Highlights
- Ara: History Untold is a 4X grand strategy game set to release this year, featuring unique mechanics that separate it from the competition.
- One of the most exciting features is the implementation of "true simultaneous turns," which can potentially revolutionize the strategy genre.
- Simultaneous turns add unpredictability, requiring players to think several steps ahead, while making the game more engaging and fast-paced.
Officially announced back in June 2022 during Xbox and Bethesda's showcase, Ara: History Untold is a 4X grand strategy game set for release later this year. A grand strategy title, Ara: History Untold has naturally been compared to the Civilization franchise frequently over the last few years, and while much of its development team are former Firaxis devs, Ara: History Untold is doing quite a lot to separate itself from the competition.
Along with being an Xbox Game Pass day-one title, Ara: History Untold has enjoyed a recent spotlight in Xbox's Developer Direct, right alongside some of the most anticipated Xbox games of the year. Here, Oxide Entertainment was able to show off some of Ara: History Untold's more unique mechanics and features. One of the most exciting was its promise of "true simultaneous turns," a feature that could be a game-changer for the strategy genre if implemented well.
Every Ara: History Untold Leader Revealed So Far
Oxide Games’ upcoming 4X title Ara: History Untold features 45 leaders to choose from, 28 of which the studio officially revealed.
Ara: History Untold's Simultaneous Turns Could Have a Big Impact on the Strategy Genre
How Ara: History Untold's Simultaneous Turns Work
Unlike the vast majority of other 4X strategy games, Ara: History Untold will implement a simultaneous turn system. Essentially, this means that every player carries out their turn at the same time, and when everyone presses the button to finish their turn, a quick resolution phase begins. While players are taking their actions during a turn, a small timeline will appear at the bottom of the screen that plots out the specific order in which the actions will be resolved at the end of the turn.
Once the resolution phase has concluded, players will be given on-screen indicators to show what has changed following their last turn. Units will have moved, building progress will have continued, and diplomatic decisions will be either accepted or denied. Players will also be able to see any of their opponents' actions that are visible on the board, such as enemy unit movements or the completion of a Triumph, this game's version of Civilization's Wonders.
These simultaneous turns put an interesting spin on the usual 4X grand strategy combat formula. In Ara: History Untold, a unit's priority is based on its Initiative, much like in Dungeons and Dragons. This means that a unit with a higher Initiative, such as a cavalry unit, will take their action first at the end of a turn, and foot soldiers would take their action second. This simultaneous turn system will reportedly be the same across Ara: History Untold, regardless of whether players are in a game against AI or real-world players.
Why Ara: History Untold's Simultaneous Turns Could Be Game-Changing
Admittedly, having simultaneous turns is nothing too new for the strategy genre. In Oxide's own developer diary series on YouTube, Design Director Michelle Menard cites the 1800s wargame Kriegsspiel as one of the developer's biggest inspirations, and one of the main sources behind this simultaneous turns mechanic. That being said, this is one of the first times a true simultaneous turns approach has been used for a 4X strategy game of this scale, and if it works well, it could really set Ara apart from the competition.
One of the biggest benefits that Oxide believes simultaneous turns will bring to Ara: History Untold is unpredictability. In regular turn-based strategy titles, players often base their turn around what their opponent has just done, often leading to some fairly predictable outcomes. Ara, on the other hand, will have players carrying out their turns at the same time, thus forcing players to really get into their opponent's head in advance and try to think several steps ahead. A switch to simultaneous turns also means that players won't be waiting around for their opponents to finish their turns for too long.
Ara: History Untold is set for a 2024 release date on PC.