Disappointed by Civ 7? Try Ara The Hidden 4X Gem Getting a Major Update

Ara: History Untold is not very well-known but with Civilization 7 coming this historical strategy game deserves more attention.

Ara: History Untold came out at a bad time. It was released in September 2024. just three months after the first trailer for Civilization 7. If it had come out a year earlier fans of 4X games who were tired of Civilization 6 might have given it a try. But once Civilization 7 was announced many people chose to wait for it instead. Civilization 7 did not fully meet expectations and while games like Stellaris Endless Legend and Songs of Silence offer different takes there’s still no strong new historical strategy game. Ara did not do well at first but with a new team working on updates and upcoming DLC it might still make a strong return.

Ara: History Untold is more flexible than most strategy games. Instead of chasing one type of victory like winning a war or reaching space first everything you do adds to your Prestige. The civilization with the most Prestige at the end wins. This means you can change your strategy during the game like focusing on the military for a while and then switching to building your economy without hurting your chances of winning.

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Instead of automatically gathering wood stone and oil you can choose how to use these resources to build specific things. This gives you more control, but it also means you will need to manage more details. If that feels like too much you can use automation to make things easier. Also the map does not use hexes. One cool feature is that all players take their turns at the same time. So it’s harder to guess what your opponent will do.

Grace Benfell in our Ara History Untold Review says that there are important updates to the well known grand strategy genre. If you have not played it yet. now is a great time to start. While Oxide Studios is still leading development Stardock Entertainment the publisher and co-developer of the popular space strategy game Sins of the Solar Empire is now in charge of post-launch content. The new Ara roadmap includes many exciting updates and improvements.

In May a new Earth map will be added along with performance improvements better combat and AI updates plus some balancing changes. In June Ara's economy and diplomacy systems will get a big update and a new DLC called Untold Scenarios will be released with extra maps events technologies and features. This summer there will be a major design update another warfare update and a new influence system.