Players of Sega and Amplitude’s Humankind must guide their Civilization from the Neolithic age to modernity. That also means carefully managing their resources and not getting in over their head with rapid expansion.
Civilizations in Humankind can only support so many cities before accruing penalties. Players can increase that cap by unlocking technologies. However, there may still be times when players end up controlling a town they don’t want. It’s not technically possible to downgrade a City in Humankind. However, there are other ways for players to free themselves of unwanted politics.
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Cities in Humankind
First, an explanation of how Cities work in Humankind. Cities begin as Outposts created by units at the cost of Influence. Players can link those Outposts to an adjacent City or Upgrade them to Cities once the Outpost’s population reaches 1. Both actions also cost variable amounts of Influence depending on multiple factors. These factors include the number and proximity of Cities and territories the player already controls.
There’s no hard upper limit on how many Cities the player can hold. However, Humankind’s civilizations gain an increasing Influence penalty for every City over their cap. If the player’s Influence ever falls into the negative, it will damage their Cities’ Stability. Low Stability is never good and can lead to rebellions and other adverse outcomes. This gives Humankind players a good reason to rid themselves of unwanted settlements.
Getting Rid of Cities in Humankind
There is no way to downgrade a City back into an Outpost in Humankind. However, players can choose to merge two Cities into one. This is possible from the Medieval age on after researching Military Architecture. Players need to select the City they want to merge into then click “Absorb” on the City they want to remove. This action also costs a fair bit of money, but it’s the only way to remove an unwanted City without losing territory.
Of course, the player’s best long-term solution is to increase their Civilization’s City Cap. The Achaemenid Persians gain +2 from their unique Legacy Trait, Cyrus’ Shadow. Civilizations can gain an additional +1 by choosing the Small Council Civic. The following technologies also increase City Cap:
- +1 from Philosophy technology in the Classical era
- +1 from Foreign Outposts technology in the Classical era
- +1 from Theology technology in the Medieval era
- +1 from Mercantilism technology in the Early Modern era
- +1 from Three-Masted Ship technology in the Early Modern era
- +1 from Urban Planning technology in the Industrial era
- +3 from Space Orbital in the Contemporary era
Humankind is out now for PC and Stadia.