Unlike others games of the 4X genre, Humankind players start as a nomadic tribe during the Neolithic Era, meaning you don’t have a starting city. This is a nice touch that makes the game different from its competitors.
During that Neolithic Era, players have only one unit; a Hunting Party.
The player’s objective is to get their first Era Star so that they’re able to select a culture, which causes them to advance to the Ancient Era. The quicker you advance, the better selection of cultures you get to pick from and the more chance you have of winning your game of Humankind.
Players will not have a city during the Neolithic Era, but they will be able to place it on the map as the game progresses. It isn’t possible to build a City during the First Era, though.
Empires can only build structures — including cities — in a claimed territory.
But how do you do it? When can you claim your first Territory in Humankind?
Claiming a Territory
A Territory is claimed when the player builds an Outpost in it, and it can be done from the first era — The Neolithic Era — as long as you have enough Influence to do so. You can check the purple start on the top right to see the cost in Influence to build your Outpost.
To place an Outpost — and as consequence, claim a territory — you just need to click on your unit or army and select the Claim Territory action. Then, select a valid tile and place the Outpost.
In this game, territories are randomly generated when a game starts. They can be controlled by an Outpost or a City and can even be combined. Combining territories makes it so that fewer cities are required to control the area.
Since players start the game with a Nomadic tribe, there won’t be any City creation at first. That can only happen once players have reached the Ancient Era.
Creating a City
Once you have reached the Ancient Era, choose the Outpost that you want to become your City. Then, all that you need to do is to click on it and select “Evolve your Outpost into a City.”
Once a city is created, players will create a Main Plaza District on the tile. That will work as the central area of your City, which will grow from there.
Players can also create cities without an outpost in case they’re using a settler. However, doing so will make you lose the unit.
In the Ancient Era, no technology is required to create a city. As time advances and you go through new Eras, new City Creation Projects become available.
For instance, players can use the Colony Model during the Medieval Era as long as they have the Feudalism technology.
- Ancient Era: City Creation — No special technology required
- Medieval Era: Colony Model — Feudalism technology required
- Early Modern Era: Colony Plan — Three-Mastered Ship technology required
- Colony Blueprint: Industrial Era — Steam Engine technology required
- Contemporary Era: Colony Grid — Civil Engineering technology required
Expanding and Combining Territories
Once players have multiple Territories, they can be merged. Players can do it by Absorbing Cities or Attaching Outposts. Attaching Outposts cost influence and reduce your city stability, though, so keep that in mind.
While having Outposts attached to your Territory does not require anything, there is a technological requirement for players to absorb cities — the Military Architecture Technology that becomes available during the Medieval Era.
Hopefully, by now you know how to claim a Territory, when you can do it, and how to combine them. All that is left now is to gather as much Fame as possible!
Or, you can check out our beginner tips for Humankind to make sure you’ve got enough knowledge to win at the easier difficulties.
