Civilization 7 introduces a dynamic and evolving resource system that shapes the destiny of your empire across three distinct Ages. From timeless treasures like Gold to era-specific assets such as Horses and Oil, mastering these resources is key to unlocking growth, military strength, and cultural dominance. Dive into our comprehensive guide to discover every resource type, their unique benefits, and how to strategically harness them to build an unstoppable civilization on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Resources can make a serious difference in the life of your civilization, providing additional Food for population growth, boosting Production for other types of growth, and generally making it easier to keep your society stable while you expand.
This guide lists every Civilization 7 resource and what it does across each age. If you’re stuck trying to get these items to actually work, our guide for how to slot resources has what you’re looking for.
All Civilization 7 resources
Civilization 7 features a diverse and dynamic array of resources that evolve across different ages, significantly influencing your civilization’s growth and strategy. These resources are categorized into Bonus, City, Empire, Treasure, and Factory types, each offering unique benefits such as increased Food for population growth, enhanced Production for building and unit training, and boosts to Happiness and Culture. Some resources, like Gold, remain valuable throughout all eras, while others, such as Horses or Oil, change their roles depending on the age, shifting from military advantages to happiness or production bonuses. Managing these resources effectively is crucial for city specialization and empire expansion, with certain resources unlocking additional city slots or providing specific advantages when combined with infrastructure like rail stations. Understanding the full list and function of resources across the Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern Ages is essential for mastering Civilization 7.
The table below lists all resources in Civilization 7 that we’ve come across in each age, divided by type. Some are timeless, such as Gold. Others, like hides or oil, are present only for an age, and some change function as time passes.
For example, horses provide a passive military bonus for all units during antiquity and exploration, but in the modern era, they turn into a bonus resource that provides happiness for a single settlement, while oil fulfills the same military function instead.
Civilization 7 resources list
Civilization 7 features a diverse array of resources categorized by historical Ages-Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern-each providing unique benefits to your empire. Resources are essential for developing cities, training units, boosting production, and enhancing happiness and culture. They are divided into Bonus Resources, City Resources, Empire Resources, Treasure Resources (used in the Exploration Age), and Factory Resources (used in the Modern Age), each contributing to different strategic advantages and progression paths such as the Economic Legacy Path. Managing these resources effectively, including their specific bonuses per Age, is key to optimizing your civilization’s growth and military strength throughout the game.
Resource Name |
Resource Type |
Antiquity Bonus |
Exploration Bonus |
Modern Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pearls | City | 2 happiness in capital, 4 happiness in any other city | 3 happiness in homeland cities, 6 happiness in Distant Lands cities | 6 happiness in capital, 3 happiness in other cities |
| Furs | City | N/A | Empire resource | 6 happiness in a city with a rail station, 3 happiness in other cities |
| Gypsum | City | 2 production in capital, 4 production in other cities | 3 production in homeland cities, 6 production in Distant Lands cities | N/A |
| Camels | City | Adds two extra resource slots for a city | Adds two extra resource slots for a city | N/A |
| Tobacco | City | N/A | N/A | 6 production in a city with a rail station, 3 production in other cities |
| Silk | City | Extra 10% culture | Extra 10% culture | 6 culture in capital, 3 culture in other cities |
| Salt | City | Extra 20% production toward training units | N/A | N/A |
| Kaolin | City | 2 food in capital, 4 food in other cities | 3 food in homeland cities, 6 food in Distant Lands cities | Factory resource |
| Incense | City | Extra 10% science | Extra 100% production toward missionaries and temples | N/A |
| Jade | City | Extra 15% gold | Extra 15% gold | N/A |
| Truffles | City | N/A | Extra 20% production toward training units | 6 food in a city with a rail station, 3 food in other cities |
| Lapis Lazuli | City | 4 production, 5% gold | N/A | N/A |
| Cotton | Bonus | 2 food, 2 production | 3 food, 3 production | Factory resource |
| Dates | Bonus | 2 food, 2 happiness | 3 food, 3 happiness | N/A |
| Fish | Bonus | 3 food | 5 food | Factory resource |
| Dye | Bonus | 3 happiness | 5 happiness | N/A |
| Ivory | Bonus | Empire resource | 3 happiness, 3 production | 4 happiness, 4 production |
| Horses | Bonus | Empire resource | Empire resource | 6 happiness |
| Spices | Bonus | N/A | Treasure Fleet | 4 food, 4 happiness |
| Whales | Bonus | N/A | 5 production | 6 production |
| Sugar | Bonus | N/A | Treasure Fleet | 6 food |
| Wine | Bonus | Empire resource | Empire resource | 4 food, 4 production |
| Wool | Bonus | 2 production, 2 happiness | N/A | N/A |
| Hides | Bonus | 3 production | N/A | N/A |
| Gold | Empire | 20% gold toward purchasing buildings | 20% gold toward purchasing buildings | 20% gold toward purchasing buildings |
| Marble | Empire | 10% production toward Wonders built on marine, tundra, or grassland tiles | 10% production toward building Wonders | 10% production toward building Wonders |
| Iron | Empire | Extra 1 combat strength for infantry units | Extra 1 combat strength for ranged and infantry units | N/A |
| Ivory | Empire | 10% production toward building Wonders on desert, tropical, and plains tiles | Bonus resource | Bonus resource |
| Coal | Empire | N/A | N/A | Extra 100% production toward building rail stations, extra 1 combat strength for light naval units |
