It's no secret that Civilization 6 is a deeply complex game. If players don't play through the tutorial or play their first few games with the advisor feature turned on or even watch some online tutorials, it can be particularly difficult to master. It's normal to feel lost at first or forget one's end goal since there are so many steps to get there.
Culture Bombing is a handy mechanic to learn as it can give a certain civilization an advantage, especially when it Culture Bombs an enemy player's territory and takes over their tiles. Given how many paths it's possible to take to reach a goal in Civ 6, it's best to understand them all in order to know what to expect from enemy civilizations and how to properly utilize other civs and mechanics.
How A Culture Bomb Works
When a Culture Bomb occurs on a tile, the civilization that triggered it will automatically acquire its surrounding six tiles as long as they're within three tiles of the City Center and not occupied by Wonders or Districts. However, if a Wonder or a District is still under construction and it suffers the effect of a Culture Bomb, construction will immediately stop and it'll disappear.
Enacting a Culture Bomb is a great way to expand one's borders without the need for direct military conflict. Players can make substantial gains by employing a Culture Bomb at the right moment.
Civilization Abilities
Each civilization has its own set of abilities and specific units or districts inspired by its culture or history. Certain civilizations have abilities that will allow you to do a Culture Bomb. Typically, the civilization leader has to order the construction of a specific type of Building or District and upon completion, a Culture Bomb will be triggered. These are all civilizations that have Culture Bomb-related abilities:
Civilization | Ability | What They Have To Build To Trigger A Culture Bomb |
|---|---|---|
Australia | Land Down Under | Pastures |
Dutch | Grote Revieren | Harbors |
Gallic | Hallstatt Culture (only unowned tiles) | Mines |
Khmer | Monasteries of the King | Holy Sites |
Māori | Mana | Fishing Boats |
Poland | Golden Liberty | Encampments and Forts |
Other Methods Of Triggering A Culture Bomb
There are other ways to do Culture Bombs in Civilization 6, however, they are more situational:
- There are two religious beliefs to keep in mind when it comes to Culture Bombing. If the Gathering Storm DLC isn't installed, then the Enhancer Belief: Burial Grounds will trigger a Culture Bomb whenever a Holy Site is built. The Gathering Storm DLC made it so that this ability was associated with the Follower Belief: Warrior Monks instead. When playing with the Khmer civilization, since it has the Monastery of the King ability, choosing this belief is useless.
- Building the Preserve District triggers a Culture Bomb but it only works on unowned tiles. It won't take tiles from enemy players.
- With the Rise And Fall DLC, there's a Great Engineer, Mimar Sinan, which you can earn with Great Engineer Points, that will make it so whenever an Industrial Zone is built, it provides a Culture Bomb.
- There is also a World Congress resolution called Border Control Treaty that makes it so a Culture Bomb takes place whenever a player finishes building a District.
