Statue of Liberty



Cost: 7/5

+3 yellow token

Your government produce culture equal to its level.

Statue of Liberty in History
This famous American landmark was a gift of friendship from France to the United States. The pedestal was designed and constructed by Americans, and the statue was built by a French sculptor Frederic-Auguste and a French designer Bartholdi Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel (yep, the same guy that designed the Eiffel Tower).

The original goal was to finish the statue by 1876, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, but since the statue itself was built in France, it took some time (and effort) to transport and assemble it. To be precise, it had to be shipped in more than 200 crates, and it took more than 4 months to construct it.

Given its position in the Upper New York Bay, it was initially meant to be a lighthouse, but the torchlight wasn't visible enough for this purpose. Now it is a national monument, and there is a museum of its history in the pedestal.

Built to welcome the immigrants that came to the United States to start a new life, to this day, the Statue of Liberty remains the symbol of freedom and democracy. And one last interesting fact: since 1916, the public has been banned from the Torch balcony, but there is a live stream accessible for everyone to enjoy the spectacular view.

Designer's Note
Although it might not be apparent, even in the game, the Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom and democracy. The extra yellow tokens represent not just lots of new land to settle in, but also the freedom and independence of the citizens – more yellow tokens mean you need less centrally produced food and entertainment. The extra culture depends on the level of your government – your Democracy now produces amazing 6 culture, but it works also with other advanced governments. It is not hard to imagine how would such statue look and be named in, say, a communist country.

Statue of Liberty was an obvious choice for a wonder. However, both its effect and theme a bit overlapped with Ocean Liner, so it didn’t make it to the final pick of the base game. In the expansion, the need for an additional wonder that helps to solve population appeared again, so the Statue of Liberty returned.

During most of the playtesting, it produced one more culture than now, but it made it the strongest Age II wonder. Now, its power seems to be on par with others.