Nothing eases the way quite like money, whether that’s in real life or in Sid Meier’s Civilization 6. Money makes things easier and can help any player on their way to victory against other civilizations. Whether it’s a scientific, cultural, or militaristic victory, more money will help make that happen.
Money in Civilization 6 can be used for almost anything — buying units, buying districts, upgrades, smoothing over diplomatic relations with other civilizations, or even giving away for special projects. No matter what it’s used for, being the richest empire in the game is an absolute advantage. Here are the quickest and most efficient ways to build a bank account in Civ 6.
Updated October 11, 2021 by Kim Dailey: The methods for becoming one of the richest empires ever to grace the annals of Civilization 6 are listed here in greater detail than before. Following these tips will assist you in crafting a successful and lucrative regime in the game. Read on to discover more!
9 Build, Don’t Buy
The most basic principle to apply is to always build when you can instead of buying. Every district, unit, and wonder can be completed by using production and a number of turns. Even though the option to purchase it outright is there, saving the money will help keep the player’s bank account full. It normally doesn’t take too long to build something (unless it’s a World Wonder), so unless it’s an absolute emergency keep the money. There will be a time when it’s needed.
8 Avoid War
Another basic rule of thumb is to avoid war. Engaging in war is costly on a number of levels. More military units cost maintenance per turn, plus the cost of adding new units. War debilitates trade routes, eliminating incoming money to the player’s civilization.
Even other civilizations that aren’t engaged in the war will be less likely to trade as warmongering looks bad on a civilization. It’s overall not conducive to engage in war if the player is trying to build their bank account.
7 Less Military Units
Military units cost lots of money to upkeep, so unless the player is preparing for war, eliminating extra units will be a wise idea. On top of per-turn maintenance fees for every unit, keeping them current with upgrades is costly as well. Especially if there are many units.
Instead, if the focus of the game is to achieve a victory not based on military domination, having a small range of different military unit types is the best way to go. That way the player can still act defensively if the need arises. Focus on expanding the types of units instead of the quantity.
6 City Production Focus
One quick way to maximize the amount of money coming into a player’s civilization is by focusing the city production on money. Now, instead of being evenly divided between culture, food, production, science, and faith, all spare citizens will be focused on financial output.
If a player has every city doing this, the amount of gold generated per turn will be enormously boosted. It takes one turn for this to be effective, so it’s an easy way to help build savings.
5 Economically Attuned Government
Another great opportunity to focus on your civ’s financial security is by assigning a shrewd roster of economically attuned policies. We’ve included a list of the most economically conducive policies in Civ 6 and what they do, as well as highlights on a couple of our favorite Policy Cards.
This policy is made obsolete by
Triangular Trade
which boosts that yield to +4 gold and an additional Faith point.
Triangular Trade is then surpassed by
Ecommerce
.
This policy is made obsolete by
Levée En Masse
which reduces the cost by 2.
Traveling Merchants
Great Merchants are perfect for those players that want to build up their bank accounts. Commercial Hubs provide +1 Great Merchant point per turn but besides that, the Travelling Merchants government policy is the best bet for maximizing Great Merchant points. When used, Great Merchants provide a variety of bonuses that directly address the player’s money - it may add an additional trade route or grant more envoys, for instance. These Great People are essential to garnering a sizable income. Although this policy does become obsolete later in the game when Laissez-Faire becomes available.
Conscription
Finding ways to save money in Civilization 6 may be hard, as most players want to buy more and more military units, but this is an easy hack: lower the cost of military unit maintenance. Every turn, each military unit costs x-amount of gold to maintain. As the game progresses these maintenance fees increase, and if the player has a lot of units this certainly adds up. The Conscription government policy lowers the maintenance fees per turn and is available in the early game, so it’s an easy way to find some savings.
4 Commercial Hubs
The most basic rule of making money in this game is to have Commerical Hub districts in every city and build up every building in the district. Make sure it’s constantly operational. This district is essential to making money - it’s in the name. In addition, having a commercial hub automatically adds +1 Great Merchant point per turn. As the game progresses the buildings will output an increasing amount of money, such as with Banks. Without this district, making a surplus of money will be extremely difficult.
3 Settlement Choices
Settlement choice is very important for a great many reasons, but if a player is focused on becoming rich this early stage is vital. A player would want to settle in an area that has luxury items such as coffee beans or silk, as these are hot commodities that other civilizations will want. The player will then be able to sell these items for either gold or other resources. In addition, some of these luxury resources also provide gold per turn, so it’s wise to have some within the borders of the civilization. Though all resources are helpful, luxury items will help make money.
2 Envoys
Envoys are a great game mechanic for any type of Civilization 6 player as they provide bonuses according to the city-state where they are sent. For example, sending many envoys to a Financial city-state will accumulate more gold per turn with more envoys that are sent there. As a Suzerain of a Financial city-state, the player would also have access to all the resources of the city-state, which can mean their bank account as well. It’s a very simple strategy for maximizing the focus on gold.
1 Trade Routes
The easiest and quickest way to make money in this game is simple: trade routes. Trade routes take a set number of turns to complete and they bring in extra gold (among other resources) per turn. During the late game, some civilizations can host upwards of 10 trade routes at a time, which means there have many different streams of income. As a player starts meeting other civilizations and city-states, more trading options become available and they will be able to pick the route that offers the most gold per turn. It’s extremely effective and the main source of money in Civilization 6.
NEXT: Civilization 6: Best Governor Perks (And The Worst)
