Unciv Social Policies: Every Branch, Effect and a Cost Calculator

Conclusion

Unciv has 10 social policy branches, each with five policies plus a bonus for completing the branch. Two pairs lock each other out: Piety vs Rationalism, and the three ideologies Freedom, Autocracy and Order.

Reading the cost formula in the source, policies get expensive fast: the base cost goes 25, 34, 62, 108, 173, 256… (before the game rounds down to a multiple of 5) and every extra city adds 10% on small and medium maps. That's the real trade-off between going wide and adopting policies quickly — the calculator below shows it for your game.

An analysis-based guide: this guide is based on our analysis of Unciv's Policies data file and the cost formula in its source code. It describes what the data shows and is not a guarantee of results.

Policy Cost Calculator

Policies already adopted
Cities (not counting puppets)
Difficulty
Game speed
Map size

Culture for your next policy: —

Policy #	Culture	With 2 more cities

Formula from the game's code: (25 + (adopted × 3)^2.01) × difficulty × game speed × (1 + map modifier × (cities − 1)), rounded down to a multiple of 5. Map modifier: 10% per city on Tiny–Medium, 7.5% on Large, 5% on Huge. Policies and wonders that reduce policy cost aren't included.

Every Branch and Policy

Tradition (Ancient era)

Policy	Requires	Effect
Adopting the branch	—	+3 Culture in capital -25% Culture cost of natural border growth in all cities
Aristocracy	—	+15% Production when constructing All wonders in all cities +1 Happiness per 10 population in all cities
Legalism	—	Provides the cheapest Culture building in your first 4 cities for free
Oligarchy	—	Units in cities cost no Maintenance +50% Strength for cities (with a garrison) (when attacking)
Landed Elite	Legalism	+10% growth in capital +2 Food in capital
Monarchy	Legalism	+1 Gold, +1 Happiness per 2 population in capital
Branch complete	—	+15% growth in all cities Provides a Aqueduct in your first 4 cities for free

Liberty (Ancient era)

Policy	Requires	Effect
Adopting the branch	—	+1 Culture in all cities
Republic	—	+1 Production in all cities +5% Production when constructing All buildings in all cities
Citizenship	—	Can build all improvements at a +25% rate Free Worker appears
Collective Rule	Republic	+50% Production when constructing Settler units in capital Free Settler appears
Representation	Citizenship	Each city founded increases culture cost of policies 33% less than normal Empire enters golden age
Meritocracy	Citizenship	+1 Happiness in all cities connected to capital -5% Unhappiness from Population in all non-occupied cities
Branch complete	—	Free Great Person

Honor (Ancient era)

Policy	Requires	Effect
Adopting the branch	—	+33% Strength (vs Barbarian units) Earn 100% of killed Barbarian unit's Strength as Culture Notified of new Barbarian encampments
Warrior Code	—	+15% Production when constructing Melee units in all cities Free Great General appears
Discipline	—	+15% Strength (for Melee units) (when adjacent to a Melee unit)
Military Tradition	Warrior Code	+50% XP gained from combat (for Military units)
Military Caste	Discipline	+1 Happiness, +2 Culture in all cities with a garrison
Professional Army	Military Caste	-33% Gold cost of upgrading (for Military units) +1 Happiness from every Walls +1 Happiness from every Castle +1 Happiness from every Arsenal +1 Happiness from every Military Base
Branch complete	—	Earn 10% of killed Military unit's Cost as Gold

Piety (Classical era)

Policy	Requires	Effect
Adopting the branch	—	+100% Production when constructing Shrine buildings in all cities +100% Production when constructing Temple buildings in all cities Only available (before adopting Rationalism)
Organized Religion	—	+1 Faith from every Shrine +1 Faith from every Temple
Mandate Of Heaven	—	50% of excess happiness converted to Culture
Theocracy	Organized Religion	+10% Gold from every Temple
Reformation	Organized Religion	+33% Culture in all cities with a world wonder Empire enters golden age
Free Religion	Mandate Of Heaven, Reformation	-10% Culture cost of adopting new Policies
Branch complete	—	Faith cost of purchasing items in cities -20% +3 Gold, +3 Culture from every Holy site

Patronage (Medieval era)

Policy	Requires	Effect
Adopting the branch	—	-25% City-State Influence degradation
Philantropy	—	Gifts of Gold to City-States generate 25% more Influence
Aesthetics	—	Resting point for Influence with City-States is increased by 20
Scholasticism	Philantropy	Allied City-States provide Science equal to 25% of what they produce for themselves
Cultural Diplomacy	Scholasticism	+100% resources gifted by City-States +50% Happiness from luxury resources gifted by City-States
Educated Elite	Scholasticism, Aesthetics	Allied City-States will occasionally gift Great People
Branch complete	—	Influence of all other civilizations with all city-states degrades 33% faster

Commerce (Medieval era)

Policy	Requires	Effect
Adopting the branch	—	+25% Gold in capital
Naval Tradition	—	+1 Movement (for Military Water units) +1 Sight (for Military Water units) Free Great Admiral appears +2 Movement (for Great Admiral units)
Trade Unions	—	-33% maintenance on road & railroads +1 Gold from every Harbor +1 Gold from every Seaport
Merchant Navy	Naval Tradition	+3 Production in all coastal cities
Mercantilism	Trade Unions	Gold cost of purchasing items in cities -25% +1 Science from every Mint +1 Science from every Market +1 Science from every Bank +1 Science from every Stock Exchange
Protectionism	Mercantilism	+2 Happiness from each type of luxury resource
Branch complete	—	+1 Gold from every Trading post +100% Gold from Great Merchant trade missions May buy Great Merchant units for 1000 Faith in all cities in which the majority religion is a major religion at an increasing price (500) (starting from the Industrial era)

