Amplitude has low-key brought amazing new mechanics to the 4X strategy game formula, a genre ubiquitous to Civilization. And now they are moving away from their deeply connected Endless series and make their own take on a human civilization-themed 4X game like Civ.
Called Humankind, it was first revealed at gamescom Opening Night Live with a rather ambiguous trailer, of course. But boy are they going for that Civ VI vibe- the colour palette of the world and how the tiles looks are of the same vibe.
But don’t expect a Civ rip-off. Humankind will let you play as any civilization, but by each age, you get to evolve and become another civ. An ancient Egyptian civ can evolve to the Vikings in the next age, for example, with each civ getting different gameplay. There’s a new victory condition- Fame- which takes account of how much memorable feats you have accomplished which determines the winner. Which sounds like Civ’s points-based end-of-time victory, but maybe more nuanced. Tactical battles and map elevation, something seen in Endless Legend, is also here.
Humankind will be coming to PC (Steam) next year.