Victory Conditions

Civilization 3 can be won by conquest, domination (two-thirds of the world's territory), the space race, culture, a United Nations vote, or the best score when the game ends in 2050 AD. Play the World adds Elimination, Regicide, Mass Regicide, Victory Point Locations and Capture the Princess, and Conquests adds Reverse Capture the Flag.

5:42 Civilization 3 has six ways to win in the base game: conquest, domination, the space race, culture, diplomacy through the United Nations, and, if nobody has won by 2050 AD, the highest score, per the official site's Victory and Defeat FAQ (Mar 2002). Only two of them, conquest and the space race, existed in earlier Civilization games; culture and the United Nations vote were new, per Prima's Official Strategy Guide (p. 6). Play the World added five more game types in 2002, mostly for short multiplayer games, and Conquests added a few more that its scenarios use.

Quick facts

Ways to win (base game)	6: conquest, domination, space race, culture, diplomatic, score
Game length	4000 BC to 2050 AD
Domination	Two-thirds of the world's territory
Culture	20,000 points in one city, or 80,000 in the empire and twice the nearest rival's
Diplomatic	Elected Secretary-General by a United Nations vote
Space race	First to launch a finished 10-part spaceship
Added by Play the World	Elimination, Regicide, Mass Regicide, Victory Point Locations, Capture the Princess
Added by Conquests	Reverse Capture the Flag, Game Limits; a Wonder victory in the Mesopotamia scenario

Source: Civilization III Complete manual, pp. 30-33, 35, 172-178; civ3.com FAQ: Victory and Defeat; Prima's guide, p. 184.

Every victory type

Victory	How you win	Added in
Conquest	Eliminate every rival civilization	Base game
Domination	Control two-thirds of the world's territory	Base game
Space race	Be first to launch a completed spaceship to Alpha Centauri	Base game
Cultural	20,000 culture points in one city, or 80,000 in the empire with no rival above half of yours	Base game
Diplomatic	Be elected Secretary-General when the United Nations votes	Base game
Histographic (score)	Have the best score when the last turn ends	Base game
Elimination	Lose any city and you are out; the last civilization left wins	Play the World
Regicide	Each civilization has a king unit; lose it and you are out	Play the World
Mass Regicide	Several kings each; you are out when all are killed	Play the World
Victory Point Locations	250 points a turn for each location you hold	Play the World
Capture the Princess	10,000 points for each princess carried to your capital	Play the World
Reverse Capture the Flag	Return the "flag" to a Victory Point Location	Conquests (scenarios only)

Source: Civilization III Complete manual, pp. 30-33, 172-178; Play the World manual, pp. 26-28; civ3.com FAQ: Victory and Defeat.

Every victory type can be switched on or off before the game. The Game Rules on the setup screen have a box for each, and "Standard Rules" restores the defaults, per the Complete manual (pp. 30-33). Prima's guide (p. 14) suggests turning off every victory but space and conquest, and civilization abilities, to come close to the original Civilization. The other setup choices are on Game Setup and Maps.

Conquest

A conquest victory means destroying every other civilization. "If at any time you are the only civilization left standing, you're proclaimed ruler of the world," says the Complete manual (p. 175). Prima's guide (p. 183) calls it "the most challenging in terms of resources and population happiness", because long wars strain production and build war weariness; it suggests a small world, an early start and every happiness building you can afford. The tools are on the War Guide and Happiness and War Weariness.

Domination

Domination is won by holding two-thirds of the world's territory, when the rest "capitulate to your rule", per the Complete manual's Game Rules (p. 30). Sources word the threshold differently. Prima's guide (p. 185) gives 66% of the land surface with water not counted, and 2K's page says "two thirds of the world's land and population". Territory here means land inside your borders, so culture that pushes your borders out counts as much as conquest (see Culture and Borders).

Space race

2:38:15 The space race is won by the first civilization to launch a finished spaceship to Alpha Centauri. You must first build the Apollo Program Small Wonder, then the ship's 10 parts, and losing your capital destroys a ship under construction, per the Complete manual (pp. 172-174). The ship does not have to arrive: "If you complete and launch the ship before any of the other civilizations, you immediately win!", per Prima's guide (p. 183). The parts, their advances and their costs are on Space Race.

Cultural victory

A cultural victory comes from accumulated culture points. In the base game you need 20,000 points in one city, or 80,000 across your empire with no rival above half your total, per the official site's Victory and Defeat FAQ and Prima's guide (p. 184). The points add up over the whole game; they are not a per-turn rate. The Complete manual (p. 175) only says "enough culture points" and points to the Civilopedia, and no source read for this page gives the thresholds in Conquests. Culture comes from temples, libraries, cathedrals and Wonders; see Culture and Borders and Wonders.

