Pîhtokahanapiwiyin, better known to the world as Poundmaker—so named for his ability to lure bison into corral-like "pounds," where they could be trapped and slaughtered—will lead the Cree into Civilization 6 as part of the upcoming Rise and Fall expansion.
Despite his legend as a bison caller, Poundmaker's true power lay in his diplomatic abilities. He helped negotiate treaties with the Canadian government in the late 1800s, and over the years that followed worked to establish and preserve peaceful relations. Sadly, despite his efforts he was caught up in the events of the North-West Rebellion. Following his voluntary surrender—again, in an effort to reduce tensions and avoid unnecessary bloodshed—he was convicted of treason and sentenced to three years in prison. He ultimately served less than one, but the conditions destroyed his health, and he died shortly after his release in 1886.
The unique Cree unit is the Okihtcitaw, skilled warriors and scouts who start with a free promotion and have boosted strength in combat. Its unique structure is the Mekewap, a large, dome-like structure that provides long-term shelter: Not portable but relatively easy to build, and in game terms it grants Production, Resources, Food, and Gold when it's placed near Bonus or Luxury resources.
Reflecting his commitment to peace, Poundmaker's "Favorable Terms" leader ability provides shared visibility across all types of Alliances, as well as bonus Food and Gold from trade routes. The unique Cree ability is the Nihithaw, which grants a free trade route after researching pottery and enables its traders to claim tiles by establishing new routes.
Civilization 6: Rise and Fall is available for pre-purchase on Steam for $30/£25/€30, and set to come out on February 8.
Another year over, a new one just begun, which means, impossibly, even more games.> But what about last year? Which were the games that most people were buying and, more importantly, playing? As is now something of a tradition, Valve have let slip a big ol’ breakdown of the most successful titles released on Steam over the past twelve months.
Below is the full, hundred-strong roster, complete with links to our coverage if you want to find out more about any of the games, or simply to marvel at how much seemed to happen in the space of 52 short weeks.
In what you might call a study in contrasts, last's week announcement of the upcoming addition of the Netherlands to Civilization 6, led by the Mary Poppins-esque Queen Wilhelmina, has been followed up by word today that the rapacious Mongol horde is on the way too, headed up by the mighty Genghis Khan.
Genghis Khan united the tribes of northeast Asia, ushering in an era of unified law, religious tolerance, and relative peace between the tribes. But he's better remembered for the brutality of his campaigns: Following his victory over the Tatars, who had assassinated his father some years earlier, he ordered the killing of every Tatar male over three feet tall; after defeating the Taichi'ut, he had its leaders boiled alive. His grave has never been found, according to legend because his funeral party killed everything it saw on the way to his final resting place, so nobody would know where was buried.
Harsh, but fair.
The Mongolian unique unit is the Keshig, fast-riding horse archers with the ability to make civilian and support units move at a faster-than-normal rate. Its unique improvement is the Ordu, a "palace tent," which grants a movement bonus to light and heavy cavalry, and its unique Civilization ability is the Örtoo, a sort of "combat-focused trading route" that confers bonuses to Combat Strength and Diplomatic Visibility.
Genghis Khan himself boasts the unique Mongol Horde ability, which gives a combat bonus to all Mongol cavalry-class units, as well as a chance to increase the size of his army by capturing enemy cavalry units.
The Mongolians will join Civilization 6 in the Rise and Fall expansion, scheduled to come out on February 8.
Civilization 6 was only released last year on desktop computers but has already - as of today - landed on iPad! Understandably you'll need a newish iPad in order to play - either an iPad Air 2, iPad 2017 or any iPad Pro.
The first 60 turns of the game will be free but then you'll be prompted an amount I cannot see on the Civ 6 App Store page to buy the game and continue. It's a 3.14GB download and it's the base Civ 6 game without any downloadable content.
Meanwhile on desktop computers, Civ 6 is gearing up for its first big expansion, Rise and Fall, which arrives 8th February for 25. It adds a whole game's worth of new content to the mix, including loads of new leaders, civilisations, wonders, units, buildings and so on. A key new feature is Golden Ages and Dark Ages - states you can trigger if you're doing well or, conversely, badly.