Civilization 7 offers several forms of progression to help your time with the game feel even more meaningful. You can unlock new Civs by hitting certain in-game requirements and level up Leaders by winning games with them while also leveling up along the Foundation path.
Completing every Foundation path in Civ 7 is not a quick task, but it’s well worth the time to pick up new Mementoes, customization options, and cosmetics for your game. Below, we’ve listed how to complete every Foundation challenge.
Foundation challenge rewards in Civilization 7, explained
The easiest way to think of the Foundation path in Civ 7 is as your in-game progress tracker. You gain XP by playing the game and completing the challenges, which, in turn, unlocks helpful rewards.
For example, hitting level five in the Foundation path gives you the Sword of Brennus Memento—providing 400 gold per Settlement returned in a peace deal—along with an extra slot for a Memento you can fill at the start of a game.
How to complete all the Foundation challenges
We’ve separated the Civ 7 Foundation challenges into the in-game categories. To access the Foundation screen, open up the menu—either during a game or when booting it up for the first time—and select your profile.
In this tab, you’ll see your Foundation path progress and Leader progress, the Foundation challenges, and the customization options you’ve unlocked.
Tutorial challenges (16/265)
The first tab in the Foundation challenges menu is dedicated to tutorial challenges. It’s possible to blow through most of these challenges in one match and start racking up experience points.
We’ve listed them below with their challenge names, experience gains, and what you should focus on to help you easily polish off the first 16 challenges.
| Challenge name | Challenge | Focus | XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hic Sunt Dracones | Explore 100 tiles. | Build two Scouts as soon as you can and send them out in opposite directions. | 10 XP |
| This Land is My Land | Settle your first town. | As soon as you can build a Settler, find eligible squares close to your main city and build a town. | 10 XP |
| Urban Upgrade | Upgrade a town into a city. | Focus on gathering gold early on so you can afford an upgrade. | 10 XP |
| Outpacing Capacity | Exceed your maximum Settlement cap by one. | Play a regular-length match, paying attention to Independent Powers, combat, and research. | 10 XP |
| Envoys En Voyage | Initiate at least one Diplomatic Action with every Civ in the match. | Sending Scouts out quickly can help you meet everyone in the game quickly. | 10 XP |
| Highly Specialized | Assign a Specialist to a district. | Focus on your cities and their population to quickly get a Specialist into place. | 10 XP |
| Master of the Arts | Research a Mastery in Civics or Technology. | Almost every node in the Civics or Technology tree will have a secondary node underneath it, allowing you to achieve a Mastery in that topic. | 10 XP |
| Full House | Put four units under a Commander’s control. | Use the Assemble Army button near four land units to gather them up into one. | 10 XP |
| Battle-Hardened | Earn 100 XP with a Commander. | Take your Commander to your first combat encounter and have them close to the action. | 10 XP |
| Benevolent | Become suzerain of an Independent Power. | Spend your Influence quickly to befriend an Independent Power in the early game and be mindful of other players, as only one person can be suzerain of a location. | 10 XP |
| Barbaric | Disperse an Independent Power. | Use your military units when a hostile Independent Power comes into play. | 10 XP |
| Feed the Machine | Reinforce a Commander. | Use the Reinforce option on an eligible military unit to quickly add them to a Commander’s army. | 10 XP |
| Quaint Quarter | Build a Unique Quarter. | Place two unique buildings on the same tile. | 10 XP |
| Booming | Have a total population of 50 in the Antiquity Age. | Focus on growth in the early game and be mindful of Happiness as you do this. | 10 XP |
| Policy With Other Means | Declare a War. | Keep an eye on War Support before declaring war. | 10 XP |
| The True Civilization Starts Here | Complete all the other tutorial challenges. | Play a regular-length match, paying attention to Independent Powers, combat, and research. | 25 XP |
As you’re completing this section of the Foundation challenges, you’ll likely come across challenges from other tabs in the process. Civ 7 rewards players for exploring and finding new things during their runs, but it also rewards dedication and hitting the same goal more than once.
