Even though the title suggests different, there are basically no just good or just bad unique buildings (and units). Every UB and UU has to be evaluated in the context of the game settings and overall strategy it´s supposed to be used in. A (fictional) unique unit archer that gets +100% against melee units is useless in an game played on Islands, where you have no (military) contact with your opponents until Astronomy is researched and archers are long obsolete. A unique building is good if it significantly supports a (playable) strategy.

Bad

Mint
Unique building for the Malinese; Replaces ForgeThis is just plain useless. Usually every building has a scenario during which it helps. Those that have more scenarios or help a lot in a specific often occuring scenario are good Unique Buildings. This is a forge that additionaly gives your city +10% . In almost all sitiuations you want to keep the research rate as high as possible. Now if you run 80 or 90 percent research, that´s 10% bonus on 10 or 20 percent of your overall GNP - besides maybe for a massively cottaged capital that´s basically nothing, an insignificant amount at least.

If you ran 100% wealth for a few turns to save money and maximize the use of the Mint, you´d still be receiving way less bonus then you would on research with only a library in cities, which gives +25% . Saving money on 100% wealth to maximize bonuses if anytime is effective with markets, grocers and banks build. Those together though give a bonus of +100% - so the 10% of the Mint doesn´t play any role either.

A forge is a forge even if you call it a Mint and give it some kind of weird castle thing as a picture. Or what´s going on in that art :P ?

Good

Ger
Unique building for Mongolia; Replaces StableThis building finds its uses from ancient to industrial - it´s almost never a game breaker, but especially in clan games in planned out strategies it can play a nice role.

In earlier eras - whenever you´d have build stables anyway, you´ll be happy about the 2 additional experience points bringing you one fight closer to the next promotion level - which can potentially make the difference during an attack with Kehiks, the Mongolian horse archer or with Elephants.

It gets really interesting when you start combining the Ger with Vassalage and/or Theocracy and/or the Charismatic trait. Either two of those combined with barracks and the Ger result in tripple promoted mounted units. That can be Horse Archers or Elephants (Medieval), Knights (Renaissance) or Cavalry (Industrial). A charismatic Mongolian can build tripple promoted cavalry without having to leave Bureaucracy for Vassalage.


For Good UB - Bad UB part #1 click here

For Good UB - Bad UB part #2 click here