Humankind Guide: All info about gameplay & release

In our info guide to Humankind you will learn:

  • How much the gameplay reminds us of Civilization 6
  • What Humankind wants to do differently
  • When & for which platforms it will be released

In the turn-based strategy game Humankind, you live through human history like never before. The Civilization clone(our ultimate guide to Civilization 6) lets you form your own people from over 60 cultures, create your own character, fight tactical battles and build prosperous cities. We've taken a look at all the gameplay & release info for Humankind and reveal what you can look forward to.

1. Gameplay & Cultures - How does Humankind play?

In Humankind, you choose a culture at the beginning and relive human history with it. The special feature: Your tribe can be influenced by other cultures, creating a new mixed culture. Battles, alliances or neighbors influence you just as much as the culture you choose.

With each round played, years or decades pass in Humankind. While you are writing human history, you will live through up to six ages. In each age, you choose one of 10 cultures to represent. This will give you access to special units, unique buildings and new technologies of the chosen culture. You'll have to choose a new cultural alignment at each age change, so you'll inevitably play unique culture combinations.

In terms of gameplay, developer Amplitude Studios has clearly taken the Civilization series () as a model. You'll collect resources, research technologies and develop further. However, the victory condition is new in Humankind. To be victorious, you must collect "glory" during each age.

For each achievement, you'll collect stars that, once you've earned seven, will let you advance to the next age. Achievements are awarded for special discoveries, conquered cities, buildings or alliances, among other things.

2. RPG-style character creation

In Humankind, you create your own leader. Like in a role-playing game, you have countless templates and controls with which you can be creative. This means that your character doesn't have to have a real personality, but can be a mixture of many cultures.

Create a leader according to your wishes in the character creation.

However, we don't know at this point whether the customizations will be as extensive as in a The Sims 4.

3. Bigger, more beautiful, better - The world maps of Humankind

The developers want to design authentic and plausible game maps. Therefore, the worlds take real existing biomes as a basis. These offer, like the real world, unique natural wonders and sights. Occupy a natural wonder and you'll receive powerful cultural bonuses.

When you discover landmarks, such as the deepest valley or the highest mountain, you can name them however you like. In addition, you'll get fame, which will let you advance to the next age faster.

The gameplay is also directly influenced by the world map. Higher cities are better protected from attacks, but usually have less building and farming space. Units can see farther if they take up elevated positions. In valleys, visibility is accordingly limited. The same is true in battles. If you attack troops higher up, you are at a disadvantage. On the other hand, if you fall down on the enemy, you will receive attack bonuses.

4. How do economy & city building work in Humankind?

As usual in good old Civ style, you play on hexes in Humankind, which contain different resources depending on the terrain. Besides the classics "food" and "production", there can also be research or culture bonuses on hexes.

In addition, there are strategic resources that will have a significant influence on the available units. Finally, there are luxury resources, which will provide more amenities and prosperity in your cities.

Cities develop according to the chosen culture and can become huge.

A gameplay innovation, on the other hand, is to be found in the cities. These will get bigger and bigger in Humankind and will later spread out over entire regions. In addition, their appearance is influenced by all kinds of cultures: whether through neighbors, alliances or the choice of a new culture. For example, it's conceivable that a British-looking city will have pyramids or Indian temples.

5. Release & platforms of Humankind

Already at Gamescom 2019, the developers revealed that the release of Humankind is planned for 2020. The developer diaries provide information about what is being worked on, but not how far the development is. Our guess is a release in the fall of this year.

In each age, you are supposed to have 10 cultures to choose from.

Initially, Humankind will only be released on PC. A later release for PS5(All about the PS5 release) and Xbox Series X(All info about the PS5 killer) doesn't seem out of the question, though.

Exciting info on unreleased strategy games

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