Diplomatic victory

A diplomatic victory means being elected Secretary-General of the United Nations. Once someone builds the United Nations Wonder, it holds votes, and you need "a vote of the majority of all the civilizations in the world", per the Complete manual (p. 175). Prima's guide (p. 185) adds the details: candidates are the Wonder's builder and anyone with 25% of the world's territory or population, there are always at least two, and a majority of the other civilizations' votes wins. How rivals vote depends on how they feel about you; see Diplomacy.

Score at 2050 AD

If nobody has won by the end, the best score wins. A game runs from 4000 BC to 2050 AD, per 2K's page and the Complete manual (p. 35). The score is worked out every turn, "based primarily on the amount of territory within your borders and your content and happy citizens (including Specialists)", and your final score is the average of all those turns, per the Complete manual (p. 176). After the last named advance, each Future Technology also adds to it (2001 manual, p. 96). In Conquests the Game Limits option can shorten the game by turn count and other limits (Complete manual, p. 33).

Play the World's game types

Play the World (2002) added five victory types built for quick games. Firaxis wanted short multiplayer "meta-games", and Elimination and Regicide came from that aim, per Jeff Morris's developer update on multiplayer on the official site. They work in single-player games too.

Elimination: lose one city, any city, and your whole civilization is out; the last one left wins (Complete manual, p. 177).
Regicide: every civilization starts with a king, its great leader (Abraham Lincoln for the Americans), which moves and fights weakly; when your king dies you are out (p. 176).
Mass Regicide: as Regicide, with several kings each; you are out when all of them are dead (p. 177).
Victory Point Locations: each civilization's starting square is tagged as a location, and a military unit standing on one at the end of a turn earns 250 points; the editor can add more (p. 177).
Capture the Princess: each civilization has a princess who cannot move; carry a rival's to your capital for 10,000 points, and 10,000 more if her civilization is gone so she cannot go home (pp. 177-178). The Play the World manual (p. 9) calls it "a new capture-the-flag game mode".

Victory point scoring, as the Complete manual describes it, also counts killing enemy units or barbarians, capturing cities, building Wonders, research and princesses (p. 33).

Conquests' scenario victories

1:59 Conquests added victory rules that its scenarios switch on. Reverse Capture the Flag cannot be chosen at setup; certain Conquests and player-made scenarios enable it, and "The Three Sisters" introductory Conquest uses it to have you return an artifact to a volcano, per the Complete manual (p. 33). The Mesopotamia scenario introduced a "Wonder Victory": it ends when all seven ancient wonders are built, when a side reaches 5,500 Victory Points, or after 160 turns, per Charlie Kibler's Mesopotamia designer notes and the Complete manual (pp. 18-21). Each scenario's goal is on Conquests Scenarios.

Frequently asked questions

How many ways are there to win Civ 3? The base game of Civilization 3 has six: conquest, domination, space race, cultural, diplomatic and the best score in 2050 AD, per the official site's Victory and Defeat FAQ. Play the World and Conquests add Elimination, Regicide, Mass Regicide, Victory Point Locations, Capture the Princess and Reverse Capture the Flag.

What do you need for domination in Civ 3? Civilization 3's domination victory needs two-thirds of the world's territory inside your borders, per the Complete manual (p. 30). Prima's guide counts it as 66% of the land, not water.

How many culture points do you need to win Civ 3? In the base Civilization 3, 20,000 culture points in one city, or 80,000 in the empire with at least twice the nearest rival's total, per Prima's guide (p. 184) and the official FAQ. No source read gives Conquests' thresholds.

How do you win a diplomatic victory in Civ 3? In Civilization 3 someone must build the United Nations Wonder, and you must then be elected Secretary-General by a majority vote, per the Complete manual (p. 175). Candidates are the Wonder's builder and anyone with 25% of the world's territory or population, per Prima's guide.

Do you win Civ 3 when the spaceship launches? Yes: in Civilization 3 the first civilization to launch a completed spaceship wins at once, without waiting for it to arrive, per Prima's guide (p. 183) and the Complete manual (p. 174).

What is Regicide in Civ 3? Regicide is a Civilization 3 victory type added by Play the World: every civilization has a king unit, and a civilization whose king is killed is eliminated, per the Complete manual (p. 176). Mass Regicide gives each side several kings.

When does a Civ 3 game end? A Civilization 3 game ends in 2050 AD if nobody has won before, and the highest average score wins, per 2K and the Complete manual (pp. 35, 176). Conquests' Game Limits option can end it sooner.