Civilization IV/World Wonders

Angkor Wat

 * Cost: 500 (double production rate with stone)
 * Requires: Philosophy
 * Expires: Computers
 * GPP: +2 priest
 * Effect:
 * +8 culture
 * +1 hammer from priest
 * 3 more priest slot

A wonder geared towards Great People Strategy. This wonder tends to make your cities produce prophets in the mid to late game when you really want something else. Therefore you should avoid it. However, its effect is not bad if you want extra production for your military.

Chichen Itza

 * Cost: 500 (double production rate with stone)
 * Requires: Code of Laws
 * Expires: Rifling
 * GPP: +2 priest
 * Effect:
 * +6 culture
 * +25% defense in all cities

Never build this wonder if you're the aggressor, and you have enough prophets. +25% defense might seem like a significant advantage, but if you consider that it still can be negated by siege units, you realize that it is a waste of hammer that can be used to produce units that actually do the defenses. The only reason you would like to build it is to prevent the AI from building it.

Church of the Nativity

 * Note: Can only be built in a holy city with a Great Prophet.

The Dai Miao

 * Note: Can only be built in a holy city with a Great Prophet.

Eiffel Tower

 * Cost: 1250 (double production rate with Iron)
 * Requires: Radio, Forge
 * GPP: +2 Merchant
 * Effect:
 * +6 culture
 * Free broadcast tower in every city

A rather late wonder. If you're dominating, you can build it with relative ease and little competition. The broadcast tower +25% culture, add happiness with the cultural slider and double happiness from movies, musicals and hits. The broadcast tower is not expensive, and you should build it just to reduce micromanagement. If you are facing fierce competition, turn your attention to Hollywood, Rock n' Roll instead.

The Great Library

 * Cost: 350 (double production rate with Marble)
 * Requires: Literature, Library
 * GPP: +2 Scientist
 * Effect:
 * +8 culture
 * 2 Free scientist

It should be noted that the two free scientist also generate +3 scientist points each. Therefore, a total of eight scientist points are added to your GPP pool. You would find that great scientists would be pumping out of it soon. If you want to avoid too many scientists, build the national epic elsewhere. In terms of beaker generation, this wonder is not bad, great on small maps (few cities), and wonderful if running Representation with Pyramid. One of the must-build wonders.

The Great Lighthouse

 * Cost: 200
 * Requires: Sailing, Masonry, Lighthouse
 * Expires: Coporation
 * GPP: +2 Merchant
 * Effect:
 * +6 culture
 * +2 trade route in all coastal cities

The Pharos provides a decent bonus if you are playing on islands or sneaky continents. If you build it early on, be sure to send out your Galleys to scout open up foreign trade routes, or you would be wasting the bonus. Try to build coastal cities as much as possible, and prepare yourself to go for the Colossus. You would then have an economic powerhouse. If you start in the middle of a big continent, forget about it.

Hagia Sophia

 * Cost: 550 (double production rate with Marble)
 * Requires: Engineering (vanilla and warlord) Theology (BTS)
 * Expires: Steam Power
 * GPP: +2 Engineer
 * Effect:
 * +8 culture
 * +50% worker work rate

The Hagia Sophia simply provides the steam power worker bonus earlier. Although not overly appealing, it can be argued that in conjunction with serfdom, you get ultra fast workers! It seems good if you have a bunch of Jungle to clear. It might be better to build troops to capture more workers, however. But since it produces engineer points, it's not that bad.

The Hanging Gardens

 * Cost: 300 (double production rate with Stone)
 * Requires: Mathematics, Aqueduct
 * GPP: +2 Engineer
 * Effect:
 * +6 culture
 * +1 health in all cities
 * +1 population in all cities

No one can say no to extra health, and The Hanging Gardens is cheap if you have access to Stone. It also adds one more population in every city once it is built, which goes a long way to boost your economy and production and it also produces engineer points. Remember that with increased population adds to the city maintenance, so expect your income to drop depending on how many cities you possess and perhaps prepare for it with Courthouses if you're already in the red.

Hollywood

 * Cost: 1000
 * Requires: Mass Media
 * GPP: +2 artist
 * Effect:
 * +50% culture
 * 7 hit movies

Internet

 * Note: Considered a World Project.

Kashi Wishwanath

 * Note: Can only be built in a holy city with a Great Prophet.

Kong Miao

 * Note: Can only be built in a holy city with a Great Prophet.

