Although it is possible to get a few extra Artifacts through world events and by making use of Civ 7‘s Overbuilding mechanic, the bulk of the Artifacts needed to secure a Culture Victory in Civilization VII will need to be excavated by the player’s Explorers. As players will soon realize, however, this is nowhere near as simple as it sounds.
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This is because all of the other civilizations will be out hunting artifacts as well, making it very difficult for players to get the fifteen needed to unlock the World’s Fair. Thankfully, though, with ample Explorers and the right strategy, finding enough Civ 7 Artifacts to secure a Culture Victory can become a whole lot easier for Civilization VII players.
How to Get More Artifacts in Civ 7
Unlike with a lot of other Civilization VII victory types, securing a Culture Victory requires strategy rather than speed. It’s possible for all of the available Artifacts to have been snatched up by around 35% Age Progress, but if players go charging in like a bull in a china shop, they’ll likely find themselves a few Artifacts short of the 15 required to unlock the World’s Fair with no real hope of redress.
The key to getting 15 Artifacts is to understand exactly how unlocking Artifacts in Civ 7 works. The first step is to research the Natural History Civic, after which, players should build a Museum and then start training explorers. Ideally, they’ll want around six. Once they have their Explorers ready, they should spread them out across the continent on which they built their Museum.
For a better view of the continent borders, players can pull up the minimap and check the “Continents” box. In addition to helping players to differentiate the two continents, this will make spotting Artifact dig sites easier later on.
When they’re ready, players should send one of their Explorers to their museum (or a University, if they happen to have one from a previous age), and then choose the Research Artifacts option. After that, they’ll want to send each of their Explorers to a dig site as quickly as possible and have them start excavating when they arrive. Dig sites are marked on the map by a shovel icon, for those wondering, although they won’t show up until after players have researched them.
After all of the Artifacts on the continent have been successfully excavated, players should move their Explorers over to the other content and spread them around a little. If they already have a settlement there they can build a Museum and have one of the Explorers study Artifacts there. If not, they should look for a Museum or University in one of the other civilizations’ settlements and study there. They’re easy enough to spot on account of the question mark icons.
After another mad dash to gather up all of the continent’s Artifacts, players should be more than halfway toward their total. Thankfully, they’re not done yet. Studying the Hegemony Civic will allow Explorers to research Artifacts buried since the Antiquity Age, so they should leave their Explorers where they are and begin to research the Civics needed to unlock Hegemony on the Modern Age Civic Tree (Social Question, Political Theory, and Nationalism).
Once they’ve finished studying Hegemony, players should send one of their Explorers back to a Museum or University on the second continent and then quickly excavate all of the new Artifacts that appear. Next, they’ll want to move all of their Explorers back over to the first continent and repeat the process there until there are no Artifacts left anywhere on the map. If all’s gone to plan, at least 15 of them will be in the player’s possession.
Although it’s possible to have Explorers research at Museums and Universities on both continents simultaneously, it’s much better to do things in phases. By splitting the task up into four manageable chunks, players will have much better odds of finding the 15 Artifacts needed for a Civ 7 Culture Victory. Time really isn’t an issue here, so taking a little longer to set oneself up for success is by far the best strategy.
- Research and excavate all Exploration Age Artifacts on continent A.
- Research and excavate all Exploration Age Artifacts on continent B.
- Research and excavate all Antiquity Age Artifacts on continent B.
- Research and excavate all Antiquity Age Artifacts on continent A.
If players are still struggling to get enough Artifacts even with this step-by-step approach, there are other things that they can do. Chief among these is to start the campaign in the Antiquity or Exploration age and use this time to eliminate rival civilizations until there is only one left (ideally, with just a single settlement). By doing so, players can maximize their chances of reaching Artifacts first, as the other civ won’t have the resources needed to compete.
Grand Strategy
Turn-Based Strategy
4X
- Released
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February 11, 2025