Humankind is a 4X game, which stands for Explore, Expand, Exploit, and Exterminate. Out of the 4 X's, the first two are the most important. The game is essentially about controlling land and territory, as Humankind's players build an empire that spans history.
How do players control territory? Like in most 4X games, they do so by building Humankind's cities. Not only does each city generate resources, like money, units, and influence, but each one also expands the player's borders.
But players should keep their expansionist impulses in check. First, each city needs to be cared for and kept stable, so building too many cities early may spread resources thin. Second, Humankind has a city cap, which limits the number of cities a player can own. If they exceed this cap, the player starts bleeding influence.
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There are ways to increase the city cap. It's not a hard limit. But in the meantime, they can keep expanding using outposts to increase an established city's size.
Outposts
Outposts are the first and simplest type of settlement a player can make. Players can build them by embarking Humankind's units onto unclaimed territory. Unlike cities, outposts aren't affected by the city cap. Furthermore, outposts can be relocated, while cities can't.
An outpost can't do much on its own, however. Normally, the best action is to upgrade it into a city as fast as possible. But when that isn't an option, players have an alternate route: they can attach an outpost to an exiting city.
Attaching Outposts
Next to each Humankind city and outpost name is a button with a chain symbol. This button allows players to merge settlements. When the player clicks on the chain button next to a city, a list of nearby outposts comes up. The opposite happens when clicking on the chain button next to an outpost. From there, the player simply needs to click the "attach" button, and the city and outpost become one, expanding the city's building space.
This isn't a free action, however. Merging a city and outpost costs the player influence points and the city's stability points. This cost rises as the distance between the merged city and outpost grows. Players should decide early whether an outpost will be a new city or an expansion of an old one and locate it accordingly. They can also relocate an outpost closer to the city, but moving costs influence, so it's best to get it right the first time.
Humankind is available now for PC and Stadia.