Ever since my first time playing Sid Meier’s Civilization, I’ve loved to see how far I can get technologically ahead of the rest of the world. So unsurprisingly, Civilization 6’s Science Victory has always been one of my favorite victory types to achieve. In this guide to a Civilization 6 Science Victory, I’ll break down all the ways you can make sure you’re the first civ to conquer the stars.
 

What is a Science Victory in Civilization 6?

To complete a Science Victory, you’ll need to become the master of space. This begins with launching a satellite and culminates with a trip to an exoplanet in a nearby solar system. Obviously, you’ll need to stay ahead in Science output to achieve this before your opponents. But you’ll also have to complete a number of very expensive projects at the Spaceport district in the Atomic Era and onward, meaning Production is going to be a very important secondary concern.

You’ll start by teching your way up to Rocketry by researching it on the Technology Tree, building a Spaceport (which can’t be built on a hill, so save room around your capital or most productive city), and launching your first satellite. Next, you’ll need to research the tech that’s somewhat confusingly called Satellites on the Technology Tree (I thought we already had those?) to launch a Moon landing. The next step is to research Nanotechnology and establish a Mars colony.

Finally, you’ll research Smart Materials and be ready to launch an Exoplanet Expedition. The expedition will take a while to reach its destination, at which point, you win! You can speed this up with two additional Spaceport projects called Terrestrial Laser Station and Lagrange Laser Station, which I would highly recommend doing. At that point, you just have to make sure no one conquers you or achieves another victory type before the expedition arrives!

Guns, turns, and steel

A side perk of consistently being ahead in Science is that you will usually have better military units available to you. But you may fall behind in Culture and Civics, meaning your enemies might have an edge when it comes to military organization. Still, you can take advantage of this to engage in some gunboat diplomacy or even conquest on your way to the stars—especially if you’re Robert the Bruce. Speaking of which…
 

The best civs for Science

You could go for a Science Victory with almost any civ, especially if you want a bit of a challenge. But some civilizations are definitely more suited to the task than others. Here are my picks for the best science civs in Civilization 6:

China is always a great choice for Science, though it requires more of an active playstyle. Their bonus to Eurekas means you can get a lot of techs really quickly if you’re willing to go on lots and lots of little side quests. But some of these might take you so far out of your way that they’re not really worth doing, and it’s important to learn how to gauge which ones are worth your time. China has multiple leaders available, and Kublai Khan is probably my favorite for a Science Victory since his extra Science buffs have to do with trade routes, which are a bit of a safer bet. Wu Zetian, on the other hand, gets additional bonus Science from spies. It’s a very high-risk, high-reward option, and she can probably outpace both of the other Chinese leaders in the hands of a skilled player…with a bit of luck. Yongle is the most passive of the three, getting bonus Science from stacking Population, which means you’re going to need to focus on Food quite a bit in addition to Science and Production. He’s probably not my top pick, just because that's a lot to juggle.

Saladin of the Arabian civilization can be extremely powerful if you’re willing to play a very aggressive religious game alongside your scientific endeavors. Getting +1 Science for every foreign city that follows your religion can be huge, especially on larger maps. His Vizier persona also gives +10% Science from Faith buildings, so that’s definitely the one I’d pick. His unique building, the Madrasa, also gets a Faith bonus from adjacent Campus districts. Extra Faith production will also help him buy more Great Scientists. Having to juggle Faith alongside Production and Science might seem a bit complicated, but there are so many synergies here that make up for it.

Korea is also a natural fit for Science. The Seowon is much more powerful than a normal Campus district, but it’s also more geography-dependent, which is something to look out for. Seondeok is easily the better of the two leaders, in my opinion, since extra Science from governor promotions is powerful and scales well throughout a campaign.

Finally, we get Lady Six Sky of the Mayan civilization, who is probably the best Science leader in the game. Observatories enable you to create a very productive Science district just about anywhere. And the bonus to Production from farms next to an observatory boosts the other resource you need for a Science Victory.

For something a little bit trickier, though, I find Robert the Bruce of Scotland to be an interesting option. He gets a little bit of bonus Science and Production in happy cities as well as Great Scientist points, which can let you leap ahead of the competition technologically. But the key to this strategy actually comes from his ability to declare a War of Liberation and gain double Production for 10 turns. If you save this for the late game and use it to complete the Space Race projects super fast, it can be a massive advantage—particularly, if you have enough valid Liberation War targets to boost the Exoplanet Expedition and both Laser Stations. You don’t even need to win these wars! You only need to be able to hold out and not get conquered yourself.
 

Back to school

The key to achieving a Science Victory is the Campus district, which is unlocked by researching Writing. This should be the very first research project you go for. You’ll want to figure out where you’re going to put the Campus district in each city before you do anything else since it’s the most important single tile other than your City Center. Campuses generate +2 Science for each adjacent Geothermal Fissure or Reef tile and +1 Science for each adjacent Mountain or Rainforest tile.

If you’re playing as Korea, keep in mind that the Seowon must have no other city districts next to it. Generally, a great place to put the Campus is inside a ring of mountains, since mountains normally produce no useful yields otherwise. But as Saladin, you might want to look elsewhere, since the Holy Site benefits even more from mountains and he needs room to build Madrasas around his Campuses. As the Mayans, you’ll want to leave room to fill in any valid tiles around the Observatory with Farms.
 

Real men and women of genius

Great Scientists are another huge part of the Science Victory, and you’ll have to buy them before your opponents do, as each can only appear once. However, you’ll sometimes want to wait because blowing all of your Great Scientist points on one candidate can be a misstep if it means letting an opponent snag the next one when you’re tapped out.

The Great Scientists you really want to hold onto your points for are Hypatia in the Classical Era, Hildegard of Bingen in the Medieval Era (especially if you’re Saladin), Isaac Newton in the Renaissance Era, Albert Einstein and Alfred Nobel in the Modern Era, and Carl Sagan and Stephanie Kwolek in the Information Era. They provide powerful, ongoing bonuses instead of one-off boosts. Also remember you can spend Gold and Faith to help purchase Great People you can’t afford yet, which is especially useful for Saladin.
 

What a wonderful world

There are a number of wonders that can help you toward a Science Victory, but the ones you should focus on are Etemenanki and the Oracle in the Ancient Era, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in the Classical Era, the University of Sankore in the Medieval Era, Oxford University in the Industrial Era, and the Amundsen-Scott Research Station and the Biosphère in the Atomic Era. This will also depend on the terrain around your cities and which leader you're playing. For Saladin, Religious wonders are also important. Kublai Khan benefits from anything that grants extra trade routes.
 

What governments are best for Science?

In the Classical Era, Autocracy can be very helpful for building Science wonders early on, while Classical Republic will get you more Great Scientists. Either way, you should save your Wildcard policy slot for Inspiration (unlocked by Mysticism), which will give you even more Great Scientist points.

In the Medieval Era, Merchant Republic is wildly powerful for Kublai Khan in particular—especially stacked with the Trade Confederation policy card. Theocracy is definitely the way to go for Saladin. 

In the Modern Era, Communism is probably the best choice unless you are just swimming in Gold, in which case Democracy might be better. Raj and Military Research are both great policies if you have the synergies for them. Market Economy, Nobel Prize, and Science Foundations are also excellent.

In the Information Age, nothing really competes with Synthetic Technocracy. You’ll also want to pick up the International Space Agency policy card.

That should be more than enough to take you to the stars and beyond for a Science Victory!

Civilization 6 is available now on the Epic Games Store. And we've seen the sequel, Civilization VII. Read all about it here.