[Top 7] CiV 6 Best Science Civs That Are Excellent

Updated:

17 Apr 2022

Advancing through technologies from the ancient era to the 21 century and beyond is one of the most exciting features of civ 6.

To achieve a scientific victory you must accomplish a few tasks, like launching a satellite, landing a man on the moon and then establishing a Martian colony.

To help you get to those tasks, your science yield, production and the size of your cities will be crucial, as well as the ability to protect yourself and your knowledge from other civilizations. That’s why choosing the right nation and the correct leader is very important, as it could help you find those tasks a bit easier.

In case you are wondering which civs are best suited to a gameplay focused on pursuing a scientific victory, here are the top 7 nations and their leaders, and what strategies you might want to use, to best exploit their bonuses.

7-Inca

Pachacuti hiding in the mountains

With Pachacuti you have the ability to create large and industrious cities, high in the mountains, away from the reach of enemies and closer to the skies.

Their leader’s ability lets them gain more from internal trade routes and allows them to build tunnels through mountains, a very interesting addition to the game, offering many offensive strategies. The Incas' civilization ability is Mit'a, which enables their citizens to work mountain tiles (each of which provides +2 production, which increases to +3 upon reaching the industrial era and +1 food for every adjacent terrace farm. Their unique building the terrace farm lets them gain even more production and food from hills and it’s available from the start of the game.

The Incan are an isolationist civilization who prefers to go tall with Terrace Farms and hide itself behind a bastion of sprawling mountain ranges. With a massive food bonus from trade routes, mountains and terrace Farms, Inca can sprint quickly towards a Scientific Victory, or even a surprising Religious Victory.

Why the Inca are great for scientific victory

Good production
Protected by mountains
Easily getting large cities

6- Dutch

Friendliest looking leader in the game

While the Dutch don’t have any direct bonuses to science, they are a strong and versatile civ, with bonuses to adjacency for all districts, including the campuses and food and production, which makes them a viable pick for a science game.

The Dutch's civilization ability is Grote Rivieren which provides a major adjacency bonus for Campuses, Theater Squares, and Industrial Zones next to a river and causes completed Harbors to trigger a Culture Bomb. In Gathering Storm, they also receive a 50% production bonus towards Dams and Flood Barriers. Their unique unit is the De Zeven Provinciën,which replaces the Frigate, and their unique tile improvement is the Polder, allowing them to make use of ocean and lake tiles.

The Netherlands is a perfect mixture of a naval empire and a land civilization. They can erect districts with high adjacency bonuses next to rivers, reclaim land from the oceans with their Polder and pose a serious threat to every other coastal empire once the De Zeven Provinciën is unlocked.

Why the Dutch are great for a scientific victory:

Great adjacency bonuses to all districts
Able to get large cities easily

5- Arabia

Science and religion?

Religion and Science are brought together in a perfect union when playing as Arabia. With great Science output from not only their worship building and followers in other civilizations, but early Madrasas as well, they are well-equipped for a Science Victory, with the possibility to go for a Religious or Domination Victory as a backup.

The Arabian civilization ability is The Last Prophet, which automatically grants Arabia the final Great Prophet when the next-to-last one is claimed (if they have not already earned one) and provides a +1 Science bonus per foreign city following their religion. Their unique unit is the Mamluk which is a stronger version of the knight, able to both defend and attack fiercely. and their unique building is the Madrasa, which replaces the University and provides more science per turn as well as faith equal to the adjacency bonus of the district.

Why Arabia are great for a science victory:

The Madrasa is a strong replacement of the university
Bonuses to science tied with religion
Strong unique unit

4-Maya

Lady six skies, also known as lady thic thights

The Maya, similar to the Incas are another tall civ able to get massive cities and protect them, however they also get a significant bonus to science which proves pivotal to their gameplay.

