New to the Civilization series or looking to bolster your empire? Our Civilization V Primer will provide you with policies to lead your people, technology throughout the eras, and strategies to finish all five victory types.

　　Shaping a Nation: Find the country, leader, polices and technologies that will forge your ideal nation City Production: Lists for every building, wonder, and unit in the game World Affairs: How to manage your empire and work with other world powers Tips for Victory: Strategies to overwhelm through war, culture, science and diplomacy

Shaping a Nation: Leaders and Countries

　　There are 18 different nations to play as and compete against in Civilization 5. Each has unique special abilities and units that will help guide you towards a certain victory goal. Each nation has one or more eras where they particularly excel. These time periods are the best opportunity to flourish or outright complete the game.

Washington - America

　　Unique Unit: B17 (Modern Bomber) 60 Range Combat, 10 Range, Penalty vs Naval, Evasion, Siege I

　　Unique Unit: Minuteman (Renaissance Musketman) 16 Combat, All Tiles Cost 1 Move

　　Manifest Destiny: All land military have +1 sight. 25% discount when purchasing tiles.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Points

Harun al-Rashid - Arabia

　　Unique Unit: Camel Archer (Medieval Knight) 10 Combat, 15 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, No Defensive Bonuses, Can Move After Attacking, May not Melee

　　Unique Building: Bazaar (Medieval Market) +25% Gold, +1 Extra Luxury, Merchant Specialists

　　Trade Caravans: +1 Gold from each Trade Route and Oil Resources provide double quantity.

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Points

Montezuma - Aztec

　　Unique Unit: Jaguar (Ancient Warrior) 6 Combat, Combat Bonus in Jungle, Heal 2 Damage after a kill

　　Unique Building: Floating Gardens (Ancient Watermill) +2 Food, +15% Food

　　Sacrificial Captives: Gains Culture for the empire from each enemy unit killed.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Culture, Points

Wu Zetian - China

　　Unique Unit: Chu-Ko-Nu (Medieval Crossbowman) 6 Combat, 10 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, May Not Melee, May Attack Twice

　　Unique Building: Paper Maker (Ancient Library) +1 Science for every 2 Citizens, Scientist Specialists, +4 Gold

　　Art of War: Effectiveness and spawn rate of Great Generals increased.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Science

Ramesses II - Egypt

　　Unique Unit: War Chariot (Ancient War Chariot) 3 Combat, 6 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, Rough Terrain Penalty, No Defensive Bonuses, May Not Melee

　　Unique Building: Burial Tomb (Classical Temple) +2 Happiness, +2 Culture, Enemy Civ gains double Gold when capturing the city

　　Monument Builders: +20% Production towards Wonder construction.

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Points

Elizabeth - England

　　Unique Unit: Longbowman (Medieval Crossbowman) 6 Combat, 10 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, May Not Melee, Range

　　Unique Unit: Ship of the Line (Renaissance Frigate) 30 Combat, 17 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, May Not Melee, Extra Sight

　　Sun Never Sets: +2 Movement for all naval units.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic

Napoleon - France

　　Unique Unit: Foreign Legion (Industrial Infantry) 36 Combat, Foreign Lands Bonus

　　Unique Unit: Musketeer (Renaissance Musketman) 20 Combat

　　Ancient Regime: +2 Culture per turn from Cities before discovering Steam Power

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Culture

Bismarck - Germany

　　Unique Unit: Landsknecht (Medieval Pikeman) 10 Combat, Bonus vs Mounted

　　Unique Unit: Panzer (Industrial Tank) 60 Combat, Penalty vs Cities, No Defensive Bonuses, Limited Visibility, Can Move After Attacking

　　Furor Teutonicus: Upon defeating a Barbarian unit inside an encampment, there is a 50% chance you earn 25 Gold and they join your side.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Points

Alexander - Greece

　　Unique Unit: Companion Cavalry (Classical Horseman)

　　Unique Unit: Hoplite (Ancient Spearman)

　　Hellenic League: City-State Influence degrades at half and recovers at twice the normal rate.

　　Original Capital: Athens

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Culture, Points

Gandhi - India

　　Unique Unit: War Elephant (Ancient Chariot Archer) 14 Combat, No Defensive bonuses, Can Move After Attacking, Great Generals I

　　Unique Building: Mughal Fort (Medieval Castle) +2 Culture, +9 Defense, adds Gold with Flight Tech

　　Population Growth: Unhappiness from number of Cities doubled, Unhappiness from number of Citizens halved.

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Culture, Points

Hiawatha - Iroquois

　　Unique Unit: Mohawk Warrior (Classical Swordsman) 11 Combat, Combat Bonus in Forest and Jungle

　　Unique Building: Longhouse (Medieval Workshop) +1 Production from worked Forest, Engineer Specialists

　　The Great Warpath: Units move through Forest and Jungle in friendly territory as if it is Road. These tiles can be used to establish trade routes.

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Science, Points

Oda Nobunaga - Japan

　　Unique Unit: Samurai (Medieval Longswordsman) 18 Combat, Shock I, Great Generals II

　　Unique Unit: Zero (Industrial Fighter) 50 Ranged Combat, 8 Range, Interception, Bonus vs Fighters, Air Sweep, Weak Ranged Attack, Air Recon, bonus vs Helicopters

　　Bushido: Units fight as though they were at full strength even when damaged.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic

Suleiman - Ottomans

　　Unique Unit: Janissary (Renaissance Musketman) 16 Combat, Heal if Destroy an Enemy, Combat Bonus when Attacking

　　Unique Unit: Sipahi (Renaissance Lancer) 22 Combat, Penalty on Defense, No Defensive bonuses, Can Move After Attack, No Movement Cost to Pillage, Extra Sight

　　Barbary Corsairs: 50% chance of converting a Barbarian unit to your side and earning 25 Gold.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Points

Darius I - Persia

　　Unique Unit: Immortal (Ancient Spearman) 8 Combat, Bonus vs Mounted, Heals at Double Rate

　　Unique Building: Satrap's Court (Renaissance Bank) +2 Happiness, +25% Gold, Merchant Specialists

　　Achaemenid Legacy: Golden Ages last 50% Longer. During Golden Age, units receive +1 Movement and +10% Combat Strength bonus.

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Science, Points

Augustus Caesar - Rome

　　Unique Unit: Ballista (Classical Catapult) 4 Combat, 18 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, May not Melee, Bonus vs Cities, No Defensive bonuses, Must Set Up, Limited Visibility

　　Unique Unit: Legion (Classical Swordsman) 13 Combat. Builds Roads and Forts

　　The Glory of Rome: 25% Production towards any buildings that already exist in the Capital

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Science, Points

Catherine - Russia

　　Unique Unit: Cossack (Renaissance Cavalry) 25 Combat, Penalty vs Mounted, No Defensive Bonuses, Can Move After Attacking

　　Unique Building: Krepost (Ancient Barracks) +15 EXP. -50% Culture cost for new Tiles

　　Siberian Riches: Strategic Resources provide +1 Production and Horse, Iron, and Uranium Resources provide double quantity.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Points

Ramkhamhaeng - Siam

　　Unique Unit: Naresuan's Elephant (Medieval Knight) 22 Combat, No Defensive Bonuses, Bonus vs Mounted, Can Move After Attacking

　　Unique Building: Wat (Medieval University) +3 Culture, +50% Science, Scientist Specialists

　　Father Governs Children: Food and Culture from friendly City States increased by 50%

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Culture

Askia - Songhai

　　Unique Unit: Mandekalu (Medieval Knight) 18 Combat, No Defensive Bonuses, Can Move After Attacking, Bonus vs Cities

　　Unique Unit: Mud Pyramid Mosque (Classical Temple) +5 Culture

　　River Warlord: Receive triple Gold from Barbarian encampments and pillaging Cities. Embarked units can defend themselves.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Culture

Shaping a Nation: Polices

　　Social Polices are the means for which you govern your citizens. They offer various bonuses that will help shape your empire and synergize with a specific victory type. You gain new polices by boosting Culture. The most common way of gaining Culture is by building specific buildings within your cities that will add more Culture after every turn. Some nations, such as Songhai and India have unique buildings to help them build culture. Other nations, such as Aztec and France, rely on their special powers. You can also gain culture by allying with City-States, which both Greece and Siam specialize in. If you manage to complete five full policies, you'll have a chance to complete the game via a Culture Victory.

　　You can switch between exclusive polices, such as Rationalism and Piety, but this will throw your empire into Anarchy: a short penalty where your empire will not be able to produce or function. You will also not be refunded any of your Culture points, effectively making changing polices a huge drawback.

Tradition

Liberty

Honor

Commerce

Piety

Patronage

Rationalism

Freedom

Autocracy

Order

Shaping a Nation: Technology

　　As your empire gains more science points, they can research technology that unlock new buildings and units. As you make your way across the tech tree, you'll advance to new eras and powers.

Ancient

Classical

Medieval

Renaissance

Industrial

Modern

Future

City Production: Buildings and Wonders

　　Buildings can improve your city and countryside, providing boosts to your output and even give units extra EXP. If you aren't using citizen focuses, buildings are a great means of boosting Production, Gold, Food, Culture and Science. Be careful when creating buildings: they cost a hefty amount of Production to first make and cost Gold every turn to maintain. Once you posses a budget, building a powerful city can greatly support your empire.

　　Wonders offer huge improvements and add directly to your score. However, only a single World Wonder can exist in the world. You'll need to be quick and build these World Wonders before an enemy empire can. National Wonders can be constructed in multiple countries, but only in a single city per nation.

Ancient

Classical

Medieval

Renaissance

Industrial

Modern

City Production: Combat and Support Units

　　Every era will gain new units that will build your army and help support building your empire. As time goes on, you'll have units on land, sea and air. Most all land units can enter and cross water once learning the Embark skill, though many are defenseless during this.

　　There are two major types of units: military and support. Support units tend to work and defend the land, improving your output. However, they can be easily captured or destroyed. Military units can move onto the same tile as support units, giving them protection by fighting off would-be attackers.

　　There is also a third, less common unit, the Great Person. Great People are born over time based on the buildings within your empire. Great People take the lower support spot, but can use special abilities, such as taking borders or providing free Golden Ages. When they use most of their powers, they are expended and cannot be used again.

　　As you move to new eras, you'll find a need to replace and upgrade your old units, which will make them ready to face the challenges ahead.

Ancient

Classical

Medieval

Renaissance

Industrial

Modern

Future

World Affairs: Managing Cities and Borders

The Countryside

　　A city will initially be surrounded by six tiles on each side. These tiles will yield bonuses to not only the city, but the empire as a whole. The main basic yields are production, gold, and food, each of which is necessary for your civilization to survive. You can order a worker to improve the land, which will boost the current yield, or add a new type--such as adding a trading post to a location that does not produce gold. There are also other types of resources, including bonus resources, strategic resources, and luxury resources. Bonus resources simply grant extra yield by building a particular building on them, such as placing a pasture on a sheep tile. Strategy resources, such as horses, oil, or iron are required to build specific buildings and units. finally, luxury resources boost happiness and are a good commodity to trade with other nations. You'll want to establish your cities close to as many yields and resources and nab them before other nations.

　　Roads and Rails can also be added to tiles. These will not only allow your units to travel faster, but will link trading routes between your capital and the other land based cities in your nation. This can be a great means of gaining more yield and even boosting happiness. However, roads can take a considerable amount of gold to maintain, so be sure you have the budget before constructing them. The Iroquois have the advantage of not needing roads on jungle and forest titles.

Inside the City and Growth

　　If you empire isn't growing just by the countryside tiles, you can also make improvements within your city itself. First you can assign your citizens to concentrate and specialize on producing a particular yield, such as gold, science or culture. While this will focus their attention on one particular result, it can cripple their balance. Keeping them on the default focus is typically your safest solution. Alternatively, you can use your production queue to construct buildings.

　　You should only resort to producing building when there is no need to produce units, or there is a dire need to gain a certain resource. Keep in mind that many buildings cost quite alot of gold to maintain, so you'll need to have either an ample stash of money, or aim for low cost buildings. The Medieval Market and Renaissance Bank are good first means to increase a city's gold flow. As your population increases and your happiness decreases you'll want to construct attractions to appease your citizens, such as the Classical Colosseum or Modern Stadium. Finally, one of the key stats you'll want to boost in your city is Culture, say with a Classical Temple.

