You can also combat the food problem by befriending maritime City States who will then supply you with food. You will need a big population to get the best out of science and so if you are planning a major scientific capital then make sure food production is high. General Strategy for a Scientific Victory Pick four or five and make sure they have factories, workshops, windmills, water mills, sea ports or whatever else they can get to boost that production. It’s best to make sure they are all close to the capital because all the parts will need to be transported there for assembly. When you get towards the end of the game you will need to make sure you have a ring of highly productive cities that you can use to construct the spaceship parts. Make sure you remember to balance these buildings with some others to make sure your economy is strong and you maintain happiness.
You can only build an observatory if you have a city next to a mountain. Order is great for ramping up production - Communism offers +5 production per city.Īll of these buildings will boost your science output.
Obviously the most important Social Policy branch for pursuing the scientific win in Civ 5 is Rationalism because it offers all kinds of research boosts including the big finale – the Scientific Revolution for two free techs.įreedom can help you by reducing the food that specialists consume and increasing your chances of getting Great People. To begin with Liberty will help you grow and later you can claim a production bonus with Republic. You should also go for National Wonders like the Oxford University which gives you one free tech and the National College which gives that city a 50% science boost (so build it in your science capital). The Kremlin is another boost to defense with a Great Scientist point and the Brandenburg Gate will give you a general and two Great Scientist points. An early wonder that you don’t want to miss out on is The Great Library. Many of these wonders will give you direct scientific boosts but it can also be handy to increase your production with The Pyramids and make it more difficult for enemies to invade with The Great Wall. The Chinese are a good choice for a domination victory but because the Paper Maker gives you +1 science for every two citizens they can be a good choice for the scientific victory as well. They can be used to discover new technological advancements or to build academies which will boost the science output for that tile. Once again it is possible to achieve a scientific victory with any civilization but these choices will give you a boost.īabylon has double the normal birth rate of Great Scientists and you’ll get one when you research Writing. Best Civilizations for a Scientific Victory You’re going to want an advanced civilization with several powerhouse cities if the scientific victory is your aim. You can build the spaceship parts across your empire but they’ll need to be assembled in your capital before you can blast off. This means focussing on technological advancement through research, building the Apollo Program and then constructing a huge spaceship. In order to win a Civilization 5 scientific victory that’s exactly what you’ll have to do. Having made a mess of our own planet constructing a spaceship and setting off to colonize Alpha Centauri may seem like an attractive prospect. Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in 2010 and has not been updated since that time.