Civilization meets Cities Skylines, but with more player freedom

pcgamesn.com:

Ara: History Untold is gearing up to be one of the biggest strategy games to date, as it features everything we love about games like Civilization and Cities Skylines without some of the other games’ less desirable qualities. In an exclusive Gamescom interview with Oxide Games’ design director, Michelle Menard, who worked on Civilization previously, we heard about the upcoming turn-based game and what sets Ara: History Untold apart from other familiar strategy experiences like Civilization.

When asked how Ara differs from games like Civilization, Menard responded by saying that Oxide Games doesn’t want to stray too far from “what fans already know and love.” Instead, the developers want to “modernize it.” The first difference noted by the director was the tech tree. Unlike Civ, you won’t follow a linear path in Ara on one branch of a skill tree. Instead, the game uses a “deck system.”

“Every time you play, you’re forced to reconsider your current situation and then choose from there,” Menard said when explaining the system. You’ll pick from three randomly drawn cards and then research that one technology, but you’ll move on to something completely new with the next deck as it’s entirely fresh.

The idea is to create something more flexible where you won’t need to decide precisely what kind of victory you’re aiming for and then work towards it. Menard brought Ara’s map up as another good example of this freedom, stating that it’s not “static” with “equally spaced tiles” that are “all the same size.” Instead, the director said, “We have irregularly shaped regions.”

Another area that Ara has improved upon is the game’s UI. Menard said “There’s been a lot of care put into the UI to try to drive you towards what you should