itza: +2 culture yield for all rainforest tiles in the city it’s built
The Colosseum wonder
Build Electronics Factories in Japanese Cities
Electronics Factory is a unique Japanese building you can add to Industrial Zone districts when playing with Hojo. It is a Japanese replacement for the standard Factory building. Aside from increasing production, this building also provides +4 culture when you’ve unlocked Electricity.
Increase Cities’ Populations
One citizen provides a 0.2 Civilization 6 culture output yield, which isn’t much on its own. For example, 10 citizens increase cultural output by +2. Thus, increasing cities’ populations will gradually generate more culture. You can increase populations more quickly by selecting the food production optimization option for cities and by improving more tiles with farms and building Granaries, Seaports, Warter Mills, and Lighthouses.
Culture stats for a new city
Access Resources That Increase Civilization 6 Culture Output
Four luxury resources in the base game provide Civilization 6 culture bonuses. Coffee, jade, marble, and silk offer a +1-culture yield bonus for each resource you have access. For example, three silk resources will increase culture by +3.
You must improve the tiles that include these resources with builders to have access to them. However, you can still trade for those resources if you don’t have access to them. Try establishing some trade details with civilizations you can contact to increase your supply of coffee, jade, marble, and silk.
The coffee resource
Establish International Trade Routes
You earn more Civilization 6 culture by establishing international trade routes with trade caravans. Select trade routes at target cities that provide more culture than others. You can also increase the culture amassed through trade routes with the Trade Confederation policy card.
Send Envoys to Cultural City-States
Sending envoys to the several cultural city-states is a good way to boost Civilization 6 culture output. One envoy at a cultural city-state will increase culture in your capital by +2. Three envoys at a cultural city-state increase culture yields in each of your Theater Districts by +2. Six envoys at a cultural city-state increase cultural output in Theater Districts by an additional +2 (+4 in total).
The city-states info bar
Improve Tiles With Colossal Heads
Becoming a Suzerain of the La Venta city-state by sending lots of envoys there enables you to improve tiles with Colossal Heads. Adding a Colossal Head to a tile with a builder increases its cultural yield by +1 when you’ve unlocked the Humanism civic. This can be a good way to increase your overall Civilization 6 culture output since you can quickly add Colossal Heads to many terrain tiles.
A Colossal Head tile improvement
Select Policy Cards That Boost Civilization 6 Culture Output
Selecting policy cards with significant cultural bonuses is one of the best ways to increase Civilization 6 culture output. For example, Grand Opera is a must-have card that increases Theater District buildings’ culture yields by 100 percent. These policy cards will also increase culture in your civilization in different ways when selected:
- Market Economy: Increases culture yields for international trade routes by +2 for each strategic resource at a destination city.
- Raj: A policy card that provides a +2-culture bonus for every city-state that you’re a Suzerian of.
- Trade Confederation: This card gives each of your international trade routes a +1-culture bonus.
- Meritocracy: Selecting Meritocracy provides a +1-culture bonus for each district you build in your cities.
- Aesthetics: A policy that increases adjacency bonuses for Theater Districts by 100 percent.
- Collective Activism: You’ll receive a +5 culture bonus for every city-state you’re a Suzerain at with Collective Activism selected.
Cultural policy cards
Select a Pantheon That Increases Civilization 6 Culture Yields
A pantheon is a religious structure you can choose in the early game when your civilization has amassed enough faith points. Selecting the God of Open Sky or Oral Tradition pantheon in the base game is another way to boost Civilization 6 culture. Gods of the Open Sky provides a +1-culture bonus for tiles with pastures. The Oral Tradition pantheon offers a +1-culture yield for additional luxury resources your civilization can access, such as bananas, silk, spices, cotton, and sugar.
You can’t afford to neglect culture too much, even if you’re not playing for a tourist victory. Increasing Civilization 6 culture output with the methods above will expand your civilization’s borders and unlock civics more quickly. This will give you access to more and better policies, units, governments, and infrastructure enhancements sooner than other civilizations.
