Civ 7: How To Increase Science

In Civilization 7, Science is one of the several foundational yields that your empire can accumulate. Science fuels your progression through the Technology Tree, and getting more Science means unlocking more Techs faster – along with all of their associated bonuses and military units.

This guide explains how to increase Science output in Civ 7, including recommended Science Leaders and Civ pairings, which Buildings and Wonders you should focus, Science Resources and Social Policies you should slot, and other tips Civ 7 players can use to get even more Science.

Take Advantage Of Science Leader & Civ Abilities

One of the first things you can do to guarantee great Science yields across an entire game is to choose a Science Leader. With powerful permanent abilities that work in all Ages, Scientific Leaders will determine the foundations of your Science output and scale better than Leaders who don’t have Science-oriented abilities.

Some great starting Science Leader choices in Civ 7 include:

• Himiko, Queen of Wa: Gains a unique Endeavor, Friend of Wei, which can only be performed with an Ally to grant both players +25% Science. Gets +4 Science per Age for every Leader you have been at least Friendly or Helpful with.
• Confucius: 25% extra Growth in Cities, gains +2 Science on every Specialist.
• Ben Franklin: Gains +1 Science per Age for every Endeavor you start or Support, gains extra Science on Production buildings in Cities, 50% Production towards Production buildings.

After selecting your Leader, you will have to select your first Civ. There are a few in the Antiquity Age to choose from – Han and Maya being particularly good for higher Science output in Civ 7. As you progress through the ages, make sure to look up how to unlock every Civ in the Exploration and Modern Ages, and do what you can to unlock the best Science Civs.

Some great Science Civ choices in Civ 7 include:

• Maya: Antiquity Civ, gain extra Science on the Palace for adjacent Vegetated tiles, and has unique buildings like the K’uh Nah and Jalaw that grant Science or bonuses from Tech.
• Ming: Exploration Civ, +50% Science in the Capital, but -15 Science every turn for every Social Policy slotted. Does not count Traditions.
• Meiji: Modern Civ, grants Science whenever you Overbuild a building, and has unique buildings that grant Gold and Resource Slots.

Grow Into Science Yields & Get Science Resources

One of the best ways to quickly gain a lot of Science, after you have already established a strong Science foundation in one of your Cities, is to slot Science Resources. There are only a handful of Science Resources in Civ 7:

• In the Antiquity Age, Incense will grant 10% extra Science, but can only be slotted into Cities. In Exploration, the effect changes to grant Missionary Production instead.
• In the Modern Age, Tea will grant an extra 3% Science, but you need a Factory in a City to slot this.

When growing your Cities and Towns, pay careful attention to the yields you will get from each tile. If a tile has a small blue Flask on it, it will generate Science when worked. Aim to grow into these tiles as soon as you can to boost your Science output early.

Some Civics and Techs will automatically grant extra Science adjacencies when researched. Hover over each Civic and Tech to see if it will improve your Science yields when finished.

Build Science Buildings & Science Wonders

Throughout Civ 7, the best way to get Science, generally speaking, is to place Buildings. Each Age has two Science Buildings that can be placed into one of two Building slots on each tile. Placing two Buildings on a tile will turn it into a Quarter, which will grant Adjacency Bonuses to certain features, and allow you to place Specialists.

All Science Buildings in Civ 7 have a +1 Science adjacency bonus for Resources and Wonders (and some, for Quarters). Don’t place other buildings in spots surrounded by multiple Resources or Wonders to maximize your Science output with these Buildings:

• Antiquity Age
  • Library grants +2 base Science and +1 for each adjacent Resource & Wonder
  • Academy grants +4 base Science and +1 for each adjacent Resource & Wonder
• Exploration Age
  • Observatory grants +4 Science and +1 for each adjacent Resource & Wonder
  • University grants +5 base Science and +1 for adjacent Resources, Wonders, and Quarters
• Modern Age
  • Schoolhouse grants +5 Science and +1 for each adjacent Resource & Wonder
  • Laboratory grants +6 Science and +1 for each adjacent Resource, Wonder, and Quarter.

In each Age, there are numerous Wonders that you can construct after researching certain Techs and Civics. Some Wonders will grant Science, or improve your Scientific capabilities with free Techs and Production bonuses.

Wonders that are particularly good to rush for extra Science output include:

• Mundo Perdido: grants +1 Happiness and Science on all Tropical tiles in this settlement.
  • Unlocked with Mysticism II (mastery) in Anqituity, must be placed on a Tropical Tile.
• Serpent Mound: +3 Science and +2 Production for all Unique Improvements in this settlement.
  • Must be in the Exploration Age, and placed on a Grassland tile.
• Oxford University: Grants two free Techs, grants +4 Science
  • Unlocked with the Academics Tech in the Modern Age, must be placed next to a District/Quarter

Slot Science Social Policies & Traditions

Though Science playthroughs don’t tend to generate Culture quite as fast As Science, it’s vital to progress the Civic tree quickly so you can acquire Science Social Policies. Every player begins with Tool Making, one of two initial Social Policies that grants a Science and Production point on your Capital.

Other Science Social Policies that are important to prioritize to generate more Science include:

• Literature: Bonus 50% Production towards Science buildings
  • Unlocked with the Writing Tech in Antiquity
• Scholars: +1 Science on Specialists
• Preservation Societies: +3 Science from Great Works (Relics, Artifacts, etc)
• Social Science: +2 Science on Specialists, but +50% Specialist Food cost

Focus The Scientific Leader Attribute Tree

Another lucrative source of Science in Civ 7 are Scientific Attribute Points, which can be spent on permanent bonuses in the Leader Attribute tree. You can get Scientific Attribute Points from a variety of sources, including Legacy Path rewards, Narrative Events, and some Wonders.

The best Scientific Leader Attribute Tree nodes to pick up quickly include:

• +25% Science towards researching Tech Masteries.
• +1 Science in Settlements for each Resource assigned to them.
• +20% Gold and Happiness towards maintaining Buildings.
• +10% Science for every Alliance you have.

Research Collaboration Endeavors Create Science

In every Age, the Research Collaboration Endeavor is available with other Leaders in the game. This Trade deal will grant you both Science if accepted, with more for you and less for your target, but if they Support this Endeavor both parties will get about 50% more Science.

If someone offers you a Science Collaboration Endeavor, Support the deal to get a significant boost to science for less than the cost of initiating the deal yourself.

You can of course initiate this Endeavor yourself, but it will cost much more Influence and there’s the chance they could reject it – plus you only get one Endeavor of each type (unless playing as Ben Franklin), so be sure to target opponents who are more likely to Support.

Generating Science With Specialists

One of the best ways to increase Science in Civ 7 is to assign Specialists instead of expanding your city. Specialists can only be placed on Districts and Quarters (and a filled City Center), and will generate extra Yields based on the production of their assigned tile.

Specialists grant a +0.5 Yield adjacency bonus to all surrounding tiles, in addition to the base Specialist bonus granted on the Quarter itself. Typically this is about 2 or 3 Science or Culture, which increases the more you boost the base Yields of the assigned Quarter or District.

The downside with Specialists is their Food and Happiness requirements. Every Specialist you slot will sap 2 Food and 2 Happiness from the settlement as the population becomes more condensed. Focus on offsetting this by increasing Happiness and generating as much Food as possible in your Cities.