　　As your city gains more culture points, it will periodically increase its border size, giving you free land a extra resources. You can also increase your land by purchasing them with gold. Foreign nations typically won't complain if your borders expand naturally, but will often have lower relations if you outright buy land around their own territory. In general, you'll want to expand your territory in a direction that won't encroach on others, which still gaining valuable tiles.

World Affairs: International Relations

　　Upon meeting a competing nation's unit or locate one of their cities, you'll be able to conduct relations with them. Base on your civilization's current stands and proximity to their own borders, the other empires may greet you with open arms or mocking threats.

　　There are four basic options you can have with another world leader: Discuss, trade, demand, and declare war.

Discuss

　　There are several pacts or proclamation you can make with a nation. If you happen to have good relations with them, the Pact of Cooperation is a good means to keep on their good side. However, if you happen to do something far beyond their polices, the friendly nation may break off their agreement. The Pact of Secrecy is similar, but is aimed to undermine a third party nation, typically a mutual enemy. If they happen to have a very bad relationship with a third nation, you can typically succeed in convincing them to go to war. They aren't necessarily your ally during the ensuing combat, but can help distract your target. Finally, telling them to not settle cities is a hostile warning that may sour relations, or send fear into them if your nation is strong enough.

Trade and Demand

　　Trade is a great means of gaining more resources, gold or setting up feuds. You can make several different offers, such as gold, resources, open borders or even whole cities. There are also a few unique trade options that can give interesting results. The Research agreement will expand both parties' gold in order to award both of them a random tech. This can be helpful if you have large amounts of excess gold lying around. The most common use however, is to gain extra strategic resources by lending out spare gold or luxuries.

　　You can also bribe others into making peace or declare war on other nations. This strategy will allow you indirectly damage your foes while keeping your own forces intact. Additionally, any bad relations will be directed towards the other parties and won't be traced back to you. This is an excellent means of gaining subvert Domination wins.

　　Demand is similar to trade, but you give them nothing in return. This will typically only work if you recently beat the pants off of them during a war.

Declare War and Negotiate Peace

　　Outright declaring war will allow you to start a war without actually having invading their land yet. This can give you time to prepare and asses the climate of war better before putting your frontline at risk. It will also seem less blood thirsty in the eyes of third party nations.

　　If you are currently at war, you can also negotiate peace. The victor will always have leverage in the peace negotiations, often requiring the loser to give up cities and major resources to keep from being crushed. Note, that any wars started will last a minimum of ten turns, and peace cannot arrive until at least that deadline. Alternatively, some nations may not want to negotiate, resulting in one of the two fighters eventually being eliminated.

Special Requests

　　Other nations can also come to you with requests you may not be able to make to them. Often they will ask you to stop your campaigns towards either their lands or those of city-states. You can either keep relations by agree to their request, or can harm your standing by either rebuffing them, or outright lying. Also, if they ever ask to go to war with a third party, you can opt to delay for 10 turns. Typically agreeing or politely declining will keep your relations in good standing, while being rude or dishonest will break down communication.

World Affairs: City States

　　City-States are small, single city, nations that are not out to win the game. They will typically never expand or act aggressively to the major empires. There are three types of City-States: Military, Cultured, and Maritime, which will grant free units, culture, or food, respectively. Some nations, such as Greece and Siam, are acute at befriending and enhancing city-states. Being on good relations with city-states is key means of gaining a Diplomatic Victory, and can be useful for Domination and Culture victories. Otherwise, you can simply ignore their presence if you are going for another victory type.

City State Requests

　　City States will often issue requests to help build relations. They can include killing barbarian encampments, forming trade routes to your capital, attacking major nation units, or destroying other city-states. The first two means are the safest, as they will typically not have adverse effects on your world relations. The other two, however, can be quite a political pain. Obviously, attacking another empire will force you into a war, though it can be useful if they are already viewed as a tyrant. Destroying a city-state will outright remove them from the game, adding their city to your own. First off, this can greatly lower your happiness if you can't quickly establish a courthouse. Second, if any other major power was allied or protecting that city state, your relations will go south, possibly ending agreements prematurely or starting wars.

Gifts and Bribes

　　You can also grant influence by giving the city-state military units or gold. This can be a safe, fast way of building influence without damaging relations or destroying nations.

Tips for Victory: Points Victory

　　If the game happens to last until the year 2050 and no other victory type has been awarded, the Points Victory will come into play. Your amount of final points have a few factors, including world wonders, future techs, and amount of cities.

Amass World Wonders

　　World Wonders are unique buildings that are limited not to just one city, but one for the entire world. It can take many turns and a lot of production to create world wonders, but the rewards can greatly enhance your nation's abilities, while at the same time hampering your neighbors. Egypt is a great nation for making Wonders quickly with their 20% boost, as is the Aristocracy Policy, which gives another 33%. Keep in mind however, that if another nation beats you to the punch, you'll never be able to make that particular wonder. Worse yet, if they complete a wonder you were working on, you'll have wasted those turns producing an unfinished result. It's best to make as many wonders near the start of the game, aiming for ones that can be done in a short amount of turns, and not have to worry about them in later stages.

　　National Wonders are also an excellent means of boosting points if your empire has a unified goal. For instance, a military based society can build the Heroic Epic after placing barracks in all of their cities. However, more balanced civilizations might not gain this option quickly.

Technology and Science

　　Science is a key means of wracking in points. The Rationalism Policy is dedicated to increasing your science level, while the Scholasticism Policy from the Patronage tree will give science from your allied city-states. Key buildings you'll want in a science based civilization include the ancient library, medieval university, renaissance public school, and modern research lab. China can directly increase its science level along with extra gold bonuses, while Rome can emulate faster science based building by forming them in the capital.

Boost your Population

　　There are a few means to gain a good population: either concentrate on a few very powerful cities, or expand to many, average population cities. Your capital will typically be in the best shape, as it will always be your first settlement. Your number one objective is to gain as much food as possible. Gaining territory that naturally produces large amount of food is good, but added buildings and improvements are even better. The Farm is the typical means of enhancing a the countryside; within your city itself should have a granary and water mill, if possible. If you happened to pick the Civil Society policy from the Freedom tree, you can easily focus your citizens on food production.

