When we’re talking about a game that literally encompasses all of human history, it might seem daunting to know where to start. This guide will help you sift through the cultures of Humankind, and amble through anthropology as you determine what sort of Earthly legend you become: a benevolent leader, master city planner, militaristic warmonger, consensus builder—whatever you decide, the fate of humanity is in your hands. In fact, let’s start there. Know thyself: consider the sort of godly power you wish to wield and proceed accordingly with your placement and culture choices.
NEOLITHIC ERA
Divide and Conquer
When you’ve acquired enough food for a second unit, consider splitting your Neolithic Army into two groups—they can cover more ground and scout for more food and resources. Keeping them together, however, is a good idea if you plan to take on dangerous potential meals such as Woolly Mammoths: you’ll need to wait for the ancient era and the military coordination technology to add multiple armies to the same battle and coordinate attacks from multiple angles.
Exploring in the Neolithic Era when there’s not a bunch of people on the planet yet, means that you can find a great spot to place your capital. While surveying your surroundings, you’ll notice that different types of terrain such as rivers or forests take longer to traverse, so choose your scouting routes wisely to ensure efficient exploration.
When you place new outposts to claim more territory, plop them on rivers—it will allow your armies to cross waterways more quickly. Formal diplomacy with your bordering neighbors is not possible at this early stage, but you can ransack their outposts and steal their food if you’re feeling mean.
CITIES & TERRITORIES
Master Your Domain
Terrain should inform your strategy, so grab what land you can ASAP, and then leverage that real-estate into projecting power. Build cities near natural obstacles such as mountains to make them more difficult to attack, and claim resource-rich lands and waters to fatten your treasury and trade stock.
Also keep in mind that the first city you found will become your empire’s capital, so take care in selecting a location that is rich in resources, and not too accessible to potential enemies.
To start building, click on the city center while keeping in mind that different quarters exploit different resources. For example, the makers quarter will exploit industry which helps you build things faster. The farmers quarter boosts food production, which grows your population faster and makes your city more productive. Also be sure to research calendar to gain access to the artisan quarter, which gives your city the crucial ability to exploit luxury resources for sustainable growth. It will also pave the way for technologies like writing to be discovered, allowing you to stay at the forefront of research.
Pro tip: placing specific quarters next to each other can create synergies that generate bonus resources, so keep this in mind when placing your districts.
CULTURES, FAME & ERA STARS
Crafting a Lineage and Legacy
The goal of this game is to win fame and collect Era Stars. Fame is the sole victory condition of Humankind, and can be accumulated throughout the game by achieving specific objectives. Some of these objectives these objectives earn you Era Stars, which allow you to advance through the eras of human history.
Your fame score is displayed in the upper left corner of the screen, and clicking on the button just above will open a screen which tells you precisely what your objectives are for the current era. Once you’ve earned seven era stars you can advance to the next era, so for instance advance to the Medieval Era from the Classical Era, or to the Industrial Era from the Early Modern Era.
Advancing to a new era allows you to choose a new culture from that time period and become emperor of that population. Entering a new era also provides access to this era’s Cultural Wonders: want to build the Pyramids of Giza, the Taj Mahal, Eiffel Tower, or countless other human historical wonders and reap the fame and adulation that comes with it? Go for it!
BATTLES & WAR
“Opportunities multiply as they are seized” -Sun Tzu
When building an empire, war is pretty much inevitable, as Julius Caesar, Napoleon, and many other great leaders can attest. In Humankind you, as emperor, command all of your military units through a simple interface that lets you confront, attack, defend, and outflank enemies.
Select a battle to choose whether duke it out manually, auto-play the conflict, or retreat. At the start of a manual battle there’s a deployment phase which allows you to position your ranged units such as archers, and close combat units such as warriors.
Try to pick advantageous terrain so you can, for instance, attack from high ground, before launching an assault. Battles can take several turns and last until all of your enemy’s units are eliminated or you’ve captured their flag—or you lose. Clever use of your units’ abilities and an awareness of the terrain they’re fighting on can improve your chances for glory.
Since battles take place on the world map in Humankind, rather than a separate battle map, the ‘where’ and ‘when’ of battles matter as much as the ‘how’. You want to expand your empire and attack when your population’s support for war is highest and you feel you’ll have an advantage with a first strike. A successful surprise attack can also lead to a swift victory which is key, as the longer a war drags on, the less support and stability you’ll enjoy from your followers.
Finally, knowing a bit of history can come in handy during the heat of combat. For example, the dreaded Testudo formation of the Roman legionnaires, or the fearsome Phalanx formation of ancient Greeks, are proven to be devastatingly effective warfare tactics that can turn the tide of battle.
Armed with this knowledge, you should be able to navigate the incredible accomplishments and complexities of humanity, and determine what sort of influence you would exert in the evolution of Humankind.
Published by Sega and developed by Amplitude Studios, the game drops August 17th and will be available on Steam, Epic, Game Pass for PC, Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Google Stadia.
