The Modern Age is the final stretch towards winning a game of Civilization 7 and if you’re going all-in on Culture, you’re going to need Explorers to research artifacts.
Explorers are similar to Archaeologists that featured in Civilization 6. Archaeologists were used to extract artifacts from Antiquity Sites and Shipwrecks. You were then presented with two options, allowing you to select which empire you would like to get an artifact from. This would display the artifact in a Museum for more bonuses, mainly Culture. Although Archaeologists weren’t a requirement to achieve a Culture victory in Civilization 6, Explorers are essential when working your way towards this victory condition in Civilization 7.
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A blast from the past
When you reach the Modern Age, you will gain access to an Explorer unit who will find artifacts from previous Ages. Before you can begin uncovering relics from the past, you must send an Explorer to a university that you may have built in the Exploration Age or a Museum which is a Modern Age building. From there, you will be able to task your Explorer with researching artifacts. Once that action is completed, all the Exploration Age ruins on the continent you conducted the research on will be visible.
Ruins are most likely to spawn on Natural Wonders as well as wet and vegetated terrain, away from roads and other main structures within Settlements. However, they’re easily identifiable by a spade icon which pops up on a tile where you can begin excavating artifacts to display in a Museum.
When your Explorer arrives at a dig site in Civilization 7, you can select the action to begin uncovering the artifacts, but this does take five turns to complete. Obtaining an artifact will put it on display and officially begin your progress towards the Geographic Social Legacy Path of the Cultural victory condition.
It’s important to note that only one civilization can retrieve an artifact from each research site, so it will be a huge rush to get your Explorers to reach the relevant tiles before an enemy Explorer snags the artifact. You can purchase or produce more Explorers from your Capital to cover more land quicker.
Excavating ruins isn’t the only way you can get your hands on those all-important artifacts. They’re also available through narrative events and overbuilding your Settlements with updated buildings. With that said, Explorers are the best way to guarantee yourself the artifacts you need to reach a Culture victory.