Wonder challenges (48/265)
The Wonder-based Foundation challenges are the simplest, with all but one of them requiring you to build a specific Wonder while playing a particular Civ. Each of these awards 50 XP.
| Required Civilization | Required Wonder |
|---|---|
| Abbasid | House of Wisdom |
| Aksum | Great Stele |
| America | Statue of Liberty |
| Buganda | Muzibu Azaala Mpanga |
| Chola | Brihadeeswarar |
| Egypt | The Pyramids |
| French Empire | Eiffel Tower |
| Greece | The Oracle |
| Han | Weiyang Palace |
| Hawai’i | Hale o Keawe |
| Inca | Machu Picchu |
| Khmer | Angkor Wat |
| Majapahit | Borobudur |
| Maurya | Sanchi Stupa |
| Maya | Mundo Perdido |
| Meiji | Dogo Onsen |
| Mexico | Palacio de Bellas Artes |
| Ming | The Forbidden City |
| Mississippian | The Monks Mound |
| Mongolia | Erdene Zuu |
| Mughal | The Red Fort |
| Normans | The White Tower |
| Persia | The Gate of All Nations |
| Prussia | The Brandenburg Gate |
| Qing | The Chengde Mountain Resort |
| Rome | The Colosseum |
| Russia | The Heritage |
| Shawnee | The Serpent’s Mount |
| Siam | Doi Suthep |
| Songhai | Tomb of Askia |
| Spain | El Escorial |
The final Wonder Foundation challenge is called Wondrous, which awards a staggering 100 XP for completing everything in the above table.
Civ victory challenges (80/265)
Similarly to the previous section, the Civ victory tab focuses on achieving particular Legacy Path victories with dedicated Civilizations. The combinations can be seen below, each rewarding 50 EXP.
| Required Civilization | Legacy Path |
|---|---|
| Abbasid | Scientific |
| Aksum | Economic |
| America | Economic |
| Buganda | Cultural |
| Chola | Economic |
| Egypt | Cultural |
| French Empire | Militaristic |
| Greece | Cultural |
| Han | Scientific |
| Hawai’i | Cultural |
| Inca | Economic |
| Khmer | Economic |
| Majapahit | Cultural |
| Maurya | Militaristic |
| Maya | Scientific |
| Meiji | Militaristic |
| Mexico | Cultural |
| Ming | Scientific |
| Mississippian | Economic |
| Mongolia | Militaristic |
| Mughal | Economic |
| Normans | Militaristic |
| Persia | Militaristic |
| Prussia | Militaristic |
| Qing | Economic |
| Rome | Cultural |
| Russia | Scientific |
| Shawnee | Economic |
| Siam | Cultural |
| Songhai | Economic |
| Spain | Militaristic |
There’s one final Foundation challenge in this section called Victorious, awarding 100 XP for completing every challenge in the table.
Milestone challenges (231/265)
The Milestone section of the Foundation challenges tab looks the most daunting, but it’s easy to pick apart if you group the challenges by their main focus or central task. Most of these challenges are “Do X a certain number of times,” with the reward scaling as X does.
The Foundation challenges below relate to gameplay session milestones and are relatively easy to pick up. Starting a longer game on a larger map can help you speed through the turn-based requirements while diving into multiplayer games with friends can help with the Ages.
| Challenge | Iterations | XP |
|---|---|---|
| See the end of X Ages. | Five, 10, and 15 Ages. | 50 XP each. |
| Play X turns. | 100, 300, 500, 700, 900, 1100, 1300, 1500, 1700, and 1900. | 50 XP each. |
There are also milestones for completing Legacy Paths a set amount of times. You’ll get 75 XP for completing every Legacy Path (Military, Culture, Economic, and Science) five, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 times each, presenting you with the opportunity to quickly rack up rewards.
To speed up the process of obtaining this batch of 24 Legacy Path Foundation challenges, we’d recommend experimenting with different styles of Civ as you go from game to game, paying particular attention to any Legacy Path-specific perks on offer.