The Kremlin

 * Cost: 800 (double production rate with stone)
 * Requires: Communism (vanilla and warlord) Theology (BTS)
 * GPP: +2 artist (Vanila and Warlord)/ +2 spy (BTS)
 * Effect:
 * -33% hurry production cost

This wonder is only effective under democracy or slavery. Running representation and emancipation is better, but this wonder is good if you don't like waiting. Hurrying production is useful in the early games, but not as effective in the late game where you have so many cities. Don't plan to build it, but occasionally you may want to if the AI is really backwards.

Mahabodhi

 * Note: Can only be built in a holy city with a Great Prophet.

Manhattan Project

 * Note: Considered a World Project.

Masjid al-Haram

 * Note: Can only be built in a holy city with a Great Prophet.

Notre Dame

 * Cost: 550 (double production rate with Stone)
 * Requires: Music (vanilla and warlord) /Engineering (BTS)
 * GPP: +2 artist
 * Effect:
 * +10 culture
 * +1 happiness in all cities on same continent

Free happiness! They don't come very often, especially during times of war. Wouldn't it be nice if you could reassure the masses of people that they will go to heaven when they die on the battlefield? The only downside is that it might not be so cost-effective on small maps or islands.

The Oracle

 * Cost: 150 (double production rate with Marble)
 * Requires: Priesthood
 * GPP: +2 Prophet
 * Effect:
 * +8 culture
 * 1 free tech

This early wonder offers some interesting game plays, gambits and strategies. One of the most common and easy one is to get Confucianism through Code of Law. Others involve getting Longbowman early on by Monarch → Feudalism. One elaborate strategy involves getting metal casting to build a forge, which allows an engineer and produces a great Engineer to hurry a Pyramid. Seems complicated, but it works. Even without a long term strategy, a free tech could give you a decisive advantage.

Parthenon

 * Cost: 400 (double production rate with Marble)
 * Requires: Polytheism (vanilla and warlord) Polytheism and Aesthetics(BTS)
 * Expires: Scientific Method
 * GPP: +2 Artist
 * Effect:
 * +10 culture
 * +50% GPP generation

Though the wonder's effect is nationwide, only a few cities would actually benefit as it is better to focus on one or two cities as great people farms. Therefore, this wonder does good in small maps but its effectiveness would diminish in large maps. If you have marble, you won't lose much building it. If you don't, it is still worthwhile if you are running a specialist economy and decide to have a Great People explosion in the mid game with Pacifism and Philosophical leaders.

The Pentagon

 * Cost: 1250
 * Requires: Assembly Line
 * GPP: +2 Engineer (vanilla and Warlord)/+2 spy (BTS)
 * Effect:
 * +2 XP to new units

If you have serious wars in the late game, this wonder comes in handy, with level 3 units coming out easily. But that is if. Usually, the real fight in late game involves those very experienced units that have fought hundreds of battles already. Also, it is likely that you are dominating and ready for conquest/domination/diplomacy victory, or you are in your small weak country for cultural/space race victory, minding your own business. In either case, you don't need extra experience anymore. The real battles are already fought in the middle age. If you still need a serious war to get victory, you should review what you have done in the mid game.

The Pyramids

 * Cost: 500 (double production rate with Stone)
 * Requires: Masonry
 * GPP: +2 Engineer
 * Effect:
 * +6 culture
 * Unlock all government civics

There are only two government civics with Pyramid that have a direct beneficial effect: representation and police state. Around the time you finish the Pyramids, Hereditary Rule is available around the corner, and you don't have many towns for Democracy's bonus. Police State is good for war, but it is mainly Representation that helps in the long term. The extra happiness comes in really handy in the early game, enabling a larger population. And the extra beakers makes specialist really helpful. The builder will likely go with specialist economy. However, the Pyramid is expensive, costing more than later wonders. If you don't have stone, and you are not planning to run a specialist economy, you have to weigh your priority before building it.

Rock 'N' Roll

 * Cost: 800
 * Requires: Radio
 * GPP: +2 artist
 * Effect:
 * +50% culture
 * +7 hit singles

Sistine Chapel

 * Cost: 600 (double production rate with Marble)
 * Requires: Theology (vanilla and warlord) Music (BTS)
 * GPP: +2 artist
 * Effect:
 * +10 culture
 * +2 culture per specialist in all cities
 * +5 culture per state religious building in all cities.

