Welcome to the first edition of another new series we plan to run called “The Less eXplored”. Every few weeks, we’ll be taking a deeper look at some of the lesser-known 4X or strategy games and shining a bright light on them with the intention of showing our readers what’s potentially unique about them and why you might want to watch their development.

First up is a game that I personally believe should be on every 4X and strategy gamer’s radar: The First Men.

The First Men is a real-time 4X strategy game that resembles a whole bunch of different games but is clearly uniquely its own. Think Rimworld meets Settlers meets 4X and that’s just the way I’d start describing it. It’s being developed by a small indie studio called Gathering Tree Games and in their own words, this is The First Men’s premise:

The First Men is about the struggle of human race taking their first steps into an expansive fantasy world. One man and one woman sit under a mythical tree and begin to ponder their future. What paths will they take? What devices and monuments will they craft in the years ahead? How will they find their way among the ancient cultures which already dwell in the land? Once they establish a foothold, what orders will they give? What deals will they make? How will their new culture be formed, and what legacy will they create?

You will be responsible for answering these questions. Resources must be gathered, economies must be organized, and characters must be trained in order to both survive and explore. As they age, rewarding them with precious treasures and safe jobs will bring tradition, influence, and prosperity to this young settlement. In their effort to seek new and improved ways of life, more resources, and new lands, these men will come across many problems to solve, an ecosystem to explore and other sentient races to interact with. Danger, hope and despair will always be present in their lives. They must be rallied with wisdom, sweat and tears. That way, they can live how they think is best, whether it is in order, neutrality or chaos.

Their tiresome travels may include unending sands, sorrowful swamps, dark jungles, frozen tundra, deadly steppes and stormy oceans. Among numerous other natural sites and wonders, the largest driving force behind your decisions will be the inhabitants of these sub-realms and their rulers. They’ll have their own cultures, laws, allies and enemies, chosen according to their goals. In this mysterious world, you will need to raise wise heroes who can carry on traditions, heirlooms and ancestral memories to the next generations of men. Remember, it’ll always be your “men” who will be affected by your decisions and actions, not you. Guide them with caution, or else they will lose everything.

So that’s great, you say. What does it actually play like? Well, let’s first start by showing you their announcement trailer:

Their Steam page shows a pretty exciting list of features:

Customization of the first man and woman with infinitely varied combinations.

Character-Driven gameplay. Body, Mind, Soul, Self and Heart attributes with hundreds of traits and abilities offer deep strategic gameplay, rich and enormously diverse progress of characters to enjoy.

Deep and immersive exploration. A vast fantasy world full of wonder rewards exploration as you traverse, discover, interact and learn more about the multitude of races you will encounter during your adventures.

Settlement management with a tremendous variety of structures to build, upgrades and technologies to discover, and items to craft.

Expeditions in which each character is unique and carries his or her bonuses and/or disadvantages, gain experience, learn new abilities and progress while obtaining new traits and collecting shiny items around the world.

Combat uses a tactical real-time with pause system – positioning your party and coordinating attacks and abilities is one of the keys to success while each subject you encounter, even a pack of wolves or a swarm of spiders, have their own challenges to overcome.

Detailed and stylish cartoony visuals set a distinct “fantasy-comedy” tone, reinforced by atmospheric animations, sound effects, and music.

Different game modes for all players, scenarios with unique stories and victory conditions, skirmish maps for tailored competitions and random maps to add procedurally generated fun into the game, all available in both singleplayer and multiplayer sessions.

Workshop support and an in-game map editor for crafting unique stories.

Quite frankly, there’s very little I can tell you about this game that isn’t perfectly laid out in this awesome OVERVIEW DOCUMENT. It’s incredibly detailed and incredibly well portrayed, so be sure to take a look if anything you’ve seen so far is interesting to you. Also, you can watch their Trello to keep an eye on development progress.

Finally, you can watch the video below for a good, long look at how The First Men will play:

I’m eager to hear your thoughts on The First Men. Does it look exciting to you? Is it a game that you want us to cover? We’ll have a Q&A session with the developers very soon, so please leave any questions you might have down below and we’ll make sure they get answered!

Rob founded eXplorminate, and quickly brought on Nate, as his passion for 4X needed an outlet. You can find Rob in just about every 4X game beta and 4X game forum, too. He’s equally obsessed with the strategy and tactics genres and constantly combs the internet for new and exciting titles in those genres. He’s proud to be a member of Amplitude Studios’ VIP program and the concept creator of Endless Space 2’s Unfallen.