Humankind

Humankind is an interesting but fairly safe riff on historical 4X that doesn't always rise to meet its potential.

Humankind is a flawed but fascinating attempt to reinvent the Civilization-style 4X strategy game.

Amplitude's big play for the historical grand strategy crown is ambitious and considered, but it's missing a little magic.

A smart historical 4X that doesn't quite match the inventiveness of the studio's best.

Embracing player motivations from start to finish, Humankind refreshes the 4X genre – even with a couple of technical kinks.

Humankind is, by and large, exactly what I hoped: a heavyweight alternative to Civilization in the world of historical strategy. Its mechanics take some getting used to, but there's genius at its heart.

Humankind is a very interesting 4X strategy game with a wide variety of elements, most of which are very detailed - though some, like religion, can feel a little undercooked. From city building, expansion and the urban sprawl over time, so much of the development of the world is well represented here. Science, influence, war, economy, growth - there's very little you'll find covered here.

Of course Humankind feels home on PC, but the porting is decently crafted and, despite some flaws in the controls and in the UI, manages to offer to console players all the good (and the bad) it had when played using a mouse and a keyboard on your computer.

This 4X turn-based strategy has some truly original ideas. Some of these are great, some not really, but despite some flaws, Humankind can keep players entertained for hours.

HUMANKIND is a well-made civilisation game that happens to do the exact thing Civilization VI does, except for additional modes, Sean Bean's voice, and popularity.