Winning a Culture Victory in Civilization 6 in just 33 turns might seem impossible, but with the right setup and strategy, it’s achievable. This guide outlines a fast relic-based strategy inspired by a community challenge game, breaking down each phase to optimize your path to success.
Overview
This strategy revolves around leveraging relics, holy sites, and Heroes & Legends mode. By focusing on relic generation, faith production, and efficient city planning, you can maximize tourism and cultural output early in the game.
Setup and Settings
I used a start save from a fellow civ player Ra for the challenge, but the overall strategy should work well on any map where you can find and take suzerainty of Kandy quick. You can also watch my playthrough on Youtube.
- Map: Small Pangaea
- Game Speed: Standard
- Game Modes: Secret Societies, Monopoly & Corporations, and Heroes & Legends
- Leader: Any leader with early faith bonuses works, but selecting one like Ethiopia, Russia, Kongo or Khmer can enhance this strategy.
The Secret Societies for relics storage is essential. Heroes & Legends mode adds an additional layer by providing powerful heroes that can generate relics upon retirement.
Phase 1: The Early Game (Turns 1-10)
1. Prioritize Exploration
- Start with a double Scout opening, or even better, pick Himiko as your first hero for superior scouting and early envoy generation.
- Focus on uncovering the map, locating religious city-states (like Kandy), and tribal villages for early bonuses.
2. Settling Cities
- Settle your capital on high-yield tiles, like Mercury or other luxuries, to prepare for Monopolies & Corporations bonuses.
- Aim for a second city close to resources that can create industries. Early industries provide valuable bonuses to faith and tourism.
3. Research and Civic Path
- Tech Priority: Research Astrology first to unlock Holy Sites. Follow with Mining if you need to improve luxuries like Mercury.
- Civic Priority: Head straight for Mysticism to enable envoy deployment. Mysticism also unlocks access to early pantheons.
4. Pantheon Selection
- Choose Religious Settlements for extra settlers or Divine Spark to enhance faith and Great People generation.
Phase 2: Setting Up Relic Generation (Turns 11-20)
1. Unlock Secret Societies
- Prioritize exploring tribal villages and meeting city-states to unlock the Voidsingers. This Secret Society provides an Obelisk building in Holy Sites, which holds relics and generates additional faith and tourism.
2. Secure Kandy
- Invest envoys to secure suzerainty of Kandy. Kandy’s bonus ensures relic generation every time you discover a natural wonder, accelerating your relic-based tourism.
3. Focus on Holy Sites
- Build Holy Sites in your first two cities and start running Holy Site Prayers projects to secure Great Prophets and Heroes faster.
4. Heroes for Relics
- Use Heroes & Legends mode to recruit heroes like Himiko, Maui, or the Twins, which can help you acquire relics through quests or by retiring them.
5. Expand Cities
- Use faith to purchase settlers and expand toward areas with more natural wonders or resources for industries.
Phase 3: Generating Tourism and Scaling Faith (Turns 21-30)
1. Found a Religion
- Use your Great Prophet to found a religion that boosts relic tourism, such as Sacred Path or Reliquaries (+300% tourism and faith from relics).
2. Produce and Spread Relics
- Retire heroes to generate relics. Place these relics in Obelisks or other Great Work slots (e.g., Apadana or palaces).
- Spread your religion to maximize faith output, enabling you to buy more missionaries, heroes, or even settlers.
3. Secure Industries
- Settle cities near clusters of resources to create industries under the Monopoly & Corporations mode. Industries not only boost yields but also generate significant tourism.
Phase 4: The Final Push to Victory (Turns 31-33)
1. Declare Wars to Slow Rivals
- Identify civs generating the most culture, such as Indonesia in my game, and declare war to stall their progress.
- Pillage tiles for faith and gold to accelerate relic purchases and Holy Site projects.
2. Fill Great Work Slots
- Use faith to purchase Great Writers and fill available Great Work slots.
- Leverage city-states like Bologna and Kumasi for boosts to Great People generation and culture.
3. Build Wonders
- Wonders like the Oracle or Stonehenge provide additional Great Work slots or faith generation. Use chopped forests and overflow production to rush their completion.
Key Tips for Optimization
- Leverage Open Borders: Ensure you have open borders with all civs to gain the tourism bonus from them.
- Focus on Relic Housing: Prioritize buildings and wonders that house relics (e.g., Apadana, Obelisks).
- Avoid Overbuilding: Don’t waste time on unnecessary districts. Stick to Holy Sites and minimal infrastructure to sustain your relic strategy.
- Monitor Domestic Tourism: Target civs with high domestic tourism for cultural dominance. Use warfare, pillaging and joint wars to slow their progress.
Final Thoughts
This strategy focuses on precise planning and efficient use of faith, relics, and wonders to achieve a lightning-fast Culture Victory. While challenging, mastering this approach can lead to some of the quickest wins in Civilization 6. If you’re looking to push your gameplay to the next level, experimenting with relics and incorporating Heroes & Legends mode is a great way to start.