Rationalism (Renaissance era)

Policy	Requires	Effect
Adopting the branch	—	+15% Science (while the empire is happy) Only available (before adopting Piety)
Secularism	—	+2 Science from every specialist in all cities
Humanism	—	+1 Happiness from every University +1 Happiness from every Observatory +1 Happiness from every Public School
Free Thought	Secularism	+1 Science from every Trading post +17% Science from every University
Sovereignty	Humanism	+1 Gold from all Science buildings
Scientific Revolution	Free Thought	Science gained from research agreements +50%
Branch complete	—	2 Free Technologies May buy Great Scientist units for 1000 Faith in all cities in which the majority religion is a major religion at an increasing price (500) (starting from the Industrial era)

Freedom (Industrial era)

Policy	Requires	Effect
Adopting the branch	—	+25% Great Person generation in all cities Only available (before adopting Autocracy) Only available (before adopting Order)
Constitution	—	+2 Culture from every Wonder
Universal Suffrage	—	+33% Strength for cities (when defending)
Civil Society	—	-50% Food consumption by Specialists in all cities
Free Speech	Constitution	8 units cost no maintenance
Democracy	Civil Society	-50% Unhappiness from Specialists in all cities
Branch complete	—	+100% Yield from every Great Improvement +50% Golden Age length May buy Great Artist units for 1000 Faith in all cities in which the majority religion is a major religion at an increasing price (500) (starting from the Industrial era)

Autocracy (Industrial era)

Policy	Requires	Effect
Adopting the branch	—	-33% maintenance costs (for All units) Upon capturing a city, receive 10 times its Culture production as Culture immediately Only available (before adopting Order) Only available (before adopting Freedom)
Populism	—	+25% Strength (for Wounded units)
Militarism	—	Gold cost of purchasing All units -33%
Fascism	Populism, Militarism	+100% Strategic resource production +2 Movement (for Great General units)
Police State	Militarism	+3 Happiness from every Courthouse +100% Production when constructing Courthouse buildings in all cities -25% enemy spy effectiveness in all cities
Total War	Police State, Fascism	+25% Production when constructing Military units in all cities New Military units start with 15 XP in all cities
Branch complete	—	+25% Strength (when attacking) (for Military units) (for 50 turns) May buy Great General units for 1000 Faith in all cities in which the majority religion is a major religion at an increasing price (500) (starting from the Industrial era)

Order (Industrial era)

Policy	Requires	Effect
Adopting the branch	—	+1 Happiness in all cities Only available (before adopting Autocracy) Only available (before adopting Freedom)
United Front	—	Militaristic City-States grant units 2 times as fast when you are at war with a common nation
Planned Economy	—	+25% Science from every Factory +100% Production when constructing Factory buildings in all cities
Nationalism	—	+15% Strength (for All units) (when fighting in Friendly Land tiles)
Socialism	Planned Economy	-15% maintenance cost for all buildings in all cities
Communism	Socialism	+2 Production in all cities +1 Production from every Mine +1 Production from every Quarry
Branch complete	—	+2 Food, +2 Production, +2 Science, +2 Gold, +2 Culture in all cities May buy Great Engineer units for 1000 Faith in all cities in which the majority religion is a major religion at an increasing price (500) (starting from the Industrial era)

Data from the game's own files (Civ V: Gods & Kings ruleset that ships with Unciv), read from the source at the commit of 2026-10-02. Updates and mods can change these numbers.

What the AI Prefers

Branch	Scientific	Cultural	Diplomatic	Domination
Tradition	5	5	5	5
Liberty	10	10	10	10
Honor	5	5	5	5
Piety	0	0	0	0
Patronage	5	5	10	5
Commerce	5	5	5	5
Rationalism	10	10	10	10
Freedom	10	10	5	5
Autocracy	5	5	5	10
Order	5	5	10	5

The numbers are each branch's weight for an AI aiming at that victory type (the AI also adds its personality). Bold marks the highest for each branch.
Liberty and Rationalism carry the top weight (10) for every victory type, and Piety has 0 — the AI only picks it through personality.
The ideologies split cleanly: Autocracy for domination, Freedom for cultural and scientific, Order for diplomatic.

FAQ

Why did my next policy suddenly get more expensive?

You probably founded or annexed a city. Each non-puppet city beyond the first raises the cost by 10% on Tiny–Medium maps.

Do puppet cities raise policy cost?

No. The formula only counts cities that aren't puppets.

Can I take both Piety and Rationalism?

No. Each is only available before you adopt the other. The three ideologies also exclude each other.

Is this the same as Civ V?

The structure follows Civ V: Gods & Kings, but the formula here is Unciv's own code.

Continue reading

Unciv Guide Civilizations Difficulty

Social Policies and Policy Cost

Conclusion

Policy Cost Calculator

Every Branch and Policy

Tradition (Ancient era)

Liberty (Ancient era)

Honor (Ancient era)

Piety (Classical era)

Patronage (Medieval era)

Commerce (Medieval era)

Rationalism (Renaissance era)

Freedom (Industrial era)

Autocracy (Industrial era)

Order (Industrial era)

What the AI Prefers

FAQ

Why did my next policy suddenly get more expensive?

Do puppet cities raise policy cost?

Can I take both Piety and Rationalism?

Is this the same as Civ V?

Continue reading

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