No matter how passionate your soldiers, how advanced your culture, or how pious your citizens, you won’t get far without a healthy income. Gold is humanity’s true “Lingua Franca.” The clinking sound of hundreds of gold pieces in a leather bag is like music to our ears, and whoever can procure the fattest money bags will have a leg up on the competition in the fight for world domination. Many societies in Civilization VI’s roster of global superpowers are well suited to amassing gold – but some are better than others, and a few are in a league of their own. Let’s rank some of the most efficient moneymakers in Civ 6.
5. Queen Victoria’s England
The British Empire is about extending its tentacles worldwide with a strong navy and lots of trans-oceanic trade. English cities on continents different from the capital’s will naturally generate more gold once you start building Royal Navy Dockyards. They get a free trade route immediately, so you can connect with the metropolis ASAP. The Royal Navy Dockyard also gets excellent adjacency bonuses from Commercial Hubs, so you’re encouraged to build both and make even more coin.
4. Frederick Barbarossa’s Germany
Barbarossa’s Holy Roman Empire shines for its Hansa – an early Industrial District that’ll supercharge your production from a very early stage. As you can imagine, more production means more Commercial Hubs and buildings for that district, which immediately translates to more money. The Hansa gets major adjacency bonuses from Commercial Hubs, further encouraging you to build them. You’ll get rich just off the bonuses if you set down your districts correctly. Thanks to Germany’s extra Military policy slot, you’ll even be able to cut your army upkeep costs with the Conscription policy. You’ll have all the money and a beefy army to protect it.
3. Jadwiga’s Poland
Besides being the hottest leader in the game, the “King” of Poland can catapult the country’s economy to stratospheric heights just faith. Jadwiga’s Poland is ideally suited to play a hybrid religious/economic game thanks to their ability to generate +4 gold, +2 culture, and +2 faith from every relic in your cities. This can be ridiculously strong with Relics of the Void or Heroic Relics added by Secret Societies and Heroes & Legends. We also can’t forget that Poland gets one of its Military policy slots converted to a Wildcard – meaning you can have an extra Economic policy.
2. Trajan’s Roman Empire
The Roman Empire shines because of how easy it is to establish a healthy economy, and how stable it tends to be from game to game. The old adage “all roads lead to Rome” rings true in Civilization VI. Each new city founded within trading range of the capital starts with a trading post and a nifty road connecting it to the capital. This makes your trading routes faster and more profitable from the get-go, adding an extra gold piece per turn to your earnings for every trading post they pass. Your cities also start with a free Monument, helping you reach important economic Civics faster than you usually would.
1. Mansa Musa’s Mali
Being the best at producing Gold is in Mansa Musa’s job description. The entire Mali gameplay revolves around coin. Your mines lose one production in exchange for four gold, you can purchase Commercial Hub buildings with faith, and every Golden Age grants you an extra trade route for the rest of the game! As if that wasn’t enough, Mali can leverage desert cities to their advantage exceptionally well. City Centers get food and faith bonuses from adjacent desert tiles, and your trade routes also produce an extra gold piece per turn for every desert tile in the starting city’s territory. Did I mention they have a unique Commercial Hub district called the Suguba? It’s just too much! You’ll be near-invincible if you manage to get the Petra wonder in a desert city.
