Humankind: Controls Guide for PC and How to Play

Humankind is the latest turn-based strategy game to hit PC. Developed by Amplitude Studios, the game was given its full release on 17 August 2021.

The game pits you against up to nine other players with both single and multiplayer modes available. You start as a humble nomadic tribe discovering the world around you. As you grow your civilisation, you’ll access new technologies, furthering your progress through the six eras of Humankind.

In this article, we’ll be detailing all of the key binds for Humankind with some extra tips and tricks to get you ready to guide your civilisation through the eras.

Humankind key bind controls on PC

• Activate or Select: Left-Click
• Cancel or Exit: Right-Click
• Move Camera: Mouse / WASD / Left Click + Drag
• Camera Zoom: Mouse Wheel / Page Up, Page Down
• Camera Rotate Right: E
• Camera Rotate Left: Q
• End Turn: Enter (Keypad)
• Chat (Multiplayer): Enter
• Empire Screen: 1
• Cultures Screen: 2
• Technology Panel: Alt + 3
• Technology Screen: 3
• Society Panel: Alt + 4
• Civics Screen: 4
• Religion Screen: Alt + 5
• Religion Panel: Control + 5
• Tenet Panel: 5
• All Military Forces Panel: Shift + A
• All Cities and Outposts Panel: Shift + C
• Cultural Wonder Panel: Shift + W
• FIMS Grid: ]
• Hex Grid: #
• Hex and FIMS Grid: O
• Next Army: N
• Previous Army: P
• Next City or Outpost: N
• Previous City or Outpost: P
• Move Army Action: M
• Attack Army Action: T
• Ransack Army Action: R
• Clear Forest Army Action: F
• Station Army Action: ,
• Claim Territory: O
• Skip Army Action: /
• Auto-Explore Army Action: ;
• Regroup Army Action: Shift + ;
• Only Buildable Constructibles: Y
• Buyout: Shift + Y
• All Constructibles: Alt + Y
• Battle End Round: Backspace
• Quick Save: F5
• Quick Load: F9
• Toggle UI Visibility: Shift + F10
• Toggle Tooltip Visibility: Control + Shift + F10
• Help Layer: F1
• Credits List Scrolling: Page Up / Page Down / Space

To view the default key binds in-game, open the game menu and select the Settings tab, followed by the Mouse and Keyboard tab.

How to remap the Humankind controls

To remap the Humankind controls, simply select the box next to the action that you wish to customise and press the key that you want as the new key bind. To revert to the default settings, click the Default button in the top right corner of your screen and confirm by clicking ‘Ok.’

How to win in Humankind

The faction which amasses the most Fame will be crowned the winner in Humankind. Fame can be accrued by achieving milestones with your civilisation, such as by building or finding Wonders, winning wars, or earning Era Stars.

Era Stars are earned by completing goals related to an affinity. For example, you’ll gain Knowledge Stars for researching technologies. With every seven Era Stars, you’ll have the opportunity to enter the next era and choose a new civilisation to embrace.

While earning Era Stars is possibly the best way to earn Fame, finding natural Wonders through exploration will also add to your Fame tally, as too will investing your Influence in claiming a wonder to build.

There is a set number of Wonders per era, and they can only be claimed by one civilisation. So, be sure to act quickly, or you’ll miss out. Once claimed, the Wonders act as shared projects, meaning all of your cities can lend their Industry output towards its construction.

Not only do these technological marvels reward you with Fame, but some can also provide other unique bonuses, ranging from War Support to improving resource production, making them an excellent use of your empire’s Industry.

A game of Humankind can be ended by causing one of the following scenarios to occur:

• Reaching the last turn (300 turns on normal game speed);
• Earning every Contemporary Era Star;
• Completing the Technology tree;
• Eliminating all of the other Empires ;
• Sending a mission to Mars;
• Rendering the world unfit for human life.

Once one of these events takes place, the game will end, and the faction with the most Fame will be victorious.

You can find these in the game by opening the game menu and selecting the Game Options tab. This page also displays all of your chosen game settings for this save.

What are FIMS in Humankind?

FIMS are your basic resource group in Humankind, standing for Food, Industry, Money, and Science – all of which are essential to a prosperous empire.

Each resource boosts your economy in different ways:

• Food increases your population gain in cities, providing troops for armies or workers to further increase production.
• Industry is required for producing everything from soldiers to buildings and infrastructure improvements. The more Industry that you have, the quicker that you can build things.
• Money is used to buy resources from other players or instantly complete items in your build queue.
• Science is the driving force of progress in Humankind. All of the Science that you produce is put toward researching new technologies. The more Science that you produce, the quicker that you research technology.

How to improve your FIMS

Each tile on the world map provides at least one type of resource that’s begging to be exploited. The diversity of the tiles and their output make your choice of location for cities and outposts very important if you want the best economy possible. To harvest these resources, you have to claim the territory and build a city. You’ll then have access to buildings specialising in collecting that resource.

Another way to boost your FIMS output is by selecting civilisations with boosts to specific resources. Civilisations can offer passive boosts or unique buildings to increase your economy further, helping you to quickly become a superpower if employed correctly.

If you want to find out more, the game’s encyclopaedia can be found to the left of the game menu button, in the bottom right corner of the screen.

That’s the basics covered for the Humankind controls and gameplay: now go and show our ancestors how to build a lasting empire!

If you’re looking for your next game, check out our new MIR4 guide here!

Looking for Humankind guides?

Humankind: Best Science Build

Humankind: Best Cultural Wonders of Each Era

Humankind: All Cultures in Each Era List

Humankind: Best Cultures for Each Playstyle