The keystone of Together We Rule is the Congress of Humankind, which Amplitude are calling an “inter-empire forum”. This’ll let you vote to decide global doctrines and try to resolve international conflicts diplomatically. Fitting in with the peaceful theme are the new Embassy, where you can work out joint agreements with other empires, and the Diplomatic Affinity for cultures that allows them to do fancy things such as declaring a temporary demilitarised zone. You’ll be able to use the game’s Leverage currency in the Embassy to force other cultures to do what you want though, so it’s not all sunshine and hugs. Oh, and the new Agent units let you infiltrate and sabotage other empires, not to mention spreading some disinformation. They’re useful for gathering handy Leverage for you to use how you see fit too. Together We Rule also ships in some more civilizations to choose from. They’re the Sumerians, the Han Chinese, the Bulgarians, the Swiss, the Scots and the Singaporeans. There’s six new wonders to build as well, ranging from Monument Valley and the Palace Of Versailles to a Congress Of Humankind HQ, along with fresh story events and some new music to be on the lookout for. And listen out, I guess. Amplitude are working on a free update for Humankind, which should be coming at the same time as the expansion. This update adds new stealth options, reworks independent cultures, makes reinforcements by third-parties possible in battle, and just generally zhuzhes up the UI and other aspects of the game. Who could resist a complimentary zhuzhing? Nate had a grand old time when he made a play for world domination in his Humankind review, although he couldn’t really say what the game was. “It has set out to prove itself as a historical 4X that is emphatically not a Civ clone, and it has succeeded. But in bending itself around the monolithic bulk of Big Sid’s baby, it has grown into a strange shape,” he said. “There’s just a lot going on, is the best way I can put it.” Humankind’s Together We Rule expansion is set to arrive in the autumn. We rated the base game among the 50 best strategy games you can play on PC, don’t you know.
