Culture (Civ6)

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Culture is one of the main statistics in Civilization VI. It represents a nation's progress in the arts and crafts. Its role has been greatly enhanced since Civilization V: besides fueling border expansion at the city level, it is now used to research developments in the brand new Civics tree.

Mechanics

Culture functions on two levels: first, your total Culture output (plus eventual lump sums) is applied on the empire level to progress through the Civics tree (similar to how Science is used to progress through the Technology tree). This is again an automatic process which starts the moment you Found your first city and doesn't stop until the end of the game.

Second, local Culture output of each city is applied towards its (and by extension your empire's) border expansion. This process is also automatic - the player can't even control which tile exactly will the city conquer next. Tiles acquired this way generally favor tiles with resources, will always be the one of the closest available tiles, and can be as far as 5 tiles away from the city center. Of course, border expansion can be controlled in other ways (buying tiles with Gold).

Although Culture is not the main stat required to win a Cultural Victory (this is reserved for Tourism, as it was in Civilization V: Brave New World), Culture is indispensable when pursuing one, as it grants your civilization faster progress in the Civics tree and more ways to quicken the expansion of your Tourism.

Also, Culture is the key to defending against a Cultural Victory! Accumulating large amounts of Culture attracts domestic tourists in your civilization, which forces other civilizations pursuing a Cultural Victory to attract more visiting tourists, thus slowing down their progress.

Sources

Culture may be earned through a variety of ways, though it rarely comes from terrain. Like Science, each Citizen in your cities produces Culture; however, the amount (0.3) is not nearly enough for good progress. This could make for a sluggish start to your cultural development, and in this game this means not only slower acquisition of new Policy Cards, but also many other hindrances.

Buildings

The first and most obvious source of Culture is the Monument building, which is available to every City Center right away. For a time, this is also the most readily accessible source of Culture apart from Luxury Resources (detailed below).

The main source of Culture in the game, however, is the Theater Square district and its many buildings. These include:

• Amphitheater: +2 Culture
• Archaeological Museum: +2 Culture
• Art Museum: +2 Culture
• Broadcast Center: +4 Culture

Furthermore, the adjacency bonus of the district nets additional Culture (although it's not easy to activate it), and each Specialist Citizen working in the Theater Square garners +2 Culture. Finally, Theater Square buildings are the main source of slots for Great Works, which are also a serious source of Culture.

If you have attracted and activated the Great Engineer Leonardo da Vinci, Workshops in all Industrial Zones also provide +3 Culture.

Cultural city-states may grant up to +4 Culture in every Theater Square district (+2 Culture for each Amphitheater or Museum instead of base district in Rise and Fall), depending on the number of Envoys assigned to that particular city-state, plus an additional +2 Culture in the Capital.

With the Ethiopia Pack and the new Diplomatic Quarter, cultural city-states may now grant up to +6 Culture in every Theater Square district (+1 Culture for each Amphitheater, +2 Culture for each Museum and +3 Culture for each Broadcast Center), depending on the number of Envoys assigned to that particular city-state, plus an additional +1 Culture in the Capital.

Great Works

Great Writers, Great Artists, Great Musicians, and the Great General Sun Tzu create Great Works that give major boosts to both Culture and Tourism. Most types of Great Works grant Culture, along with their main Tourism bonus, when placed in their respective slots in your buildings. The only exception is the Relic, which grants Faith instead.

The combination of the building bonuses and Great Work bonuses usually provides enough Culture for rapid progress through the Civics tree. However, keep in mind that Great Works take some time to appear - you will need to attract Great People, and it takes time to build up their relevant GPP outputs. Thus, Great Works only aid cultural progression towards the middle and late game.

Resources

Several luxury resources grant bonus Culture, including:

• Coffee: +1 Culture
• Jade: +1 Culture
• Marble: +1 Culture
• Silk: +1 Culture
• Amber (): +1 Culture

All of these bonuses are available right away, and can be invaluable at the start of the game. Look to settle near these resources if you want rapid cultural progression in the beginning.

Religious Beliefs

A small handful of Beliefs and Pantheons grant bonus Culture when their conditions are met:

• God of the Open Sky: +1 Culture from Pastures.
• Goddess of Festivals: +1 Culture from all Plantations.
• World Church: +1 Culture for every 5 followers of the particular Religion in other civilizations.
• Lay Ministry: Each Theater Square district in cities following the particular Religion grant an additional +1 Culture.
• Choral Music: Shrines and Temples provide  Culture equal to their intrinsic Faith output.

Note that God of the Open Sky and Goddess of Festivals will be active in all your cities (being Pantheon Beliefs, which cannot be overridden) as soon as you adopt your Pantheon. Furthermore, the relevant Resources are abundant which makes these Pantheons a reliable source of Culture in the early game. World Church is always active (being applied on the empire level), but it will take time to spread your Religion sufficiently for it to make any real difference. Lay Ministry will only work if the city with the Theater Square is following the relevant Religion.

Policy Cards

Many Policies grant bonus Culture once their conditions are met:

• Meritocracy: +1 Culture in each city for each specialty district it constructs
• Trade Confederation: +1 Culture from international trade routes
• Aesthetics: +100% Theater Square adjacency bonuses
• Raj: +2 additional Culture from each city-state you are Suzerain of
• Grand Opera: +100% Culture yield from Theater Square buildings. (In Rise and Fall this bonus depends on adjacency bonuses and city  Population.)
• Market Economy: International trade routes provide +2 Culture for each strategic resource improved at the destination.
• Collective Activism: +5% Culture per city-state you are Suzerain of

These Policies are available early in the middle game, so they can be used well for advancement through the Civics tree.