There’s an exploration-oriented section here, rewarding players for discovering Natural Wonders, building Wonders, and finding Discoveries across the map.
| Challenge | Iterations | XP |
|---|---|---|
| Discover X Natural Wonders. | Five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50. | 50 XP each. |
| Build X Wonders. | 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100. | 50 XP each. |
| Complete X Discoveries. | 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100. | 50 XP each. |
To make progress on the ‘discover’ challenges, find Civics that can help you boost Civilian movement to improve the efficiency of your Scouts. The Theology Civic provides +1 to Civilian movement, for example.
Your Leader and Civ choices are crucial to consider if you’re hoping to complete all of Civ 7’s Foundation challenges. The corresponding challenges for this theme are:
- Reach a Legacy Path milestone with five, 10, and 15 different leaders for 50 XP each.
- Rinse and repeat, but with five, 10, 15, 20, and 25 different Civs for 50 XP each.
The final chunk of this challenge tab comes from doing in-game actions a certain number of times. It’ll be hard to get some of these quickly, but if you play longer matches or recruit your friends and hop into multiplayer sessions, you can make significant progress.
| Challenge | Iterations | XP |
|---|---|---|
| Spend X attribute points. | Five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50. | 50 XP each. |
| Promote Commanders X amount of times. | 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100. | 50 XP each. |
| Have X Celebrations. | Five, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, and 50. | 50 XP each. |
| Establish X trade routes. | 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 100. | 50 XP each. |
| Create X Settlements. | 10, 20, and 30. | 50 XP each. |
| Research X Technologies. | 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, and 250. | 50 XP each. |
| Study X Civics. | 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, and 250. | 50 XP each. |
| Engage in X Diplomatic Actions. | 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, and 250. | 50 XP each. |
| Gain rewards from narrative events X times. | 50, 100, and 150. | 50 XP for the first two and 100 XP for the last. |
The final challenge may take you a while, as the narrative system in Civ 7 is unlike any that have come before it. There are heaps of such events to unlock by simply playing through a match and seeing what happens to your Civ, ranging from finding rare items to natural disasters.
Accomplishment challenges (265/265)
You can cap off the Foundation path challenges by filling out the Accomplishment section with the remaining 34 tasks. These are best organized by the XP that they offer, as they vary wildly in difficulty and focus.
The Achievement challenges in the Foundation path reward 25 XP for each task:
- Giving a Commander an Infantry, a Ranged, a Cavalry, a Siege, and a non-combat unit.
- Maxing out one of the Commander skill trees with a Commander unit, with 25 XP being awarded for each individual tree.
- Maxing out any three trees with one Commander.
- Having three Commanders with two maxed-out trees.
- Performing a single-target coordinated melee attack with at least three melee units.
- Doing a single-target coordinated ranged attack with at least five ranged units.
- Reinforcing the same Commander at least thrice during one war.
- Settling a town with at least 10 population near a volcano.
- Having a city with at least 37 districts.
- Reaching a population of over 100.
- Becoming suzerain of each type of City State during a single Age.
- Becoming suzerain of five or more City States during a single Age.
- Gaining access to five or more resources via a trade route.
- Getting five or more of a single resource type.
- Maxing out each of the leader attribute trees, with 25 XP being awarded for each.
- Having one attribute in six different trees.
- Maxing two attribute trees in one single campaign.
The majority of these tasks have a combat focus, so if you don’t normally opt for a Military victory or Military-oriented Leaders, it could be worth switching your playstyle.
There are four 50 XP challenges in this section, which mostly focus on the Deity difficulty. If you’re unfamiliar, this is the hardest difficulty in the game and will test even the most seasoned players. The challenges involved are to complete a Legacy Path in all three Ages on Deity, worth 50 XP a pop. Additionally, reaching level 10 on five Leader Paths will net you 50 XP.
Finally, there are a handful of 100 XP challenges to complete to wrap up this long, strange trip. They task you with:
- Completing a game with every base game leader.
- Finishing a game with all three Ages, finishing two Legacy Paths in each Age.
- Reaching level 10 on a base game Leader Path.
- Completing every single challenge in the Foundation tab.
The sheer amount of Foundation challenges on offer will keep even the most dedicated of Civ 7 players busy for a good while. If you do manage to hit the final challenge on offer, why not check out the Leader challenges? There are 1,446 on offer, providing an even bigger boost of XP and potential rewards.
