China
Leader Kublai Khan China
Uniques and adjacency effects read from the game data.
Victory focusScienceCulture
Kit at a glance
Kublai's China adds a wild-card economic policy slot and pays out eurekas and inspirations for first trade contacts, layering a trade-driven boost engine on top of China's wonder-and-boost chassis.
Opening: the first 60 turns
Kublai's China opens by meeting people. Scout first, then warrior, settler, builder, and a second scout if the map is large, because every civilization you meet is a future trade route worth a free eureka and inspiration. Pottery and Writing lead the tech line, with Currency reached early so the Commercial Hub and its trader arrive by turn forty. The extra economic slot starts working at Code of Laws, so run God King alongside Urban Planning from the first government. Civics move through Foreign Trade quickly and then Political Philosophy, since Classical Republic with the bonus slot is unusually strong here.
Unique to this civilization
Unit
Crouching Tiger
Technology: Machinery
Adjacency effects
No adjacency bonus — standard district rules apply.
How to play it
Open trade routes to every civilization you meet — each first contact is free research. The extra policy slot compounds with China's boosted eurekas; keep building wonders and let trade carry the tech pace.
Victory paths
Science is the primary finish and it is built on tempo rather than raw yields. Each first trade route to a new civilization drops a eureka and an inspiration, and China's boosted eureka value turns those into half-finished techs, so the Medieval and Renaissance trees are crossed a full era early on a busy continent. The extra economic slot then holds Rationalism or Free Market without giving anything up. Culture is the second path using the Chinese wonder engine: each completed wonder pays a eureka and an inspiration from its era, and the same trade contacts pay inspirations that keep civics moving. Choose between them around the Medieval era based on which Great People are uncontested. Domination is not supported; the Crouching Tiger is a defensive ranged unit for holding walls.
Synergies: city-states, wonders, policies
Trade city-states are the priority for their gold and matter more than scientific ones. Reyna belongs in the capital early, and Pingala takes over once the Campus and Theater Square are up; Magnus with Groundbreaker makes wonder-chopping in a woods-heavy capital lethal. Wonders that fit are Great Zimbabwe and Colossus for trade, Great Library for more boosts, and the Ancient trio China already chases. Policy cards Caravansary and Triangular Trade sit in the bonus slot, and Serfdom keeps builder charges flowing for wonders. Fertility Rites for growth is the pantheon pick; religion is otherwise ignored.
Weaknesses and counters
The contact bonus pays once per civilization, so an isolated island start with few neighbors leaves Kublai as vanilla China with a spare policy slot; the kit also fades by the Industrial era once every civ has been traded with. Traders sent across a continent are pillaged by barbarians and hostile neighbors, and losing three early traders to a plundering AI can erase the opening advantage. Players commonly sink builder charges into contested wonders they then lose to a wonder civ like Egypt, ending with neither the wonder nor the builders. The extra slot tempts over-investment in economy cards while no military card is running, which invites a rush that walls alone cannot stop. Opponents beat him by killing traders and out-racing the wonders he has telegraphed.
Similar civilizations
Related guides
- Science Victory City Planning: Roles, the Production Core, and the SpaceportA city-by-city plan for science victories in Gathering Storm: which cities carry research, which one carries the spaceport, era checkpoints to measure against, and what to do when the plan stalls.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
- Which Civilization Should You Play? Picks by Victory TypeThree to four leader picks for each victory type — science, culture, domination, religion, and diplomacy — with the reason each one teaches that victory well, plus flexible all-rounders and a guide to matching a civilization to how you actually like to play.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
- Early District Planning: The First 100 TurnsHow to read city sites for future adjacency, decide between settling for yields now or reserving tile clusters, and know when a planned layout should be abandoned.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
- City-States and Envoys: Where Your Influence Should GoWhere envoys come from, how to spend the first handful, which city-state types match each victory plan, how to win and keep suzerainty against the AI, and when conquering a city-state is the right call.Last reviewed: 2026-10-03
Last reviewed: 2026-10-03