Wonders

Many Wonders grant substantial Culture boosts. These include:

• Chichen Itza: +2 Culture for all Rainforest tiles in its city
• Colosseum: +2 Culture for all City Centers within 6 tiles including this city
• Cristo Redentor: +4 Culture
• Estádio do Maracanã: +4 Culture
• Forbidden City: +5 Culture
• Pyramids: +2 Culture
• Oracle: +1 Culture
• Országház (): +4 Culture
• Potala Palace: +2 Culture
• St. Basil's Cathedral (): +1 Culture for all Tundra tiles in its city
• Sydney Opera House: +8 Culture

Other Wonders contain Great Work slots, which may also grant Culture when filled:

• Great Library: 2 slots for Great Works of Writing
• Oxford University: 2 slots for Great Works of Writing
• Hermitage: 4 slots for Great Works of Art
• Broadway: 2 slots for Great Works of Music
• Bolshoi Theatre: 1 Great Work of Writing slot, 1 Great Work of Music slot
• Sydney Opera House: 3 Great Work of Music slots
• Apadana: 2 slots that can hold any Great Work

Culture bonuses can also be obtained through natural wonders:

• Chocolate Hills (): +1 Culture
• Cliffs of Dover: +3 Culture
• Dead Sea: +2 Culture
• Eyjafjallajökull: +1 Culture yield to adjacent land tiles
• Gobustan (): +3 Culture
• Hạ Long Bay: +1 Culture
• Lake Retba (): +2 Culture
• Matterhorn (): +1 Culture
• Pantanal: +2 Culture
• Piopiotahi: +1 Culture yield to adjacent tiles
• Sahara el Beyda (): +1 Culture
• Tsingy de Bemaraha: +1 Culture yield to adjacent tiles
• Uluru: +2 Culture yield to adjacent tiles

Added in the Rise and Fall expansion pack.

Added in the Gathering Storm expansion pack.

Others

Cultural city-states grant substantial Culture bonuses, when you have enough Envoys in them. All of them will grant +2 Culture to your Capital at 1 Envoy, and further Culture to every city with a Theater Square (+2 at 3 Envoys, and a further +2 at 6 Envoys). Note that you don't have to be the Suzerain of the city-state to gain these bonuses!

Finally, Culture may be earned through trade - all you need to do is send an international Trade Route to a city which has culture-oriented activity.

Unique Bonuses

Many unique pieces of infrastructure and civ/leader abilities grant special Culture bonuses:

• The unique building of America, the Film Studio, grants +4 Culture.
• The unique building of the Aztecs, the Tlachtli, grants +2 Culture ( +4 Culture).
• The unique building of Japan, the Electronics Factory, grants +4 Culture after researching the Electricity technology.
• The unique tile improvement of China, the Great Wall, grants +1 Culture for each adjacent Great Wall.
• The unique tile improvement of Egypt, the Sphinx, grants +1 Culture.
• The unique tile improvement of France, the Château, grants +2 Culture and +1 Culture if built adjacent to a Wonder, increasing to +2 with Flight.
• The unique tile improvement of Sumeria, the Ziggurat, grants +1 Culture if adjacent to a River.
• The unique tile improvement of Persia, the Pairidaeza, grants +1 Culture (+1 Culture with Diplomatic Service) and an additional +1 Culture for each adjacent Holy Site and Theater Square.
• The unique building of the Khmer, the Prasat, grants +0.5 Culture for each point of Population in its home city.
• The unique district of Greece, the Acropolis, grants greater Culture adjacency bonuses for being next to a district and +2 Culture for being adjacent to the City Center.
• The unique district of Vietnam, the Thành, grants +2 Culture for every adjacent district.
• Satrapies, the civ ability of the Persians, grants them +1 Culture from each domestic Trade Route.
• Toqui, the civ ability of the Mapuche, grants them +5% Culture in cities with an established Governor, which is tripled in cities they did not found.
• Nine Dragon River Delta, the civ ability of the Vietnamese, grants +1 Culture to buildings in districts constructed on Woods.
• Thermopylae, the leader ability of Gorgo, grants her Culture from combat victories equal to 50% of the Combat Strength of the units defeated.
• Surrounded by Glory, the leader ability of Pericles, grants him +5% bonus Culture for each city-state he is the Suzerain of.
• The Grand Embassy, the leader ability of Peter, grants his Trade Routes +1 Culture for every 3 Civics the destination civilization is ahead of him.
• Righteousness of the Faith, the leader ability of Saladin, grants him +10% bonus Culture output from worship buildings.
• Lithuanian Union, the leader ability of Jadwiga, grants her +2 Culture from each Relic.
• Radio Oranje, the leader ability of Wilhelmina, grants her +2 Culture from each incoming international Trade Route.
• Council of Ministers, the leader ability of Menelik II, grants him 15%  Culture from of the Faith output for cities on hills.
• If the Secret Societies Game Mode is enabled, the Owls of Minerva can build the Gilded Vault instead of the Bank, which provides Culture equal to the Commercial Hub's Gold adjacency bonus.
• If the Secret Societies Game Mode is enabled, once the Voidsingers reach the Medieval Era, each city earns Culture per turn equal to 20% of its Faith per turn rate.

Videos

CIVILIZATION VI - How to Generate Culture