Here is the comprehensive guide on Civ 6 vs. Humankind, focusing on the strategic implications of changing your civilization’s culture mid-game.
In the grand tapestry of 4X strategy games, few decisions are as impactful as the one that defines your people’s identity. For decades, the genre has been dominated by the idea of a fixed civilization, a single culture that you guide from its nascent stages to global dominance. Sid Meier’s Civilization VI stands as a testament to this design philosophy, where your choice of civilization is a binding contract for the entire game. But what if it wasn’t? What if you could shed your cultural skin and adopt a new one, adapting to the ever-changing tides of history? This is the revolutionary question posed by Humankind, a game that dares to challenge the very foundations of the 4X genre. This guide will delve into the strategic depths of both approaches, analyzing the profound implications of a fluid cultural identity versus a fixed one.
The Core Philosophy: A Tale of Two Designs
At the heart of the difference between Civilization VI and Humankind lies a fundamental disagreement on the nature of a civilization. Civilization VI presents a romanticized view of history, where each civilization is a monolithic entity with a singular, defining characteristic. The Romans are relentless expansionists, the Egyptians are master builders, and the Aztecs are fearsome warriors. This design choice provides a strong sense of identity and a clear strategic direction from the outset. Your civilization’s unique abilities, units, and buildings are your tools, and your task is to leverage them to their fullest potential.
Humankind, on the other hand, views history as a dynamic and ever-changing process. It argues that a civilization is not a static entity but a composite of various cultures that have risen and fallen throughout the ages. The game reflects this by allowing you to choose a new culture at the dawn of each era, from the Ancient to the Contemporary. This means you can start as the expansionist Zhou, transition to the scientific Greeks, then become the militaristic Mongols, and finally, the industrial British. This fluidity is not just a gimmick; it’s the core of the game’s strategic depth, forcing you to constantly adapt and evolve your civilization’s identity.
The Art of the Pivot: Adapting to a Changing World
The ability to change your culture mid-game in Humankind has profound strategic implications. It allows for a level of adaptability that is simply not possible in Civilization VI. Player communities and professional gamers alike have identified several key scenarios where a mid-game culture change can be a game-winning move.
Responding to Threats and Opportunities
Analysis on forums shows that one of the most common reasons to change cultures in Humankind is to respond to an immediate threat or seize a fleeting opportunity. If you find yourself facing an aggressive neighbor with a superior military, switching to a militaristic culture like the Huns or the Mongols can provide you with the immediate military muscle you need to defend your borders and even launch a counter-attack. Conversely, if you find yourself in a peaceful corner of the world with abundant resources, you might choose to switch to a builder culture like the Egyptians or the Mughals to accelerate your city development and create a powerful economic engine.
Synergizing Legacy Traits
A popular strategy in Humankind is to create powerful synergies by combining the legacy traits of different cultures. Each culture you choose provides a permanent legacy trait that stacks with the traits of your previous cultures. This allows for a wide range of creative and powerful combinations. For example, you could combine the food bonuses of an agrarian culture with the influence generation of an aesthete culture to create a populous and influential empire. Or, you could stack multiple military traits to create an unstoppable war machine. The possibilities are virtually endless, and the player community is constantly discovering new and powerful combinations.
The Cost of Change
Of course, changing cultures in Humankind is not without its costs. When you adopt a new culture, you lose the ability to build the emblematic quarters and units of your previous culture. This means you need to carefully consider the long-term consequences of your decision. Is the immediate benefit of a new culture worth giving up the long-term advantages of your current one? This is a question that players must constantly grapple with, and the answer is often not clear-cut.
The Strength of Identity: Mastering a Single Civilization
While Humankind‘s fluid cultural identity offers a high degree of flexibility, Civilization VI‘s fixed-civilization approach has its own strategic advantages. By focusing on a single civilization for the entire game, you can achieve a level of mastery and specialization that is not possible in Humankind.
A Clear Strategic Direction
One of the biggest advantages of a fixed civilization is that it provides a clear strategic direction from the very beginning of the game. If you choose to play as the Romans, you know that your path to victory lies in aggressive expansion and military conquest. If you choose to play as the Egyptians, you know that your strength lies in building wonders and developing your infrastructure. This clear sense of direction allows you to focus your efforts and make long-term strategic plans with a high degree of confidence.
Leveraging Unique Abilities
Each civilization in Civilization VI has a unique set of abilities, units, and buildings that are designed to work together in a synergistic way. Mastering a civilization means learning how to leverage these unique abilities to their fullest potential. For example, a skilled player playing as the Aztecs will know how to use their Eagle Warriors to capture enemy units and turn them into builders, allowing them to rapidly expand their empire and build a powerful economy. This level of specialization can be incredibly rewarding and can lead to some truly spectacular victories.
The Challenge of the Pivot
Of course, a fixed civilization also means that you are locked into a specific playstyle. If you find yourself in a situation where your civilization’s unique abilities are not well-suited to the current state of the game, you may find it difficult to adapt. For example, if you are playing as a peaceful, builder-focused civilization and you suddenly find yourself surrounded by aggressive neighbors, you may struggle to defend yourself. This is where the art of the pivot comes in. While you can’t change your civilization’s fundamental identity, you can shift your strategic focus by changing your government, policies, and production priorities. A successful pivot can be a challenging but incredibly rewarding experience, and it is one of the hallmarks of a skilled Civilization VI player.
A Tale of Two Victories: How Culture Shapes the Endgame
The different approaches to culture in Civilization VI and Humankind also have a profound impact on the endgame. In Civilization VI, the cultural victory is a specific victory condition that requires you to generate a high amount of tourism. This is a long and complex process that involves building wonders, creating great works of art, and establishing national parks. It is a victory condition that requires a high degree of specialization and long-term planning.
In Humankind, on the other hand, there is no specific “cultural victory.” Instead, victory is determined by a fame system that rewards you for a wide range of achievements, from scientific discoveries to military conquests. This means that you can win the game through a variety of different playstyles, and you are not locked into a single victory condition. This open-ended approach to victory is a direct reflection of the game’s fluid cultural identity, and it is one of the things that makes Humankind such a unique and replayable experience.
Conclusion: A New Era for 4X Strategy
The debate over which approach to culture is “better” is ultimately a matter of personal preference. Both Civilization VI and Humankind are excellent games that offer deep and rewarding strategic experiences. Civilization VI is a game for players who enjoy the challenge of mastering a single civilization and executing a long-term strategic plan. Humankind is a game for players who enjoy the freedom and flexibility of a fluid cultural identity and the challenge of constantly adapting to a changing world.
What is clear, however, is that Humankind‘s innovative approach to culture has opened up a new frontier for the 4X genre. It has challenged the long-held assumption that a civilization must be a fixed and monolithic entity, and it has shown that a fluid cultural identity can be just as, if not more, strategically engaging. Whether or not other 4X games will follow in Humankind‘s footsteps remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the conversation about what it means to be a civilization has been forever changed. The player community is in agreement: the choice between a fixed or fluid cultural identity is a choice between two equally valid and engaging strategic philosophies. The best choice is the one that best suits your personal playstyle and strategic preferences.