　　And there is of course the alternate method of gaining cities: war. You can quickly boost your population by forming a strong army and take over city-states or enemy locations. Be sure to build a courthouse right away, as the extra amount of unhappiness on your empire can be devastating.

Tips for Victory: Domination Victory

　　Though the name may imply building for all out war, the requirements for a Domination Victory is to be the last empire still holding on to it original capital. While war is very direct, you can also gain a domination victory through trade and discussion with other nations.

The Price of War

　　Before starting to build a powerful army, you'll first need finances and defenses to form a steady production. In the countryside, you'll want to concentrate on building a mix of trading posts to increase gold, and lumber yard for production. Be sure to also connect roads from your cities to the frontlines. In your city itself, you'll want to build banks, markets and stock exchanges to increase wealth. Barracks and military academies will improve your army's default EXP, allowing them to acquire bonuses right after production. If you need further boosts, consider the Autocracy and Honor polices to further ready your nation. Order and Commerce can also lead to other advantages.

Diplomacy and Trade

　　Don't go straight into battle without first working out some world relations. Other nations can support you in your war effort as allies, or even provide extra resources. If you are unable to acquire strategic resources in your own lands, you can trade with your neighbors for items such as iron and oil.

　　Another ability of trading, is to bribe third parties into going into war with your enemies, keeping your country safe while an enemy takes blows. Typically, the nation you're bribing should already have bad relations with the defender. The attacker will also typically request a large amount of rewards, including gold, resources and open borders. This can be very much worth the high costs if it means troubling an enemy.

Battle and Victory

　　After gaining stable production and enough science to start building an army, it's time to set up some units. You'll want frontline melee attackers--the warrior is an early example--along with ranged attackers and siege weapons. An army in the Medieval era may consist of say some crossbowmen, trebuchets, knights and pikemen. You'll want to upgrade and diversify your army as you enter new eras. In the industrial era, planes aboard carriers can provide long distances strikes against far off targets.

　　Some nations are excellent for fighting. America has a vision bonus, allowing them to spot an enemy ahead of time. Japan is hand downs the strongest in a straight forward fight, due to their Bushdio ability, granting them now damage penalty from being weakened. Both England and Songhai has great boosts for holding the seas, either by producing fast ships or allowing embarked units the ability to fight.

　　Remember however, that you can only seize cities with a ground based unit. You should first weaken a city's defenses with boats and planes, and then move your infantry in for a steal. Annexing the city and building a courthouse, or even razing them, will be more helpful than turning them into a puppet. You only need take enough cities to make it to the enemy capital and take it from their grasp.

Stealth and Accidental Victory

　　As mentioned above, you don't have to take every city to form a Domination Victory. You can quickly come in a strike against a capital and take it without ever having attacked another party of a competing nation. Additionally, if several other nations are aiming for a domination, they may make the mistake of leaving you alone and wind up losing their own capitals, leaving you the winner by default. This is a rare occurrence among perceptive nations, but always a possibility.

Tips for Victory: Diplomacy Victory

　　The Diplomacy victory is among the hardest to gain. You (or another major power) must make their way to the end of the modern era and build the United Nations. After every ten turns a vote will be held to decide the true leader. However, acquiring votes from other nations and city-states can be taxing.

Your Friends, the City-States

　　While City-States can largely be ignored for other victories, keeping good relations with them is key to gaining their vote. They will only vote for you as head of the United Nations if you currently have allied status. Your best bet is to complete their requests, hopefully in a way that doesn't jeopardize your relations with other nations. If you have excess money, try giving them gifts of gold. Finally, the City-State has to survive, so defend them and make proclamations to protect them against invaders. A destroyed nation is a vote you will not gain.

　　Finally, invest in the Patronage policy to boost your relations with all City-States.

Liberation

　　Probably the hardest part of the Diplomacy Victory is getting other major powers to vote for you. They will always see themselves the most fit to lead the United Nations, and will only pick you if something drastic happens: Liberation.

　　In order to liberate a major power, they must first be completely wiped out by a third nation. You must then in turn attack this third nation until reaching the eliminated nation's capital. When you take over this city, you have a new fourth option of liberating them, re-instating them back into power. This is the only means of gaining their vote.

　　With enough votes from other empires and city-states will give you the final victory.

Tips for Victory: Science Victory

　　To gain a science victory you need to advance to the future era, start the Apollo Program and build four parts of the Spaceship. Rationalism is the main policy you'll want to invest in order to increase your Science output.

Building your Spaceship

　　You'll want to create from 1-3 neighboring cities that can quickly produce the spaceship parts. Two can be made in the modern era, while the others require future techs. Robotics, satellites, nanotechnology, and particle physics are what you'll need to form the parts, along with rocketry to start up the Apollo Program.

　　Get a head start and build the booster and cockpit in the modern era, for when the future era comes you'll want to make the engine and stasis chamber quickly.

　　Making parts in your capital will save you time as they can be added to the spaceship with the risk of coming to harm. Form railroads between the cities producing the additional parts, so they can arrive in the capital without danger.

　　If an enemy unit--even the lowest of fighters--moves onto your spaceship piece, it will automatically be destroyed, making it a great loss due to the amount of turns it takes to complete the parts.

Tips for Victory: Culture Victory

　　You can also gain a Culture Victory by completing five policy trees. You may want to start in an early or mid era to help amass culture, epically if you're playing as France or Aztec, who have special powers to gain culture. The Piety and Freedom trees are great for gaining extra culture points.

Culture from within

　　First off, you'll want to construct buildings that provide lots of culture bonuses. The classical temple, renaissance museum and industrial broadcast tower are all great building for boosting your empire's culture. If you need to, assign citizens focus on building culture. This can be risky, though, as it can stunt every other resources, potentially putting you at future risk. Only stick to a single focus for a few turns before reverting back to the default.

Culture from beyond

　　Another means to gain culture is to ally with a cultured city-state. While military and maritime city-states yield units and food, the cultured city-states provide a large boost to your culture output. Siam has a great bonus to working along with city states to gain bonus culture.

Utopia Project

　　When you finally have completed five policy trees, you will be able to start the Utopia Project. This requires a lot of production, so be sure to build it in a city that can make it quickly. If other nations get word that you are starting this project, it may encourage them to strike against you.