This wonder is the king in culture production. By itself, it already has +10 culture, as high as any world wonder can get. But with this wonder, every specialist is an artist, so you can generate culture without sacrificing hammer, coins or beaker. At the same time, your religious buildings suddenly become culture powerhouses: temples producing 6 culture, Monasteries 7 (the highest a building can have), and Cathedrals 2 in addition to the 50% bonus. With this wonder, you can win cultural wars decisively.

The Spiral Minaret

 * Cost: 550 (double production rate with Stone)
 * Requires: Divine Right
 * Expires: Computers
 * GPP: +2 Prophet
 * Effect:
 * +8 culture
 * +1 gold per all state religious buildings (vanilla and Warlords)/2 gold per all state religious buildings

If you want more money, this wonder helps you; if you want more research, this wonder helps by increasing your income so you can increase the science slider; If you are waging war, this wonder helps by raising more funds for your army upkeep. In fact, the only case that this wonder can't help is when don't have a state religion. If you have this wonder, you should keep your state religion until computers arrive. Meanwhile you build your religious building as priority and cash in! A side note: this wonder works differently from shrine. The gold is generated at where the religious building is, not where the Spiral Minaret is, so it doesn't matter if it is not built in your Wall Street City

Statue of Liberty

 * Cost: 1,500 (double production rate with Copper)
 * Requires: Democracy, Forge (vanilla and warlord) Theology (BTS)
 * GPP: +2 Merchant
 * Effect:
 * +6 culture
 * +1 free specialist in all cities on the same continent.

A free specialist effectively means that you have an extra laborer in your cities without consuming any food. You can really benefit much from it if you are on a large continent with a lot of cities. However, the Statue of Liberty's cost is horribly demanding. Although it is available through democracy, its cost exceeds the United Nation and Hollywood. Building this wonder will certainly cripple your city. You should reserve a great engineer for hurrying it so that you need less time for building it, and wait until you build the Ironworks or have a factory. If you are on a small map or islands, building it would probably cost too many of your precious turns.

Stonehenge

 * Cost: 120 (double production rate with stone)
 * Requires: Mysticism
 * Expires: Calender (Vanilla)/Astronomy (Warlord and BTS)
 * GPP: +2 Prophet
 * Effect:
 * +8 culture
 * Free Obelisk (Vanilla)/Monument (Warlord and BTS) in every city
 * Centers world map

As the earliest and cheapest wonder, this wonder is pretty strong. The builder would almost be guaranteed a Great prophet before everybody else, which could be used to found religion/build shrine and have a really good start. Free Obelisk/Monument means city borders expand on their own, allowing you to grab resources faster. If you're playing as a Charismatic leader; building this wonder would then be an extreme priority, since the trait offers 1 happiness from all Monuments and maintaining happiness early in the game before Monarchy can usually be a big issue. This wonder is so cheap that it is reasonable to get it and delay your second settler. On an easy level, this strategy pays off, but on higher difficulties, barbarians are absolutely murderous. A few extra warriors would ensure your survival. Therefore, carefully weigh your risk and return. If your UB is a replacement of Monument, you should definitely build it. On the other hand, if you are playing as a creative leader, building the Stonehenge is not wise.

Taj Mahal

 * Cost: 700 (double production rate with Marble)
 * Requires: Nationalism
 * GPP: +2 Artist
 * Effect:
 * Starts a Golden Age

Works fairly well in unison with the Mausoleum of Maussollos and it's usually built during the stage of the game where you'll begin to unlock the majority of the civics. Golden Ages nullify anarchy regardless of the scale of a revolution. Remember that Great Artists are among the last thing you'll want when you're closing in to the Industrial era, so if you wish to build The Taj Mahal, do it in a high-production, non-National Epic city.

Three Gorges Dam

 * Cost: 1750
 * Requires: Plastics
 * GPP: +2 Engineer
 * Effect:
 * Power in all cities on the continent

Offering power to all those cities might sound salivating, but in depth, this is one wonder where you should weigh in its economic drawbacks. The power offered might be clean power, but even with that, it's still a 2 sickness penalty in all cities. Power is only useful in conjunction with Factories (which are massive polluters itself, so you should really only dedicate a certain few cities if you plan to avoid Environmentalism), otherwise, it's just empty pollution. The Three Gorges Dam can also be considered as the most expensive wonder in the game. Technically, The Internet and The Space Elevator are, but access to respective resources would at least cut that cost in half. The Three Gorges Dam does not offer a bonus in production from resources.