What is the best culture in Humankind? This is a tricky one to answer: unlike fellow 4X game Civilization – where you pick one civ and then are done for the rest of the game – Humankind offers you the chance to pick a different culture every time you progress to a new era.
All cultures in Humankind are geared towards one of the game’s seven affinities – specialised gameplay pillars – and each era offers ten culture options so there are often more than one pick for a specific affinity. It is possible to identify objectively ‘good’ cultures within specific eras, though, and early game priorities currently skew towards specific things such as food or industry. When you start getting beyond a certain point this becomes a harder proposition, because it really depends on how your game has gone and what your immediate needs are.
As an example, most Contemporary cultures are very powerful at what they do in order to enable game-changing swings in the balance of power. Deciding which one is ‘best’ almost completely boils down to circumstance: where are you at, and what do you need to improve in order to bring home the win? That said, we do have one or two thoughts to share in our overview of the best cultures in Humankind.
Here is our list of top tier Humankind cultures:
For more information on Humankind cultures, emblematic units, quarters, and legacy traits, please refer to the official Humankind Encyclopaedia.
Two cultures stand out in the ancient era, and both focus on the two most important resources in the game currently – food and industry.
The Harappans get an extra farmer slot from their emblematic quarter. a big deal in an Ancient era culture. Yet you also get an immediate boost to growth from the trait, which is a big deal this early when yields are so low, and the Canal Network’s other food bumps can be paired with farmers’ quarters for a further boost to early growth that can become very powerful.
If we accept food is the most important resource in the game right now, industry is the second most important, and the Egyptians are the best pick for this in the Ancient era. Their emblematic quarter is just as powerful as the Harrapans’, except you’re boosting production over food. Their legacy trait offers you a flat +1 bonus to production tile yields, as well as a permanent -10% reduction in industry costs, which is something that will stay relevant throughout the game.
Celts (Agrarian)
The Celts are arguably the strongest pick for the Classical era: you’re either going to be doubling down on food production bonuses that you’re running with the Harrappans, or you went with the Egyptians and now want to bring up your food output to meet your industrial capabilities.
Provided you take care of your production and food needs, picking the Greeks might be a good idea to stay ahead in science. There’s no ‘science victory’ like in Civilization, but researching all of the technologies in the final era is one way to /end/ the game, and the Greeks are well placed to give you a hand in that regard.
Franks (Aesthete)
While science is relevant in every era, focusing on influence becomes less important as the game progresses, but picking the Franks can give you a decent boost in both, as well as some other bonuses.
The Ghanaians are a strong culture pick for the medieval era, but they require a bit of setup so you have to plan for them in advance. Get it right, and you could be earning a disgusting amount of money (which will be especially useful if you haven’t managed to grab an industry-focused culture so far).
Dutch (Merchant)
As with the Ghanaians, it’s best to plan with the Dutch in mind, but if you do so then you can end up with more money than you know how to spend. You need a big population to make the best of the legacy trait (+1 money per pop), so choosing Harrapans and/or Celts in previous eras is a must.
Percentage boosts to yields are a big deal since they’re always relevant, and if you’ve built a large empire then the industry bump you can get from the Mughals’ legacy trait – +2% industry on your capital for every territory in your sphere of influence – is incredible. You’ll want to have picked at least one of the Zhou, Greeks, or Franks in a previous era to ensure that your influence generation is where it needs to be, though.
We mentioned at the beginning that by the time you get to this stage of the game, your choice in culture will become highly situational depending on how you’re trying to win, as your strategy and your resource production should be locked in by now.
The French represent a strong pick if you want to make a push to keep your science lead and end the game via technology research. Their emblematic quarter gives you +1 science per population – which combined with a previous food-focused culture – can mean you’ll never have to worry about science investment again. This has been tested a few times, and spamming the Exhibition Hall across all territories has enabled us to research endgame technologies in around three turns
As in the previous era, your choice here will be highly situational, but there is one particular shout-out we want to make for the Contemporary era:
If you’re doing a conquest or expansionist based campaign, the Soviets represent the last word for this particular playstyle. If you’re running the ‘Last Man Standing’ setup option, this is an absolute must-pick.