Shaping a Nation: Leaders and Countries

　　There are 18 different nations to play as and compete against in Civilization 5. Each has unique special abilities and units that will help guide you towards a certain victory goal. Each nation has one or more eras where they particularly excel. These time periods are the best opportunity to flourish or outright complete the game.

Washington - America

　　Unique Unit: B17 (Modern Bomber) 60 Range Combat, 10 Range, Penalty vs Naval, Evasion, Siege I

　　Unique Unit: Minuteman (Renaissance Musketman) 16 Combat, All Tiles Cost 1 Move

　　Manifest Destiny: All land military have +1 sight. 25% discount when purchasing tiles.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Points

Harun al-Rashid - Arabia

　　Unique Unit: Camel Archer (Medieval Knight) 10 Combat, 15 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, No Defensive Bonuses, Can Move After Attacking, May not Melee

　　Unique Building: Bazaar (Medieval Market) +25% Gold, +1 Extra Luxury, Merchant Specialists

　　Trade Caravans: +1 Gold from each Trade Route and Oil Resources provide double quantity.

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Points

Montezuma - Aztec

　　Unique Unit: Jaguar (Ancient Warrior) 6 Combat, Combat Bonus in Jungle, Heal 2 Damage after a kill

　　Unique Building: Floating Gardens (Ancient Watermill) +2 Food, +15% Food

　　Sacrificial Captives: Gains Culture for the empire from each enemy unit killed.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Culture, Points

Wu Zetian - China

　　Unique Unit: Chu-Ko-Nu (Medieval Crossbowman) 6 Combat, 10 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, May Not Melee, May Attack Twice

　　Unique Building: Paper Maker (Ancient Library) +1 Science for every 2 Citizens, Scientist Specialists, +4 Gold

　　Art of War: Effectiveness and spawn rate of Great Generals increased.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Science

Ramesses II - Egypt

　　Unique Unit: War Chariot (Ancient War Chariot) 3 Combat, 6 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, Rough Terrain Penalty, No Defensive Bonuses, May Not Melee

　　Unique Building: Burial Tomb (Classical Temple) +2 Happiness, +2 Culture, Enemy Civ gains double Gold when capturing the city

　　Monument Builders: +20% Production towards Wonder construction.

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Points

Elizabeth - England

　　Unique Unit: Longbowman (Medieval Crossbowman) 6 Combat, 10 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, May Not Melee, Range

　　Unique Unit: Ship of the Line (Renaissance Frigate) 30 Combat, 17 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, May Not Melee, Extra Sight

　　Sun Never Sets: +2 Movement for all naval units.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic

Napoleon - France

　　Unique Unit: Foreign Legion (Industrial Infantry) 36 Combat, Foreign Lands Bonus

　　Unique Unit: Musketeer (Renaissance Musketman) 20 Combat

　　Ancient Regime: +2 Culture per turn from Cities before discovering Steam Power

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Culture

Bismarck - Germany

　　Unique Unit: Landsknecht (Medieval Pikeman) 10 Combat, Bonus vs Mounted

　　Unique Unit: Panzer (Industrial Tank) 60 Combat, Penalty vs Cities, No Defensive Bonuses, Limited Visibility, Can Move After Attacking

　　Furor Teutonicus: Upon defeating a Barbarian unit inside an encampment, there is a 50% chance you earn 25 Gold and they join your side.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Points

Alexander - Greece

　　Unique Unit: Companion Cavalry (Classical Horseman)

　　Unique Unit: Hoplite (Ancient Spearman)

　　Hellenic League: City-State Influence degrades at half and recovers at twice the normal rate.

　　Original Capital: Athens

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Culture, Points

Gandhi - India

　　Unique Unit: War Elephant (Ancient Chariot Archer) 14 Combat, No Defensive bonuses, Can Move After Attacking, Great Generals I

　　Unique Building: Mughal Fort (Medieval Castle) +2 Culture, +9 Defense, adds Gold with Flight Tech

　　Population Growth: Unhappiness from number of Cities doubled, Unhappiness from number of Citizens halved.

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Culture, Points

Hiawatha - Iroquois

　　Unique Unit: Mohawk Warrior (Classical Swordsman) 11 Combat, Combat Bonus in Forest and Jungle

　　Unique Building: Longhouse (Medieval Workshop) +1 Production from worked Forest, Engineer Specialists

　　The Great Warpath: Units move through Forest and Jungle in friendly territory as if it is Road. These tiles can be used to establish trade routes.

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Science, Points

Oda Nobunaga - Japan

　　Unique Unit: Samurai (Medieval Longswordsman) 18 Combat, Shock I, Great Generals II

　　Unique Unit: Zero (Industrial Fighter) 50 Ranged Combat, 8 Range, Interception, Bonus vs Fighters, Air Sweep, Weak Ranged Attack, Air Recon, bonus vs Helicopters

　　Bushido: Units fight as though they were at full strength even when damaged.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic

Suleiman - Ottomans

　　Unique Unit: Janissary (Renaissance Musketman) 16 Combat, Heal if Destroy an Enemy, Combat Bonus when Attacking

　　Unique Unit: Sipahi (Renaissance Lancer) 22 Combat, Penalty on Defense, No Defensive bonuses, Can Move After Attack, No Movement Cost to Pillage, Extra Sight

　　Barbary Corsairs: 50% chance of converting a Barbarian unit to your side and earning 25 Gold.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Points

Darius I - Persia

　　Unique Unit: Immortal (Ancient Spearman) 8 Combat, Bonus vs Mounted, Heals at Double Rate

　　Unique Building: Satrap's Court (Renaissance Bank) +2 Happiness, +25% Gold, Merchant Specialists

　　Achaemenid Legacy: Golden Ages last 50% Longer. During Golden Age, units receive +1 Movement and +10% Combat Strength bonus.

