Civilization 6 has been updated constantly since its release back in 2016, with each update bringing more and more content to the game. Some of these updates bring entirely new game modes to this landmark 4X series. Monopolies and Corporations is one of the newer ones, having been added January of this year.
Newcomers jumping into this new game mode for Civilization 6 might find themselves at a bit of a loss as to how to begin building their business empire. Here are some tips for beginners to Civilization 6's game mode that'll help anyone begin building their corporations as quickly as possible.
10 Plan For A Culture Victory
Building a Corporation and establishing a Monopoly over a specific resource is one of the main goals for the Monopolies and Corporations game mode. With a Corporation, the player can build Products. These basically function just like Great Works, driving Tourism to the player's civilization. Monopolies further drive up the civilization's Tourism as a whole, making it important to establish one as soon as possible.
While any kind of victory is viable while playing Monopolies and Corporations, a Culture victory is the best choice for people who are aiming to win. Winning via Culture requires a huge amount of Tourism, so building up Corporations and Monopolies and stocking up on Products will help to reach a Culture victory extremely quickly.
9 Find Luxury Resources Immediately
The early game is very important in Civilization 6, and especially so in Monopolies and Corporations. Luxury Resources are vital for anyone hoping to establish a Monopoly. A civilization must have over 60% of the world's resource nodes of a particular type to have a Monopoly. Even before that, two resource nodes of the same type are necessary to start an Industry, and three are needed to start a Corporation.
Suffice to say, players will need to start hunting for Luxury Resources as soon as possible. Building Scouts in the early game will be extremely important in order to search for as many resource nodes as possible.
8 Focus On Building Settlers
It's not enough to just find Luxury Resources. It's important to also have those resource nodes under control. However, it's unlikely that a player will be able to find enough of the same resource to build a Monopoly with only a few cities.
That's why it's necessary to build Settlers along with Scouts. Since the cost for a Settler is quite prohibitive, it's not advised for players to build Settlers endlessly. However, since Luxury Resources are often spread around the world, building Settlers will be necessary in order to exert control over them.
7 Proritize Campuses & Commercial Hubs
As districts, Campuses and Commercial Hubs are already very important, as they provide huge bonuses to Science and Gold. However, in Monopolies and Corporations, these districts have additional significance.
Players will need to go fairly far down the tech tree in order to get the Economics tech, which allows the building of Corporations. Campuses will provide players with ample methods to boost their science so they can reach that particular tech faster. In addition, Commercial Hubs will allow for the accumulation of points towards getting a Great Merchant, which is required in order to create a Corporation in the first place.
6 Head Straight For Currency & Economics
In order to start building Industries and Corporations, the right technology is necessary. The player will need the Currency tech to build Industries and the Economics tech to build Corporations. This will take a lot of time, so players should prioritize those technologies over others.
Between the two technologies, Economics will be the harder tech to reach. Players can make things easier by building Traders and Banks. This will trigger Eurekas for both techs, making the actual research time much shorter.
5 Get The Mercantilism Civic
Getting the Currency and Economics tech are basically required in order to develop Industries and Corporations effectively. In comparison, there aren't any civics that are particularly required in order to establish a Corporation or even a Monopoly. However, there's one civic that players should still try to get as soon as possible.
In the Monopolies and Corporations game mode, Mercantilism allows players to see exactly how many resource nodes of each Luxury Resource there are. This is vital knowledge to have, especially when trying to establish a Monopoly. While it's possible to be successful in Monopolies and Corporations without the civic, it provides a clear advantage.
4 Pay Attention To City-States
Sometimes, a Luxury Resource node might end up under the control of a City-State. That node could mean the difference between being able to establish a Monopoly and being locked out of one, so it's important to make sure to check whether or not a nearby City-State has taken a precious resource node.
Of course, there's no need to immediately jump to war in order to wrest control of a single resource node. Simply using envoys to establish sovereignty over that City-State is more than enough. Having a stable source of envoys is important when making sure a certain City-State stays under the player's control.
3 Leverage Industry & Corporation Bonuses
Once an Industry is established, the player will receive a specific bonus based on the Luxury Resource. These bonuses are quite powerful, and turning the Industry into a Corporation will double the effect of the bonus, giving it a large effect on the player's civilization.
Since players can build multiple Corporations in their civilization (at a limit of one per city), it is possible to stack these bonuses together. Utilizing these bonuses can be a key factor in achieving victory, no matter which kind the player is heading for.
2 Prevent Natural Disasters
Corporations are rather sturdy improvements. Unlike other improvements, they cannot be pillaged or destroyed by enemy attacks. That means that even in the midst of a war, players can't lose their corporations to their foes' onslaught.
However, Corporations can be damaged by natural disasters, a new mechanic added during the Gathering Storm expansion. To avoid such tragedy, building dams and other facilities to prevent natural disasters is important. While not all natural disasters can be stopped in this way, players can mitigate any possible damage to their Corporation like this.
1 Don't Forget About The Endgame
Monopolies and Corporations are a lot of work, but they can provide a lot of benefits for players that put in the effort. However, that effort can go to waste if the player forgets to focus on the actual victory conditions.
Although Monopolies and Corporations can do a lot to get players to the finish line, it's important to remember to make efforts to achieve the actual victory conditions as well. Make sure not to spend so much time focusing on building Corporations that other civilizations get to the goal first.