Civilization – Is production completely lost when losing a wonder race

civilization-6

A central theme in Civilization is the race to build wonders. World wonders can only be built by one civilization.

In previous Civilization games and civ-like games there were various consolation prizes for beginning to build a wonder and someone beating you to it. I think in Civ 5, half of the extra production was converted to money. In some previous games I think the production could be used on other buildings.

In Civ 6, though, it's not clear if a player receives any benefit from starting to build a wonder and failing to complete it before another civ does.

Is there any consolation price, like extra gold, when losing a wonder race?

Best Answer

The other answers are no longer correct, as of Gathering Storm (and possibly before).

When failing to complete a wonder in time, you will now receive a notification; it will indicate exactly how much production was "awarded" to the city in question:

a "production salvaged" notification in-game inside civilization six

"You were not able to complete the world wonder Statue of Liberty in time. However 918 Production has been salvaged from the attempt and was awarded to the city of Texcoco.

The next production you select in the city will be reduced in price by the value of the wonder; and given how expensive wonders are, it is likely to become "free." (Notably, no production can take less than one turn; so it's hugely wasteful to select a cheap unit or something immediately after being refunded for a Wonder; the best options are probably other wonders, high-tech buildings, or Armies/Armadas.)

For instance, after clicking the notification above, here's the production interface in the named city:

the production-list in a civilization six city-screen, showing every available item as needing a single turn to produce

Note my city's production, ~90/turn; and the cost of the Helicopter Corps, 1350, taking only 3 turns to produce.