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Science, Points

Augustus Caesar - Rome

　　Unique Unit: Ballista (Classical Catapult) 4 Combat, 18 Ranged Combat, 2 Range, May not Melee, Bonus vs Cities, No Defensive bonuses, Must Set Up, Limited Visibility

　　Unique Unit: Legion (Classical Swordsman) 13 Combat. Builds Roads and Forts

　　The Glory of Rome: 25% Production towards any buildings that already exist in the Capital

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Science, Points

Catherine - Russia

　　Unique Unit: Cossack (Renaissance Cavalry) 25 Combat, Penalty vs Mounted, No Defensive Bonuses, Can Move After Attacking

　　Unique Building: Krepost (Ancient Barracks) +15 EXP. -50% Culture cost for new Tiles

　　Siberian Riches: Strategic Resources provide +1 Production and Horse, Iron, and Uranium Resources provide double quantity.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Points

Ramkhamhaeng - Siam

　　Unique Unit: Naresuan's Elephant (Medieval Knight) 22 Combat, No Defensive Bonuses, Bonus vs Mounted, Can Move After Attacking

　　Unique Building: Wat (Medieval University) +3 Culture, +50% Science, Scientist Specialists

　　Father Governs Children: Food and Culture from friendly City States increased by 50%

　　Suggested Victory: Diplomatic, Culture

Askia - Songhai

　　Unique Unit: Mandekalu (Medieval Knight) 18 Combat, No Defensive Bonuses, Can Move After Attacking, Bonus vs Cities

　　Unique Unit: Mud Pyramid Mosque (Classical Temple) +5 Culture

　　River Warlord: Receive triple Gold from Barbarian encampments and pillaging Cities. Embarked units can defend themselves.

　　Suggested Victory: Domination, Diplomatic, Culture

Shaping a Nation: Polices

　　Social Polices are the means for which you govern your citizens. They offer various bonuses that will help shape your empire and synergize with a specific victory type. You gain new polices by boosting Culture. The most common way of gaining Culture is by building specific buildings within your cities that will add more Culture after every turn. Some nations, such as Songhai and India have unique buildings to help them build culture. Other nations, such as Aztec and France, rely on their special powers. You can also gain culture by allying with City-States, which both Greece and Siam specialize in. If you manage to complete five full policies, you'll have a chance to complete the game via a Culture Victory.

　　You can switch between exclusive polices, such as Rationalism and Piety, but this will throw your empire into Anarchy: a short penalty where your empire will not be able to produce or function. You will also not be refunded any of your Culture points, effectively making changing polices a huge drawback.

Tradition

Liberty

Honor

Commerce

Piety

Patronage

Rationalism

Freedom

Autocracy

Order

Shaping a Nation: Technology

　　As your empire gains more science points, they can research technology that unlock new buildings and units. As you make your way across the tech tree, you'll advance to new eras and powers.

Ancient

Policy Name	Requirements	Bonus
Piety	Classical Era, No Rationalism	+2 Happiness
Organized Religion	Piety	-25% Happiness to start a Golden Age
Mandate of Heaven	Piety	50% excess Happiness added to spendable Culture
Theocracy	Organized Religion	-20% Unhappiness in un-occupied cities
Reformation	Organized Religion	Free 6-turn Golden Age
Free Religion	Mandate of Heaven, Reformation	2 Free Policies

0

　　

Classical

Medieval

Renaissance

Industrial

Modern

Future

City Production: Buildings and Wonders

　　Buildings can improve your city and countryside, providing boosts to your output and even give units extra EXP. If you aren't using citizen focuses, buildings are a great means of boosting Production, Gold, Food, Culture and Science. Be careful when creating buildings: they cost a hefty amount of Production to first make and cost Gold every turn to maintain. Once you posses a budget, building a powerful city can greatly support your empire.

　　Wonders offer huge improvements and add directly to your score. However, only a single World Wonder can exist in the world. You'll need to be quick and build these World Wonders before an enemy empire can. National Wonders can be constructed in multiple countries, but only in a single city per nation.

Ancient

Classical

Medieval

Renaissance

Industrial

Modern

City Production: Combat and Support Units

　　Every era will gain new units that will build your army and help support building your empire. As time goes on, you'll have units on land, sea and air. Most all land units can enter and cross water once learning the Embark skill, though many are defenseless during this.

　　There are two major types of units: military and support. Support units tend to work and defend the land, improving your output. However, they can be easily captured or destroyed. Military units can move onto the same tile as support units, giving them protection by fighting off would-be attackers.

　　There is also a third, less common unit, the Great Person. Great People are born over time based on the buildings within your empire. Great People take the lower support spot, but can use special abilities, such as taking borders or providing free Golden Ages. When they use most of their powers, they are expended and cannot be used again.

　　As you move to new eras, you'll find a need to replace and upgrade your old units, which will make them ready to face the challenges ahead.

Ancient

Classical

Medieval

Renaissance

Industrial

Modern

Future

World Affairs: Managing Cities and Borders

The Countryside

　　A city will initially be surrounded by six tiles on each side. These tiles will yield bonuses to not only the city, but the empire as a whole. The main basic yields are production, gold, and food, each of which is necessary for your civilization to survive. You can order a worker to improve the land, which will boost the current yield, or add a new type--such as adding a trading post to a location that does not produce gold. There are also other types of resources, including bonus resources, strategic resources, and luxury resources. Bonus resources simply grant extra yield by building a particular building on them, such as placing a pasture on a sheep tile. Strategy resources, such as horses, oil, or iron are required to build specific buildings and units. finally, luxury resources boost happiness and are a good commodity to trade with other nations. You'll want to establish your cities close to as many yields and resources and nab them before other nations.

　　Roads and Rails can also be added to tiles. These will not only allow your units to travel faster, but will link trading routes between your capital and the other land based cities in your nation. This can be a great means of gaining more yield and even boosting happiness. However, roads can take a considerable amount of gold to maintain, so be sure you have the budget before constructing them. The Iroquois have the advantage of not needing roads on jungle and forest titles.

Inside the City and Growth

　　If you empire isn't growing just by the countryside tiles, you can also make improvements within your city itself. First you can assign your citizens to concentrate and specialize on producing a particular yield, such as gold, science or culture. While this will focus their attention on one particular result, it can cripple their balance. Keeping them on the default focus is typically your safest solution. Alternatively, you can use your production queue to construct buildings.

　　You should only resort to producing building when there is no need to produce units, or there is a dire need to gain a certain resource. Keep in mind that many buildings cost quite alot of gold to maintain, so you'll need to have either an ample stash of money, or aim for low cost buildings. The Medieval Market and Renaissance Bank are good first means to increase a city's gold flow. As your population increases and your happiness decreases you'll want to construct attractions to appease your citizens, such as the Classical Colosseum or Modern Stadium. Finally, one of the key stats you'll want to boost in your city is Culture, say with a Classical Temple.

