Humankind is like a multiculturalist hipster version of Civilization. The cover of the game is certainly confusing at first glance, if not cringe-inducing. A blue-haired woman dressed what it appears to be bohemian attire yields an archaic-looking rifle, while other characters from what it appears to be different cultures throughout the world surround her. A black doctor and white Viking-esque woman hold hands and run with the crowd towards something off-screen. These characters however, at least going by the game's trailer, are likely meant to represent player avatars. Humankind is a polished game. On Stadia, I don't recall experiencing many, if any, crashes. The quality of assets is consistent and the background cultural soundtracks are mostly pleasant to the ears. The game plays a lot like Civilization, although I found it more simplistic in design — in many ways for the better. What I don't like is how the game deals with cultures. In Humankind, cultures are treated very superficially. Each era you reach, you can select different cultures that were present or dominant during certain periods of human history. What is confusing is that these eras are essentially divided into technological levels, yet the cultures available in each are not technological equals. Transitions between cultures happen immediately, your civilization can go abruptly from classical architecture to what are essentially mud huts. This would somewhat make sense if your civilization underwent some cataclysmic collapse, but this transition is actually meant to be progression. Aside aesthetic differences, cultures can give you unique buffs and units. The A.I. can also change cultures, resulting in a confusing inconsistent world where societies change from unrelated culture to the next. The A.I. also seems to have a sixth sense. When putting units on auto-explore, they seem to know instinctively where to find important items in the game world. This means that unless you set your units to this setting in the beginning, the A.I. opponents will likely beat you to the first progression era; in the beginning this is important since discovering items is one of the only ways to progress (aside from engaging in combat).