Humankind is a historical strategy game where you will re-write the entire narrative of humankind, a convergence of culture, history, and values that allows you to create a civilization that is as unique as you are. How far will you push humankind?
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Not well balanced but it's got a lot of new and interesting additions to the genre.
This game is currently in the Humble Choice for April 2024, and this is part of my coverage of the bundle. If you are interested in the game and it's before May 7th, 2024, consider picking up the game as part of the current monthly bundle.
Experience the entirety of humanity.
The fastest explanation of what Humankind is would be to say it’s like a different version of Civilization. There are a lot of changes here, such as not choosing a single civilization, but rather adopting a new culture with different bonuses for each era and a far superior battle system, but at the end of the day, this has all the same computer board game type of appeal that Civilization has, as well as all the complexity.
However, a lot of people have turned on this game after a long time citing the AI isn’t that strong, or cheats. This is the first game in this franchise, and while this is Amplitude Studio known for the Endless Space franchise, it does feel a little lacking. At the same time, if this is seen as a first entry in a longer franchise, there’s a lot of potential. However, that’s potential in future titles. Also, the text on the UI is frighteningly small. I usually play all games on my 50-inch TV connected to my computer and this one was unplayable but even on a normal monitor it’s a bit smaller than I would like.
Pick this up if you like Civilization, It’s 12 bucks, and you’ll easily get 20 hours into it and likely more. This has a nice different feel to it and like I said, I prefer this combat system to Civilization’s combat. You will have to learn all the differences but you’ll get a unique experience here.
Also, Humble's version is the definitive edition so all the DLC content is here.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/8q4m_yRP5xw
Experience the entirety of humanity.
The fastest explanation of what Humankind is would be to say it’s like a different version of Civilization. There are a lot of changes here, such as not choosing a single civilization, but rather adopting a new culture with different bonuses for each era and a far superior battle system, but at the end of the day, this has all the same computer board game type of appeal that Civilization has, as well as all the complexity.
However, a lot of people have turned on this game after a long time citing the AI isn’t that strong, or cheats. This is the first game in this franchise, and while this is Amplitude Studio known for the Endless Space franchise, it does feel a little lacking. At the same time, if this is seen as a first entry in a longer franchise, there’s a lot of potential. However, that’s potential in future titles. Also, the text on the UI is frighteningly small. I usually play all games on my 50-inch TV connected to my computer and this one was unplayable but even on a normal monitor it’s a bit smaller than I would like.
Pick this up if you like Civilization, It’s 12 bucks, and you’ll easily get 20 hours into it and likely more. This has a nice different feel to it and like I said, I prefer this combat system to Civilization’s combat. You will have to learn all the differences but you’ll get a unique experience here.
Also, Humble's version is the definitive edition so all the DLC content is here.
If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/8q4m_yRP5xw
I'm actually a big Civ fan, so I'm always eager to try different takes on the formula. When Humankind first launched, I was not a fan. But since it was included in this month's Humble Choice bundle with all the DLC, I thought I'd give it another shot. And I still don't like it, unfortunately.
It does a few things better than Civ, the main one being its events system, a mechanic that Civ desperately needs to add some needed flavor to playthroughs. However, everything else just feels like it's trying to capture what Civ does, but half-stepping their way towards that. Combat is needlessly complex. Diplomacy is utterly broken. Your units will get attacked at random by other Civs despite not being at war and you can't quite understand why. The mechanic for settling cities is a needless downgrade from Civ, adding extra steps to what should be a simple mechanic. Humankind also has the Civ VI issue of everything feeling like it takes forever to build due to ridiculous Production costs. At least in Humankind you can build multiple of the same District, and I like that Districts lower Loyalty/Stability instead of requiring Population.... but it just doesn't work right.
And good God, why can't I customize what tiles I work in my cities? Why can't I build roads? Why are so many things automated (like trade routes)? Why can't I buy tiles? Why is there a cap on how many cities I can found? You copied the District system from Civ VI, good for you, but the District system was put in Civ to make players play a wider playstyle instead of Civ V's meta of a few big cities. You're supposed to settle a lot of cities with the District system so you can specialize more cities and plant more Districts. Putting a cap on cities in Humankind just boggles my mind!
I think my biggest issue with Humankind is that it lacks identity. When I play Civ, I want to play as Rome, or America, or Babylon, or etc. I don't want to play a custom Civ against 5 other custom Civs. Humankind's Civs aren't Civs, they're just amalgamations of what bonuses you want to pick. That makes the gameplay feel samey. In Civ, the Civ you choose has unique abilities that you build around and take advantage of through the course of the game. That gives each Civ flavor and identity, it makes the game replayable. Humankind does not do that. It makes everyone feel generic, and all of a sudden it's just about what build you feel like making, and then beelining all of the cultures per era that fit your said build.