　　As your city gains more culture points, it will periodically increase its border size, giving you free land a extra resources. You can also increase your land by purchasing them with gold. Foreign nations typically won't complain if your borders expand naturally, but will often have lower relations if you outright buy land around their own territory. In general, you'll want to expand your territory in a direction that won't encroach on others, which still gaining valuable tiles.

World Affairs: International Relations

　　Upon meeting a competing nation's unit or locate one of their cities, you'll be able to conduct relations with them. Base on your civilization's current stands and proximity to their own borders, the other empires may greet you with open arms or mocking threats.

　　There are four basic options you can have with another world leader: Discuss, trade, demand, and declare war.

Discuss

　　There are several pacts or proclamation you can make with a nation. If you happen to have good relations with them, the Pact of Cooperation is a good means to keep on their good side. However, if you happen to do something far beyond their polices, the friendly nation may break off their agreement. The Pact of Secrecy is similar, but is aimed to undermine a third party nation, typically a mutual enemy. If they happen to have a very bad relationship with a third nation, you can typically succeed in convincing them to go to war. They aren't necessarily your ally during the ensuing combat, but can help distract your target. Finally, telling them to not settle cities is a hostile warning that may sour relations, or send fear into them if your nation is strong enough.

Trade and Demand

　　Trade is a great means of gaining more resources, gold or setting up feuds. You can make several different offers, such as gold, resources, open borders or even whole cities. There are also a few unique trade options that can give interesting results. The Research agreement will expand both parties' gold in order to award both of them a random tech. This can be helpful if you have large amounts of excess gold lying around. The most common use however, is to gain extra strategic resources by lending out spare gold or luxuries.

　　You can also bribe others into making peace or declare war on other nations. This strategy will allow you indirectly damage your foes while keeping your own forces intact. Additionally, any bad relations will be directed towards the other parties and won't be traced back to you. This is an excellent means of gaining subvert Domination wins.

　　Demand is similar to trade, but you give them nothing in return. This will typically only work if you recently beat the pants off of them during a war.

Declare War and Negotiate Peace

　　Outright declaring war will allow you to start a war without actually having invading their land yet. This can give you time to prepare and asses the climate of war better before putting your frontline at risk. It will also seem less blood thirsty in the eyes of third party nations.

　　If you are currently at war, you can also negotiate peace. The victor will always have leverage in the peace negotiations, often requiring the loser to give up cities and major resources to keep from being crushed. Note, that any wars started will last a minimum of ten turns, and peace cannot arrive until at least that deadline. Alternatively, some nations may not want to negotiate, resulting in one of the two fighters eventually being eliminated.

Special Requests

　　Other nations can also come to you with requests you may not be able to make to them. Often they will ask you to stop your campaigns towards either their lands or those of city-states. You can either keep relations by agree to their request, or can harm your standing by either rebuffing them, or outright lying. Also, if they ever ask to go to war with a third party, you can opt to delay for 10 turns. Typically agreeing or politely declining will keep your relations in good standing, while being rude or dishonest will break down communication.

World Affairs: City States

　　City-States are small, single city, nations that are not out to win the game. They will typically never expand or act aggressively to the major empires. There are three types of City-States: Military, Cultured, and Maritime, which will grant free units, culture, or food, respectively. Some nations, such as Greece and Siam, are acute at befriending and enhancing city-states. Being on good relations with city-states is key means of gaining a Diplomatic Victory, and can be useful for Domination and Culture victories. Otherwise, you can simply ignore their presence if you are going for another victory type.

City State Requests

　　City States will often issue requests to help build relations. They can include killing barbarian encampments, forming trade routes to your capital, attacking major nation units, or destroying other city-states. The first two means are the safest, as they will typically not have adverse effects on your world relations. The other two, however, can be quite a political pain. Obviously, attacking another empire will force you into a war, though it can be useful if they are already viewed as a tyrant. Destroying a city-state will outright remove them from the game, adding their city to your own. First off, this can greatly lower your happiness if you can't quickly establish a courthouse. Second, if any other major power was allied or protecting that city state, your relations will go south, possibly ending agreements prematurely or starting wars.

Gifts and Bribes

　　You can also grant influence by giving the city-state military units or gold. This can be a safe, fast way of building influence without damaging relations or destroying nations.

Tips for Victory: Points Victory

　　If the game happens to last until the year 2050 and no other victory type has been awarded, the Points Victory will come into play. Your amount of final points have a few factors, including world wonders, future techs, and amount of cities.

Amass World Wonders

　　World Wonders are unique buildings that are limited not to just one city, but one for the entire world. It can take many turns and a lot of production to create world wonders, but the rewards can greatly enhance your nation's abilities, while at the same time hampering your neighbors. Egypt is a great nation for making Wonders quickly with their 20% boost, as is the Aristocracy Policy, which gives another 33%. Keep in mind however, that if another nation beats you to the punch, you'll never be able to make that particular wonder. Worse yet, if they complete a wonder you were working on, you'll have wasted those turns producing an unfinished result. It's best to make as many wonders near the start of the game, aiming for ones that can be done in a short amount of turns, and not have to worry about them in later stages.

　　National Wonders are also an excellent means of boosting points if your empire has a unified goal. For instance, a military based society can build the Heroic Epic after placing barracks in all of their cities. However, more balanced civilizations might not gain this option quickly.

Technology and Science

　　Science is a key means of wracking in points. The Rationalism Policy is dedicated to increasing your science level, while the Scholasticism Policy from the Patronage tree will give science from your allied city-states. Key buildings you'll want in a science based civilization include the ancient library, medieval university, renaissance public school, and modern research lab. China can directly increase its science level along with extra gold bonuses, while Rome can emulate faster science based building by forming them in the capital.

Boost your Population

　　There are a few means to gain a good population: either concentrate on a few very powerful cities, or expand to many, average population cities. Your capital will typically be in the best shape, as it will always be your first settlement. Your number one objective is to gain as much food as possible. Gaining territory that naturally produces large amount of food is good, but added buildings and improvements are even better. The Farm is the typical means of enhancing a the countryside; within your city itself should have a granary and water mill, if possible. If you happened to pick the Civil Society policy from the Freedom tree, you can easily focus your citizens on food production.

