Cultural Victory was one of the easiest to gain types of victories in Civilization IV and it remained partially the same in Civilization 5: however, it’s not just as easy as before to get the cultural victory in the game so I’m going to share with you my own tips and tricks to get Cultural Victory easier in Civilization 5.
One big advantage for preparing the cultural victory in Civilization 5 is choosing the right civilization at start. Personally, I prefer playing with India when I go for a cultural victory (small, easy to defend), but I guess you could as well go for Egypt, which is an overall nice civ to choose thanks to their Wonder Production bonuses.
Wonder Building Guide for Cultural Victory in Civilization 5
There are 8 wonders you’ll wish to build during your reign in order to faster get the Cultural Victory:
– The Stonehenge
– The Great Library
– The Oracle
– The Hagia Sophia
– Chichen Itza
– Taj Mahal
– Sistine Chapel
– Sydney Opera House
It would be best to try and build the wonders in various cities (no more than 2 per city), because you will eventually unlock a social policy that will double the culture in cities with wonders, so you want to have as much as possible in all your cities: I’m talking about the Freedom Social Policy.
Buildings guide for Cultural Victory in Civilization 5
I think that it’s quite obvious that all your cities should have build the following buildings in order to expand your culture:
– Monument
– Temple
– Opera House
– Museum
– Broadcast Tower
However, you should not ignore the happiness of your people, nor the research because ultimately you need to be scientifically advanced in order to win!
Policies Guide for Cultural Victory in Civilization 5
Policies will help you a lot in your quest to grab the cultural victory in Civilization 5. Apart from Freedom which was listed above and it’s a must have, especially if you do manage to build them wonders, here are a few other policies that will help you increase culture:
– Tradition (if you play with India, as suggested, you’ll most likely have just several cities, so this works great)
– Piety (Mandate of Heaven increases culture if you manage to keep your people happy)
– Patronage (this works well if you can maintain good relations with cultural city states)
– Commerce (this could be the fifth choice, it will also provide you with extra money to keep things running)
General tips for Cultural Victory in Civilization 5
In this scenario, you will like to stay small: I suggest having a maximum of 12 cities and just a few early on to keep policy requirements at a minimum. Focus on building a solid defense and explore as crazy to find them city states – especially the cultural ones and make them your ally.
You should try to avoid war at all costs but if that is impossible and you do capture some cities, do not annex them nor raze them – keep them as puppets and they will produce some extra culture that you need.
Finally, don’t forget that after mastering the five social policies, you will have to actually build the unlocked Utopia Project in order to get your cultural victory in Civilization 5. Good luck!
