Civilization VI is among the best turn-based strategy games for Windows. In this empire-building game, players can lead numerous civilizations throughout the ages to fulfill one of five alternative victory conditions (six in its expansion). The Science Victory (or space race) is one of the best-established victory conditions in the Civilization series.
To win a Science Victory in Civilization VI, players need to complete five space projects to establish a Mars colony before anybody else. You’ll need to unlock most technologies in the game to complete the space projects. Given the general importance of getting ahead on the tech trees in Civilization games, the Science Victory is the best way to emerge victoriously. Here are some Civilization VI beginners tips for Science Victories that will propel you to Mars!
1. Play with Sumerian
First, you’ve got to select a civilization to play with. The Sumerian civilization is one of the best to play with for Science Victories thanks to its unique Ziggurat city tile improvement. Each Ziggurat gives you a +2 science research bonus and +1 culture output. You can build a good number of Ziggurats with builders on the banks of your cities’ rivers and on their snow and tundra tiles. Therefore, Ziggurats can give your science research a notable boost to get you ahead of the rest on the tech tree.
A Ziggurat
2. Place your Campus districts beside mountains and other districts
Campus districts are the heart and soul of your science research. Aside from the science buildings they enable you to construct, you can also gain additional science bonuses from their tile placements. Building a Campus district on a tile beside a mountain will give it a +1 science output boost. Placing a Campus beside another district will also give it a +1 science bonus. Thus, you can get a +2 science bonus for a Campus by placing it on a tile beside both another district and mountain.
A Campus district
3. Establish envoys with scientific city-states
Establishing envoys with scientific city-states is one of the best ways to boost your science research in Civilization VI. One envoy at a scientific city-state will merely give your capital a +2 science boost. However, two and then six envoys at a scientific city-state will give you a combined +4 science boost in all your Campus districts. For example, six envoys at a scientific city-state would give a civilization with 10 Campus districts a +42 science boost in total. How good does that sound?
There are four scientific city-states you can establish envoys at. Those city-states are: Geneva, Seoul, Stockholm, and Hattusa. If you establish enough envoys at one of those city-states, you’ll become its Suzerain. Then you’ll receive an additional Suzerain bonus. Geneva has a great Suzerain bonus that will boost your cities’ science output by 15 percent when you’re not at war with anybody.
The Seoul city-state
4. Establish trade routes with cities that will boost science
International trade routes can boost your science research along with your civilization’s budget. A trade route with another civilization’s city that includes a Campus district will provide a +1 science bonus. So, establish trade routes with other civilizations’ cities that have Campus districts to give your science research even more of a boost.
5. Select the Rationalism policy
Rationalism is an economic policy that gives your Campus buildings a 100 percent science output boost. So, that policy amounts to a big leg up on the tech tree that will get your civilization to Mars more quickly. To select Rationalism, you’ll need to unlock Enlightenment on the civic tree.
6. Build Spaceports in three cities
You’ll need to build a Spaceport for a city to complete space projects. As you need to complete three space projects in the final stage of the space race, it’s a good idea to have three productive cities with Spaceports. With these in your cities, you can then pursue the three Mars space projects at different cities simultaneously. That will enable you to complete the three projects and win the space race more quickly.
7. Maximize production in cities assigned to space projects
When you’ve unlocked all, or at least most, of the techs required to win the space race, you should optimize production in your cities with the Spaceports. No doubt, you’ll have them more optimized for science research before unlocking the techs required for Mars projects. However, there’s not much point keeping them optimized for science once you have the techs needed. Click the production optimization button for your Spaceport cities, shown in the shot directly below, to get their Mars projects completed ASAP.
The maximize production option
If you’re in a close space race with another civilization, you might even need to do a bit more than that to ensure you’re the first to Mars. Click the Spaceport city’s swap tile option to check if there are any additional tiles you can swap from nearby cities to boost production for your Mars projects. You can also clear crop farms and grow forests for lumber mills on their empty city tiles to further boost production. Such measures will reduce the number of turns for a city to finish a final Mars project, which could be the difference between victory and defeat in a close space race.
Those Civilization VI beginners tips for Science Victories will give you a better chance of winning your space races. Now you can reach for the stars in Civilization VI!