| Furs | Empire | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Oil | Empire | N/A | N/A | Extra 1 combat strength for cavalry and heavy naval units and an additional 1 combat strength when they attack infantry |
| Niter | Empire | N/A | Extra 1 combat strength for siege and naval units | Extra 1 combat strength for ranged and siege units and an additional 1 strength against cavalry units |
| Rubber | Empire | N/A | N/A | Extra 1 combat strength for air and infantry units |
| Silver | Empire | 20% percent gold toward purchasing units | 20% percent gold toward purchasing units | 20% percent gold toward purchasing units |
| Wine | Empire | Extra 10% culture and 2 happiness in the capital during a celebration | Extra 10% culture and 3 happiness in the capital during a celebration | Bonus resource |
| Horses | Empire | Extra 1 combat strength for cavalry units and an additional 1 combat strength against infantry | Extra 1 combat strength for cavalry units and an additional 1 combat strength against infantry and ranged units | Bonus resource |
| Cocoa | Factory | N/A | Treasure Fleet | Extra 3% happiness |
| Tea | Factory | N/A | Treasure Fleet | Extra 3% science |
| Citrus | Factory | N/A | N/A | Extra 5% production toward training naval units |
| Fish | Factory | N/A | Bonus resource | Extra 5% settlement growth rate |
| Kaolin | Factory | N/A | City resource | Extra 3% culture |
| Quinine | Factory | N/A | N/A | Units heal 1 HP |
| Coffee | Factory | N/A | N/A | Extra 5% production toward Wonders and buildings |
| Cotton | Factory | N/A | Bonus resource | Extra 5% production toward land units |
All treasure fleet resources in Civilization 7
The treasure fleet resources in Civilization 7 are special resources found exclusively in Distant Lands during the Exploration Age. These resources include Gold, Sugar, Silver, Spices, Cocoa, and Tea. Unlike standard resources, treasure fleet resources do not provide direct benefits to cities or towns. Instead, they enable the spawning of Treasure Fleets when a Fishing Quay is built in a coastal settlement that works these resource tiles. Unloading a Treasure Fleet at any homeland port city grants a significant bonus of 100 Gold and contributes to the Economic Legacy Path. Managing these resources effectively by establishing coastal settlements in distant lands and connecting them to your homeland is key to maximizing gold income and progressing in the Economic Legacy during the Exploration Age.
The Exploration Age introduces a special resource subset called treasure fleet resources. Our treasure fleet guide goes into greater detail, but the gist is that these are required to progress through this age’s Economic Legacy Path and provide no bonuses to cities or towns. However, once you unload a treasure fleet ship at any town or city of yours with a port, you instantly get an extra 100 Gold.
These are all the treasure fleet resources:
- Gold
- Sugar
- Silver
- Spices
- Cocoa
- Tea
Some treasure fleet resources overlap with regular ones, including gold and silver. In the lands where you begin, these are just regular resources and provide the same bonuses as normal. In distant lands, they only count as treasure fleet resources.
How do resource shifts across eras influence my civilization’s strategy in Civ 7
Resource shifts across eras in Civilization 7 fundamentally reshape your civilization’s strategy by altering the availability, utility, and strategic value of resources as you progress through Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern Ages. Each Age introduces new resources while rendering some older ones obsolete or less effective, requiring you to adapt your economic, military, and cultural plans accordingly.
For example, certain resources like Jade or Silk may provide gold or culture bonuses in one Age but shift their effects or importance in the next. Some resources that once boosted production in capital cities might later encourage expansion into distant lands, influencing where and how you settle new cities. Additionally, new resources such as Truffles or Ivory appear in later Ages, offering fresh opportunities for production or unit training that can redefine your military or economic focus.
This dynamic resource evolution is tightly integrated with the game’s Age progression and Crisis systems, where your performance in one Age affects the bonuses or penalties you carry forward as Legacies. Successfully managing resources through these transitions can grant you powerful advantages, while failure to adapt may plunge your empire into a Dark Age with harsher conditions and fewer resources.
In summary, resource shifts compel you to continuously reassess and modify your strategy-balancing growth, military strength, and cultural development-while responding to the changing demands and opportunities of each historical phase in Civilization 7.
How do resource obsolescence and discovery affect my strategic choices in Civ 7
Resource obsolescence and discovery in Civilization 7 significantly impact your strategic choices by forcing continuous adaptation to changing resource values and availability. As some resources become obsolete or less effective over time, while new ones are discovered or reclassified, you must rethink your priorities in city placement, military unit production, and economic development.
Unlike previous Civilization games, Civ 7 removes the strict requirement of owning specific strategic resources to build related units. Instead, having a higher concentration of a resource boosts the effectiveness of corresponding units, which means securing and managing resources remains important but less rigidly limiting. This change allows more flexible strategies and reduces the risk of being blocked by unlucky map generation, though controlling abundant resources can still provide a decisive military advantage.
Additionally, the introduction of randomized resource placement and the distinction between Homelands and Distant Lands for Treasure Resources adds layers of strategic depth. You must explore and expand carefully to access new resources that grant passive empire bonuses or enable powerful Treasure Fleets, influencing your empire’s growth and military potential.
In summary, resource obsolescence and discovery compel you to remain adaptable, balancing expansion, diplomacy, and military strength while leveraging evolving resource benefits to maintain a competitive edge throughout the Ages in Civilization 7.