　　And there is of course the alternate method of gaining cities: war. You can quickly boost your population by forming a strong army and take over city-states or enemy locations. Be sure to build a courthouse right away, as the extra amount of unhappiness on your empire can be devastating.

Tips for Victory: Domination Victory

　　Though the name may imply building for all out war, the requirements for a Domination Victory is to be the last empire still holding on to it original capital. While war is very direct, you can also gain a domination victory through trade and discussion with other nations.

The Price of War

　　Before starting to build a powerful army, you'll first need finances and defenses to form a steady production. In the countryside, you'll want to concentrate on building a mix of trading posts to increase gold, and lumber yard for production. Be sure to also connect roads from your cities to the frontlines. In your city itself, you'll want to build banks, markets and stock exchanges to increase wealth. Barracks and military academies will improve your army's default EXP, allowing them to acquire bonuses right after production. If you need further boosts, consider the Autocracy and Honor polices to further ready your nation. Order and Commerce can also lead to other advantages.

Diplomacy and Trade

　　Don't go straight into battle without first working out some world relations. Other nations can support you in your war effort as allies, or even provide extra resources. If you are unable to acquire strategic resources in your own lands, you can trade with your neighbors for items such as iron and oil.

　　Another ability of trading, is to bribe third parties into going into war with your enemies, keeping your country safe while an enemy takes blows. Typically, the nation you're bribing should already have bad relations with the defender. The attacker will also typically request a large amount of rewards, including gold, resources and open borders. This can be very much worth the high costs if it means troubling an enemy.

Battle and Victory

　　After gaining stable production and enough science to start building an army, it's time to set up some units. You'll want frontline melee attackers--the warrior is an early example--along with ranged attackers and siege weapons. An army in the Medieval era may consist of say some crossbowmen, trebuchets, knights and pikemen. You'll want to upgrade and diversify your army as you enter new eras. In the industrial era, planes aboard carriers can provide long distances strikes against far off targets.

　　Some nations are excellent for fighting. America has a vision bonus, allowing them to spot an enemy ahead of time. Japan is hand downs the strongest in a straight forward fight, due to their Bushdio ability, granting them now damage penalty from being weakened. Both England and Songhai has great boosts for holding the seas, either by producing fast ships or allowing embarked units the ability to fight.

　　Remember however, that you can only seize cities with a ground based unit. You should first weaken a city's defenses with boats and planes, and then move your infantry in for a steal. Annexing the city and building a courthouse, or even razing them, will be more helpful than turning them into a puppet. You only need take enough cities to make it to the enemy capital and take it from their grasp.

Stealth and Accidental Victory

　　As mentioned above, you don't have to take every city to form a Domination Victory. You can quickly come in a strike against a capital and take it without ever having attacked another party of a competing nation. Additionally, if several other nations are aiming for a domination, they may make the mistake of leaving you alone and wind up losing their own capitals, leaving you the winner by default. This is a rare occurrence among perceptive nations, but always a possibility.

Tips for Victory: Diplomacy Victory

　　The Diplomacy victory is among the hardest to gain. You (or another major power) must make their way to the end of the modern era and build the United Nations. After every ten turns a vote will be held to decide the true leader. However, acquiring votes from other nations and city-states can be taxing.

Your Friends, the City-States

　　While City-States can largely be ignored for other victories, keeping good relations with them is key to gaining their vote. They will only vote for you as head of the United Nations if you currently have allied status. Your best bet is to complete their requests, hopefully in a way that doesn't jeopardize your relations with other nations. If you have excess money, try giving them gifts of gold. Finally, the City-State has to survive, so defend them and make proclamations to protect them against invaders. A destroyed nation is a vote you will not gain.

　　Finally, invest in the Patronage policy to boost your relations with all City-States.

Liberation

　　Probably the hardest part of the Diplomacy Victory is getting other major powers to vote for you. They will always see themselves the most fit to lead the United Nations, and will only pick you if something drastic happens: Liberation.

　　In order to liberate a major power, they must first be completely wiped out by a third nation. You must then in turn attack this third nation until reaching the eliminated nation's capital. When you take over this city, you have a new fourth option of liberating them, re-instating them back into power. This is the only means of gaining their vote.

　　With enough votes from other empires and city-states will give you the final victory.

Tips for Victory: Science Victory

　　To gain a science victory you need to advance to the future era, start the Apollo Program and build four parts of the Spaceship. Rationalism is the main policy you'll want to invest in order to increase your Science output.

Building your Spaceship

　　You'll want to create from 1-3 neighboring cities that can quickly produce the spaceship parts. Two can be made in the modern era, while the others require future techs. Robotics, satellites, nanotechnology, and particle physics are what you'll need to form the parts, along with rocketry to start up the Apollo Program.

　　Get a head start and build the booster and cockpit in the modern era, for when the future era comes you'll want to make the engine and stasis chamber quickly.

　　Making parts in your capital will save you time as they can be added to the spaceship with the risk of coming to harm. Form railroads between the cities producing the additional parts, so they can arrive in the capital without danger.

　　If an enemy unit--even the lowest of fighters--moves onto your spaceship piece, it will automatically be destroyed, making it a great loss due to the amount of turns it takes to complete the parts.

Tips for Victory: Culture Victory

　　You can also gain a Culture Victory by completing five policy trees. You may want to start in an early or mid era to help amass culture, epically if you're playing as France or Aztec, who have special powers to gain culture. The Piety and Freedom trees are great for gaining extra culture points.

Culture from within

　　First off, you'll want to construct buildings that provide lots of culture bonuses. The classical temple, renaissance museum and industrial broadcast tower are all great building for boosting your empire's culture. If you need to, assign citizens focus on building culture. This can be risky, though, as it can stunt every other resources, potentially putting you at future risk. Only stick to a single focus for a few turns before reverting back to the default.

Culture from beyond

　　Another means to gain culture is to ally with a cultured city-state. While military and maritime city-states yield units and food, the cultured city-states provide a large boost to your culture output. Siam has a great bonus to working along with city states to gain bonus culture.

Utopia Project

　　When you finally have completed five policy trees, you will be able to start the Utopia Project. This requires a lot of production, so be sure to build it in a city that can make it quickly. If other nations get word that you are starting this project, it may encourage them to strike against you.