Masters at building a clustered empire surrounding the Capital using their outstanding technological advancements, they get a big bonus to each city settled within 6 tiles of the capital. Led by Lady Six Sky, the Maya presents an interesting new challenge on how to build a tall empire in a game that favors going wide.

The Maya civilization ability is Mayab, which prevents their cities from gaining extra Housing from being adjacent to fresh water or coast, but grants their Farms additional Housing and Gold, and additional Production if adjacent to an Observatory. Their cities also gain Amenities from Luxury Resources adjacent to the City Center. Their unique unit is the Hul'che, a strong unit replacing the archer, offering good protection early on. Another bonus is their unique District is the Observatory, which has lower production cost than the campus and gets adjacency bonuses from plantations and farms, which are easy to come by as the Maya.

Why the Maya are great for a science victory:

Bonus science yield
The observatory is extremely strong
Good production and food bonuses

3-Scotland

Robert the bruce after a few pints

Scotland’s consistently useful bonuses to their science and production yields in their happy cities make them a very easy and solid pick for pursuing a scientific victory. As long as you keep your citizens happy, by avoiding war and implementing a couple of golf courses, you will be one of the most advanced nations in the game.

The Scots' civilization ability is Scottish Enlightenment, which provides Happy cities with +5% Science and Production and +1 Great Scientist and Great Engineer points in the appropriate Districts (and doubles these bonuses in Ecstatic cities). Their unique unit is the Highlander (which replaces the Ranger), and their unique tile improvement is the Golf Course giving them culture and amenities, helping with the mission of making cities happyScotland is a Production and Science powerhouse that is geared towards a Science Victory, with a Domination Victory backup, thanks to their technological advantage. Their unique gameplay spins around keeping their loyal subjects happy with a high level of Amenities, through which the empire accelerates into the future with scientific innovations.

Why Scotland is great for a science victory:

Big bonus to science and production yields with happy cities
Easy to make your cites happy
Bonus great person points

2- Germany

Not exactly the most flattering armor

One of the strongest civilizations in the game-Germany, famous for it’s unbelievable production is more than able to achieve any victory type. Since in the latter stages of the game, with the help of the Hansa, they have by far the most production in game helping them produce units, build buildings and do research projects faster than Audis and BMW’s.

The Germans' civilization ability is Free Imperial Cities, which allows their cities to build one more District beyond normal Population limits. Their unique unit is the U-Boat, one of the strongest navy units in the late game, and their unique district is the Hansa, probably the strongest district in the game, turning German cities into absolute powerhouses when the Hansas are placed adjacent to Aqueducts.

Germany is an extremely versatile civilization which can pursue any victory condition it wants, but it is best suited for a Science or Domination Victory. You can simply conquer and absorb any nearby city-states to expand your empire, and you won't have to worry about barbarians or another civilization declaring war since you'll be able to raise a decent army without a worry in the world.

Why Germany is great for a science victory:

Most production in the game
Consistently strong
Versatile

1-Korea

Korea is the best.. I don't know about that north part.

Korea’s Seowon is easily the most impactful bonus to science in the game, and this makes Korea an absolute favorite for achieving a scientific victory, as they will lead on science since the beginning of the game. Their endless bonuses to science will quickly put them in the lead for the space race, since they are most likely to be the first to unlock the required technologies.

The Koreans' civilization ability is Three Kingdoms, which increases the Science yield of Mines and the Food yield of Farms placed adjacent to their civilization's unique infrastructure. Their unique unit is the Hwacha, which replaces the Field Cannonand is useful for protection. Their unique District is the Seowon with lower production cost and offering at least 4 science per turn on its own. The bonus yield to science from this district is hard to achieve with any other nation.

Often described as one of the most newbie friendly civilizations to play, Korea is also a pure Science civilization whose entire gameplay revolves heavily around a centerpiece, the Seowon. Backed up by the outrageous amount of Science gained from their Seowons, Korea will always be a threat when they are present in the game.

Why Korea is great: