If you’ve spent any time scrolling through Civilization 7 leader tier lists lately, you’ve probably seen Civilization 7 Ben Franklin pop up near the top of nearly every science and diplomatic build ranking. I’ve played over 40 hours with him across different difficulty levels, from Prince to Deity, and I can confirm the hype is well earned — if you know how to use his perks correctly. A lot of new players waste his unique bonuses by sticking to generic playstyles, but a few small tweaks can turn him into one of the most overpowered leaders in the entire game. This guide breaks down exactly what makes him special, how to build around his strengths, and what mistakes to avoid if you want to win consistently with him.
What Makes Civilization 7 Ben Franklin’s Unique Perks Stand Out?
Ben’s core strengths are tied to science progression and policy flexibility, two mechanics that scale incredibly well across all game stages. His signature Founding Father Bonus gives you 15% of the science cost of your current active tech for free every time you adopt a new policy card. It sounds minor on paper, but when you’re swapping cards every 2 to 3 turns as you unlock new civics, this adds up to thousands of free science points over a full playthrough. He also has a unique improvement, the Lightning Rod, which unlocks at the Engineering civic. It gives +2 science, +1 production, and protects all adjacent tiles from natural disasters like wildfires, tornadoes, and lightning strikes. That extra protection alone can save you from losing 5+ turns of production if you live in a disaster-prone map, and the science boost stacks with all other tile and building bonuses. He also gets a 20% extra science gain from all research agreements you sign with other civs, plus extra diplomatic favor for every active agreement you have running.
Early Game Strategy for Ben Franklin Runs
Your first 10 turns as Ben are all about balancing civic and tech progression, instead of leaning entirely on tech like you would with most science-focused leaders. Every new civic unlocks new policy cards, which trigger your free science bonus, so you don’t want to fall behind on civic progression at any point. I’ve found that prioritizing 1 production-focused city and 1 food-focused city right off the bat gives you the perfect balance to unlock both civics and tech fast. Your core early game priorities should look like this:
- Build 2 to 3 scout units first to explore as much of the map as possible, since you get extra science from discovering natural wonders and new civs to sign research agreements with later
- Place your first 2 cities next to hills and rivers, so you can build mines to speed up civic and tech progression, and have enough food to grow your population fast
- Swap your policy cards every single time you unlock a new civic, even if you only keep the new card for 2 turns, to trigger the free science bonus every chance you get
- Prioritize building a library in every city as soon as you unlock writing, to stack extra science on top of your policy card bonuses
Mid to Late Game Builds to Dominate With Ben Franklin
Once you hit the Renaissance era, you have two main paths to choose from, depending on what kind of win you’re going for. The science win is the most obvious choice, since all of Ben’s perks stack to make tech progression faster than almost any other leader. But if you want to mix things up, a diplomatic win is also extremely easy with him, since you get extra favor from every research agreement you sign, and you can use your tech lead to gift small tech boosts to other civs to earn their support for world congress resolutions. Your highest priority building in the mid game is the university, followed by the research lab as soon as you unlock it. If you can get a national college up in your capital before the end of the Renaissance era, you’ll be producing 2 to 3x more science than every AI civ on the map, even on Deity difficulty. But don’t ignore production either. A lot of players focus so much on science that they forget to build enough factories and power plants, which means they can’t build the late game space race projects fast enough to lock in a science win before another civ wins a cultural or domination victory. I made that mistake on my first Ben run, I was 10 techs ahead of everyone else but had such low production that I lost to a domination win from the Mongols right as I was about to launch my first satellite. Always keep at least 200 gold in reserve in the mid game so you can pay for research agreements or buy extra builders to place more Lightning Rod improvements whenever you have free tiles. If you’re going for a diplomatic win, use your extra science to unlock the world congress civic as early as possible, then spend your diplomatic favor on resolutions that give you extra science or production bonuses, instead of wasting it on minor resolutions that don’t move the needle.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Playing as Ben Franklin
The biggest mistake I see new players make is focusing too much on tech and ignoring civic progression entirely. Ben’s biggest bonus comes from unlocking new policy cards, which are tied to civics, not tech, so you need to balance both equally to get the most out of his perks. If you’re 3 eras ahead on tech but 1 era behind on civics, you’re missing out on hundreds of free science points from policy swaps. You also don’t want to waste your Lightning Rod improvements on tiles that don’t need them. Placing them next to your farms and mines not only gives you extra science and production, but also protects those high value tiles from natural disasters that can set your progression back by 5+ turns. Don’t place them on empty tundra tiles just because you have a free builder turn, that’s a wasted opportunity to get extra value from the improvement. Another common mistake is picking fights with other civs early on. If you get dragged into a war in the Ancient or Classical era, you’ll have to swap your policy cards to military bonuses instead of science and production bonuses, which means you lose out on all that free science from new policy unlocks. It’s always better to stay friendly with as many civs as possible early on, so you can sign as many research agreements as possible and focus on growing your empire without distractions. Even if you eventually want to go for a domination win, wait until you’re at least 2 tech eras ahead of everyone else before you start declaring war, so you can crush their armies with superior technology without wasting too much of your own production.
At the end of the day, Civilization 7 Ben Franklin is one of the most versatile and fun leaders to play in the game right now, no matter what your preferred playstyle is. If you follow the tips in this guide and avoid the common mistakes most players make, you’ll be winning runs on Deity difficulty with him in no time. The best part about playing as him is that you can experiment with different builds every time, so you never get bored of running the same strategy over and over again. Next time you boot up Civ 7, give him a try — you won’t be disappointed.