I've really been enjoying this game, right now base Humankind games on sale for $10 on Epic. It was free a short bit ago at time of editing this post. Feb 13 2025 or so.

It doesn't seem to be available for sale on Gog.

I got it as part of Humble Choice last year and it really was quite good, better than I expected. It has some unique systems, like fame and how territory expansion is handled. The AI's choices also felt realistic to me, they usually seem too optimal or predetermined in these types of games. I had more fun with it than any recent Civ game tbh.

It's definitely worth trying out for free if you like the 4x genre.

The game is DRM and without any addons.
The basic game can be seen as some big demo... if someone got the time.

What do you mean by DRM? You mean in the way that all Epic Games are? When the game first starts it asks if it can collect some basic info and you can click "no" and the game still runs.

And how is it a "demo"? I've been having fun with it, no add ons, just the base game.

There are things that probably need improvement like diplomacy. But lots of good ideas I've always wished were in Civ. (keep in mind I've not played civ 5-7)

Great motivation for exploring. You even start out as a mobile tribe encouraged to hunt and explore for food etc.

natural limitation to city spam paying influence

I'll maybe post a more comprehensive list latter. But anyway well worth using.

So the game gets even better with DLC? Which ones do you recommend?

The DLC is mainly culture and wonder packs, with one expansion called "Together We Rule" that focuses on spying and diplomacy. I'd say it's worth getting Together We Rule on a good sale if you're enjoying the base game and want more options.

PCGW still lists it as tied to EGS/EOS. So... unless the testers are wrong (it does happen) the game is indeed DRMed.

Well, it's on Epic, so I'd be surprised if it was not DRM... still, it's free (as in "beer") ATM, DRM or no (at least there's the option of declining Data (ab)use).

I don't like it all that much though. The terrain looks bland and even barren, the fields surrounding cities likewise look artificial and bland, and I'm still not a fan of the city / area / region control mechanics. All in all it looks and feels like a clone of Endless Legend minus the "Winter is coming" overarching issue and universal dependency on "Dust" (or what it's called there). The legacy system, however, is an interesting aspect as is the epoch change that goes with it, which also ties in better with the selection of wonders.
At least the avatars don't look like stupid caricatures like they do in recent Civ titles. However, it's a little haphazard that two or more civs can have the same avatar; in my test game I have the same guy running both the Nubians and the Harappans. I guess they're twins. :D

OK but what exactly does that mean? Like spyware or something?

I don't get what exactly you mean. But a test shows that the game won't load when I am offline. But it's fine to disconnect after the games loaded.

Other Epic games load fine offline.

No, not spyware.

It uses Epic Online Services to verify that you own the game (and any DLC) when you launch it. That is DRM, as it prevents you from playing a game while completely offline. There can also be extra layers of DRM, such as Denuvo that further limits what you can do, such as how many machines you can install a game on or require you to constantly be online while playing to periodically check that you own it.

GOG doesn't sell games with DRM, so if you try to talk about a game sold on another store here the topic is usually brought up.

Have the rules changed?! Is it now allowed to post links to other game stores? Hmm...

IIRC If you are advertising a giveaway freebie the moderators will let you post a link to that shop page.

But usually they like us to limit such things to the dedicated freebie threads.

Digital Rights Management hard at work. Which sometimes is neither here nor there. Loading offline doesn't necessarily indicate no DRM measure, it just means the game is fine with not needing a live EOS connection at launch. It still might need the client in some way.

Many games on Steam are DRM-free. The vast majority of games require the Steam client to work, and many, many other games have variants of the "SteamStub" DRM in their ".exes". What sucks in general is the requirement to use their client to download files, regardless of whether or not it is DRM-free.

I guess it would be a nice grap for GoG, such a shame those guys just recently decided to go for hooded horse as a publisher, leaving humankind in Sega's Hands dear god please save CA from the clutches of that gamble empire

With Hooded Horse as publisher chances are i guess pretty high for at least endless legend 2 to appear on GoG

It would be nice to see if their style will change when not in league with Sega