One of those is a new turn-based system built around the concept of Simultaneous Turns, where all players effectively perform their actions at the same time, letting the game’s AI take various factors into account to determine the order in which to employ these turns on the game map. During my session, I found that this moved things along at a brisk pace, but I think where this will really come into play will be with online multiplayer, which could create for a faster grand strategy experience – something I’m looking forward to trying later.

Making the most of each turn feeds into one of the key success factors of any grand strategy game, in addition to quick and efficient expansion across the world map, controlling zones, and creating goods from the map’s resources. For Ara, these are known as Improvements, things like a Workshop, Barracks, or a Farm. Each zone you claim on the world map yields only a few areas for you to create these Improvements, making the choice of what you want to invest in key, because these decisions will eventually lead to more advanced Improvements in the latter stages of the game, whichfeed into building your all-important Prestige rank (more on that in a bit).

Each Improvement yields a certain number of resources like Food, Gold, Timber, and Materials per turn, some more than others (e.g. a Farm Improvement generates Food; a Logging Camp Improvement generates Timber). This is where Ara’s unique crafting component comes to play, allowing you to invest additional resources to create items like Chairs, Rope, and Baskets that can help increase the yield-per-turn on certain Improvements on the world map. And when you’re racing against other players – AI or human – who can improve the fastest will be one of the keys to being able to come out on top (or close to it).

For example, in my session, I wanted to create an Irrigated Farm and the criteria for that was for me to collect the appropriate number of Materials, Timber, and Metal Tools (which can be crafted at a Workshop). To begin crafting, I’d select how many Metal Tools I needed, which was going to take several turns – I wanted to boost this. So, I “fed” the Metal Tools additional resources of Gold and Materials to help speed up production. After a few turns, my batch of Metal Tools was complete, and I could go about constructing the Irrigated Farm Improvement. Adding to the wealth of choice, these crafted goods can double as a valuable trade commodity with other Leaders – your choice in how to spend them can make all the difference.

Ara is set to launch with more than 30+ Leaders, with more to be announced ahead of launch, each with unique bonuses that can feed into your gameplay strategy — whomever you pick, it would be wise to play to their strengths from the start. For example, Nefertiti (Egypt) has “Rays of the Aten” which gives Farms a +1 to Food per Turn if placed adjacent to a river, so perhaps you lean in on agricultural aspects of your strategy. Or if you go with Shaka (Zulu), you’re given “Buffalo Horns” which gives a +25% Force Strength for Forces in certain Formations, meaning a direct conquest approach may be better suited for you to employ.

Leaders are also given shorter term Act Goals, that can give you a tremendous boost to your Prestige, by building structures like a Palace, The Colossus of Rhodes, or The Great Pyramid of Giza. For my session, I aimed for the Pyramids, which would require me to craft Lithic Tools, Rope, and Ceramic Pots. These Act Goals also seem smartly designed to help push you along the lines of advancement, gently teaching you how to play in the process. In this instance, those Ceramic Pots: that component was locked behind researching Masonry, which wouldn’t become available until I advanced to the Iron Age, the next Technology Era. This compelled me to start redoubling my efforts if I hoped to build this Triumph before another nation beat me to it.

And this comes back to one of the most important components of Ara’s gameplay that I haven’t touched upon yet, and that’s Prestige. Every action you take in Ara nets you a certain amount: Build a Farm? Prestige. Be friendly to your neighbors? Prestige. Create the Pyramids? A whole heck of a lot of Prestige – you can see why I wanted to be the first to build this.

All this Prestige is added up at the end of an Act, triggered when four players have advanced to next Age. There are three total Acts per playthrough, with four Technology Eras in each Act. If you don’t have enough Prestige to hang with the other nations, you won’t be given the opportunity to advance to Act 2 or 3. Nations with the lowest Prestige will cease to exist, the game world will consolidate around those who did advance, while everyone else will be asked to go home. It’s a refreshing solution for a grand strategy game, cutting players loose early if it becomes clear they don’t stand a chance of winning. It’s tough love, but I appreciate that over learning I had no chance of winning after spending days (or weeks!) in a single playthrough.

Contained within all of this is Ara’s Living World, a highly detailed world map where you see flocks of birds go by, wildlife stalk about, and all your little citizens doing their daily activities, like walking these burgeoning streets hoping for a better tomorrow (and dreaming of advancing to the next Act). These amazing visuals don’t impact the game directly, but it sure makes Ara: History Untold beautiful to look at in between turns, offering a sense of how much you’re affecting the world through your actions. I found myself constantly zooming in and out, checking out my wheat fields, Ceramic Shops, and Logging Camps, as they do all the hard work of earning me resources.

Although my session was relatively short, playing in these opening rounds gave me a better sense of what kind of grand strategy game Ara: History Untold is shaping up to be. It’s taking a chance by introducing some refreshing ideas in the strategy space that seem focused around two key tenets: respecting your time and giving you tremendous choice.

For someone who loves to tinker, I appreciate the level of which Ara: History Untold has given me the option to do just that while also letting me know I wasn’t good enough. And I wasn’t. I would have been lucky to get out of Act 2, much less Act 3 at the rate I was going. But I’m just getting started on getting my head around the wealth of ways the game is allowing me to guide my citizens to greatness. I’m looking forward to the next time I have a chance to give Ara: History Untold a turn.

Ara: History Untold is launching September 24, 2024, for Windows PC, Steam, and will be available day one with PC Game Pass.