And that's a big problem, because it makes it so Humankind doesn't have a personality at all. It feels very generic, bland, and utterly boring.
Score: 70
It does a few things better than Civ, the main one being its events system, a mechanic that Civ desperately needs to add some needed flavor to playthroughs. However, everything else just feels like it's trying to capture what Civ does, but half-stepping their way towards that. Combat is needlessly complex. Diplomacy is utterly broken. Your units will get attacked at random by other Civs despite not being at war and you can't quite understand why. The mechanic for settling cities is a needless downgrade from Civ, adding extra steps to what should be a simple mechanic. Humankind also has the Civ VI issue of everything feeling like it takes forever to build due to ridiculous Production costs. At least in Humankind you can build multiple of the same District, and I like that Districts lower Loyalty/Stability instead of requiring Population.... but it just doesn't work right.
And good God, why can't I customize what tiles I work in my cities? Why can't I build roads? Why are so many things automated (like trade routes)? Why can't I buy tiles? Why is there a cap on how many cities I can found? You copied the District system from Civ VI, good for you, but the District system was put in Civ to make players play a wider playstyle instead of Civ V's meta of a few big cities. You're supposed to settle a lot of cities with the District system so you can specialize more cities and plant more Districts. Putting a cap on cities in Humankind just boggles my mind!
I think my biggest issue with Humankind is that it lacks identity. When I play Civ, I want to play as Rome, or America, or Babylon, or etc. I don't want to play a custom Civ against 5 other custom Civs. Humankind's Civs aren't Civs, they're just amalgamations of what bonuses you want to pick. That makes the gameplay feel samey. In Civ, the Civ you choose has unique abilities that you build around and take advantage of through the course of the game. That gives each Civ flavor and identity, it makes the game replayable. Humankind does not do that. It makes everyone feel generic, and all of a sudden it's just about what build you feel like making, and then beelining all of the cultures per era that fit your said build.
And that's a big problem, because it makes it so Humankind doesn't have a personality at all. It feels very generic, bland, and utterly boring.
Score: 70
This game has the framework to be a great game. The graphics are beautiful, the UI is great, the narration and sounds are satisfying. The entire concept is also a great idea, with civics and religion and cultures. The territory and battle mechanics are fantastic as well.
All of the above is ruined with terrible pacing. Nothing you do feels significant. This is the complete opposite to games such as civ 6 where a single turn can be quite impactful (which also has its issues).
In Humankind i reached the industrial era far earlier than any of the AI and I did not even need/manage to build basic buildings to achieve this such as a [i] school [/i]. And this is just the start, in my capital there are at least 10 ancient/medieval era buildings still left for me to build, because everything moves by so quickly that I never even had the chance to think about building them, and it doesn't even feel like I need to.
The AI is definitely not completely terrible but still suffers from some issues with falling behind. Despite losses I expect my neighbors to be able to rebuild. Instead, my neighbor is stuck with two cities with 1-5 pops because they get rebellions every other turn that my troops are left to deal with. I could easily crush them but they are supposed to be my ally.
When this game came out I understood that balance would be something that takes time to fix. However, it has been a couple of years or so since this games release and I only see marginal improvements.
I would like to see how this game works with my friends but even at low graphics it is not well optimized for play, and given the issues its a bit difficult to convince others to make the purchase.
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this game
All of the above is ruined with terrible pacing. Nothing you do feels significant. This is the complete opposite to games such as civ 6 where a single turn can be quite impactful (which also has its issues).
In Humankind i reached the industrial era far earlier than any of the AI and I did not even need/manage to build basic buildings to achieve this such as a [i] school [/i]. And this is just the start, in my capital there are at least 10 ancient/medieval era buildings still left for me to build, because everything moves by so quickly that I never even had the chance to think about building them, and it doesn't even feel like I need to.
The AI is definitely not completely terrible but still suffers from some issues with falling behind. Despite losses I expect my neighbors to be able to rebuild. Instead, my neighbor is stuck with two cities with 1-5 pops because they get rebellions every other turn that my troops are left to deal with. I could easily crush them but they are supposed to be my ally.
When this game came out I understood that balance would be something that takes time to fix. However, it has been a couple of years or so since this games release and I only see marginal improvements.
I would like to see how this game works with my friends but even at low graphics it is not well optimized for play, and given the issues its a bit difficult to convince others to make the purchase.
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this game
As a competitor to "Civilization," it was a promising game at release, despite notable issues. With subsequent patches and expansions, the game has cultivated its unique identity and now stands on its own. It takes some time to become familiar with the intended way the game is meant to be played, but worth it.
It took me a second play-through to get into it, but boy howdy did I. I ended up with that classic "look at the clock and the sun is rising" moment of being absolutely sucked in by this game. I still think the civilization series is a better introduction to the genre, but for people already familiar with it they should give humankind a shot.