‘Humankind’ is messier than ‘Civilization’ but in a good way

Humankind is much like Civilization in that there will inevitably come a point when you look up and realise you’ve been playing for 10 hours straight and work starts in two hours.

Developed by Endless Space‘s Amplitude Studios, Humankind is a 4X turn-based strategy game which puts you in charge of building an empire and managing resources, diplomacy, and war through the ages. Comparisons to the Civilization series have been inescapable, and with good reason. From the hexagonal map tiles to balancing the shoring up of resources like food and science, many of Humankind‘s features will be familiar to fans of the popular utopia/world domination simulator.

How is ‘Humankind’ different from ‘Civilization’?

The most immediate distinction between them is that rather than choosing one civilisation to roleplay and distort until the nuclear apocalypse, Humankind lets you gradually Frankenstein your own civ together from a mishmash of others. Starting in the Neolithic Era, players can choose to adopt a different real culture upon reaching each new era, adding its associated perk to the ones already accumulated in previous eras, unlocking new unique units, and triggering a sudden pivot in your society’s aesthetics — which is primarily apparent in your avatar’s new couture. Clothing is the least of your concerns, but it’s interesting to see your leader suddenly change their style like they went backpacking across Asia and came back insufferable.

It isn’t the most seamless progression, as switching from Zhou to Greek to Umayyad inevitably feels jarring and disjointed. All empires also undergo name changes according to which culture they adopt, which can get mildly confusing if you haven’t been paying much attention to international relations (fortunately they retain their faction colour and symbol).

Even so, Humankind‘s approach gives players flexibility Civilization doesn’t offer, allowing you to shift priorities and shape society according to how your empire is naturally evolving. You might have initially chosen a culture with farming-focused perks, but discovered you were more interested in conquest and opted for a military-oriented one in the next era. It makes the decision of which culture to adopt feel more reactive than prescriptive, while still being aspirational.

Humankind‘s win conditions also offer players more freedom. Rather than having multiple separate paths to victory as in Civilization, Humankind‘s winner is determined by whoever has accumulated the most Fame points by the game’s end. Fame can be earned through various methods, such as building wonders like the Sydney Opera House and researching certain world-changing innovations like electricity. Most significantly, you can also gain Fame by reaching specific milestones in your civilisation’s development, like acquiring a certain number of territories, and being awarded Era Stars for it.

Moving on to the next Era is only possible by earning Era Stars. There are seven different categories with three Era Stars each, making for a total of 21 available per Era. Earn seven Era Stars in any combination and you get to adopt a new culture and move to the next Era. Humankind awards Era Stars through a mix of objectives such as population expansion, military victory, and scientific achievement, meaning you can switch focus in whatever way your whims direct rather than having to keep a specific endgame in mind.

Does all of that sound confusing on paper? Yes. But it eventually settles into place as you dig in, and you’ll find yourself naturally earning stars as you progress anyway, regardless of what you choose to prioritise. I found I wasn’t obsessing over Era Stars, and I was more concerned with seeing the sweet navy blue of my influence gradually wash over the globe. As wonderful as diverse cultures are in real life, it’s despotically satisfying to see your power completely engulf Humankind‘s map.

Bad neighbours

There are a few elements in Humankind that didn’t quite work the way I’d expected them to. For example, when I agreed to the possibility of trading strategic resources with my neighbour, I expected to be able to negotiate individual contracts or at least set a price. Instead, I simply got a notification informing me that they had purchased rights to my horses for 20 gold — nowhere near the price a shrewd ruler/business magnate such as myself would have demanded. It was the same when it came to making demands of other nations, too. I could either forgive a grievance or request restitution, but what that compensation would be was always predetermined by the game without my input.

I also annexed some independent cities, not realising until afterward that my neighbour had been their patron. In my defence, details like this are easy to miss among Humankind‘s endless cavalcade of statistics and information, and there is no clear diplomacy screen overviewing every faction’s relationship to each other inclusive of independent people. Fortunately I was already powerful enough that my neighbour just kind of grumbled in my direction, but it could have resulted in war were I in a less stable position.

Unlike Civilization, Humankind‘s borders are immutable and slot together like puzzle pieces rather than fluctuating according to the strength of your society’s culture or influence. As such, the only way to expand your territory is to either establish outposts in unclaimed land, or take cities from other powers. This approach means you don’t have to worry as much about an enemy gaining land solely through the creeping power of K-pop, but neither can you — a fact which resulted in a big no man’s land hole in the middle of my civilisation. Spreading your influence enough can eventually let you demand a territory from another empire, and potentially go to war if they refuse, but it’s a much less gradual, insidious acquisition.

Joy in imperfection

I did encounter several bugs in my 15 hours with Humankind, but they were largely easy to ignore or work around — or in fact worked in my favour. For example, when another empire demanded I change my policies to match theirs, the stability penalty for refusing never seemed to kick in. I thus shamelessly exploited this by habitually turning down foreign demands without a second thought.

Further, though one of my opponents was eliminated fairly early on, I could still access their diplomacy screen (though I couldn’t interact) and sometimes received notifications that they’d discovered a wonder or their attitude toward me had changed. I received similar nonsensical notifications often, telling me information like that I was losing a non-existent war with a nation I counted as an ally. These were relatively minor bugs though, and didn’t detract from the game’s overall function nor my overall enjoyment.

A more concerning issue is that I’ve reached Humankind‘s end game but there’s still no indication of when or how the game might actually end. I’ve maxed out the tech tree, sent a mission to Mars, and am over 450 turns in, but the “game ends in X turns” text in the top left corner of my screen stubbornly displays an infinite symbol. I wish I could at least generate more Fame through my researchers, as science has become an entirely useless resource at this point. I am considering starting a war just to feel something.

I am considering starting a war just to feel something.

All of these bugs will likely be fixed soon enough. Even so, the journey to this point has been enjoyable enough that I’m not too upset that I can’t seem to reach an official end. The tale of my eventually Chinese civilisation has ended in my heart, with me revered, feared, and still the lowest polluter on the planet. (It seems an oversight that I can’t make demands relating to climate concerns.)

If you like turn-based strategy games, city-building games, or the satisfaction of overtaking a pie graph, there’s a fair bet you’ll enjoy Humankind. It does feel a bit messier than Civilization, but that isn’t a bad thing. The human world is, after all, a mess.

Humankind is out August 17 on PC.

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