Humankind is a 4x turn-based strategy game developed by Amplitude Studios and published by SEGA. The game allows players to advance through the eras of human evolution, taking control of various cultures from different time periods, each with its own unique playstyle. Players have 300 turns as they compete with each other to become the greatest empire.
Humankind's main scoring system is fame. Fame can be earned in a number of ways, such as achieving goals in each era to earn fame and stars, which are used to progress through eras. Since its release, the game has been held in high regard by players and critics alike, being hailed as a vast improvement to many of the usual 4x games. Among the elements that have earned it this status are some of these surprising actions that players can take.
10 Choose What to Do With Population
In Humankind, as a city grows, it gains more population. Players can employ some of this increased population as specialists to raise the production of the FIMS resources. FIMS is an acronym for Farming, Industry, Money, and Science, and together they comprise the four major yields of the game.
These four resources are essential to keep a city running, while also making it beneficial to an empire. Often Food and Industry need to be prioritized to progress the growth and production of a city, while Money and Science are necessary to grow the strength of an empire.
9 Trade With Other Empires
Dealings with other empires can occur at any time during the game after a player has first met an enemy. The various dealings include trading maps with each other, or forming non-aggression pacts that can be important for empires that are lacking a military.
Another type of deal players can strike is the trading of luxury resources, or all resources including strategic ones. This can be incredibly useful, as it allows empires to gains some gold or stability from receiving the resource, as well as any bonuses the resource may provide.
8 Create A Vassal
Once a war has been declared, the two sides will typically fight until one side has been wiped off the map. However, one option is for one side to become surrender and become a vassal to their opposing empire. In this case, the war ceases, and the victor becomes a liege.
When in this state, the two concerned empires share resources, while the vassal gifts the liege gold per turn. The liege also controls all diplomatic relations and grievances of the vassal. At any point, a vassal may demand freedom, which will set the two empires back into war. Certain empires, such as the British, can gain a benefit from having vassals and being a liege.
7 Manual Battles
Battles in most 4x strategy games involve two units facing off against each other, with the outcome being somewhat randomly determined based on various factors impacting the units involved. Humankind instead allows players to micromanage their units during these battles.
This can be ignored by simply auto-resolving all battlesl however, manual battles are much more favorable towards players, and can allow even the direst of situations to become winnable. Due to the slight extra time it takes, players should always try to manually resolve all of their battles.
6 View Enemy AI Traits
The adversaries that appear in a game fall into different archetypes, with many categories that behaviors fall into. For example, Leadership is focused on using population, and a Cruel leader will be more likely to spend their population to speed up building production.
There are also strengths and biases which can affect an AI personality. These strengths provide an AI with a small bonus depending on the type. One example is the Scientist, which gives science quarters more science. Biases simply give an AI a small quirk, such as Maritime, which makes AI lean towards building naval units and coastal cities.
5 Quickly Gain Population
At the start of the game, it is important to maintain a good population as it can be distributed among FIMS resources to boost production. The downside is that it can be difficult to get a large population. This would require a lot of Farms to be constructed, when players should focus on Industry during the early game instead.
Choosing an Ancient Culture such as Egyptians or Harappans increases Food and Industry output, which can help improve the important resource output. Furthermore, units gained during the Neolithic era can be later disbanded to give a single population to each.
4 Fun Cursor Interactions
Players will often spend a lot of time staring at the same map screen while waiting for enemy turns to take place. The developers added a fun little secret into the game to counteract any boredom a player might experience.
The cursor can interact with various objects as it hovers over and moves around the map. Some interactions may be as simple as a visible breeze passing through a group of trees under the mouse. Another one lets the player heard cattle with their mouse, making animals run around the map.
3 Unlock Enemy AI & Avatars
The unique avatar system of Humankind allows players to choose the AI characters they wish to play against. Each character has its own unique traits. This feature allows players to create their own individual avatars, which they can share with their friends.
Additionally players can unlock new avatars. Some could be earned by pre-purchasing the game, but some can be earned as Twitch drops. By watching streamers play, players can unlock that streamer's avatar in-game. Streamers with these avatars include Lewis from the UK-based group The Yogscast, and E-Sports announcer Frankie Ward.
2 Merge Territories
Humankind allows cities to be built on almost any tile, excluding water and mountain tiles. This is the case with many games of this genre, but there's one thing that makes this game's map unique. Humankind's map is divided up into territories that are claimed by a player whenever they place an outpost in it.
This later allows players to merge their territories together, by building an outpost and merging it with an adjacent city. Later, technologies can be researched, allowing adjacent cities to combine. These combined territories share population and land, allowing quarters to be built next to either city.
1 Make Alliances
As an alternative to warring and making vassals out of empires, players can make alliances with enemies. These alliances allow the two empires access to new treaties, which provide a major improvement over the previous treaties that had been allowed.
These treaties include free trade between nations, allowing a lower cost when creating trade routes. Additionally, scientific agreements can increase the science output of both empires. A cultural agreement can bring their ideological proximity closer, making treaties easier to pass.