Ara History Untold at gamescom 2023: A New Era for Strategy  

It’s been just over a year since Ara: A History Untold was revealed to the world at 2022’s Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase. That time has been used productively — player feedback from an extensive Insider Program has helped shaped the game — including what the team from Oxide Games showed off this week at gamescom. 

To refresh your memory, Ara: The History Untold is an innovative turn-based historical grand strategy game where players build a nation and lead your people throughout history as you explore new lands, develop arts and culture, and go head-to-head with rival leaders to prove you are the greatest ruler ever known; some of you may refer to this as a “4X” game.  

As I sat down to play for the first time here at gamescom, Design Director Michelle Menard of developer Oxide shared how “there are shortcuts that come with experience,” that benefit the creation of a new grand strategy game. By way of experience, several of developer Oxide’s team spent time at Civilization developer Firaxis, which has informed which strategy elements to emphasize, which to deemphasize, and how to modernize the genre with Ara.   

It is possible to initiate multiple actions simultaneously. Players can choose all of their movements, then end their turn.  

Instead of starting with an unprepared nation, the player can start a new run on one that is already pre-built. This head start allows players to skip having to do things you’d have done anyways – establish a capital, build a farm, etc. – and get a jump on making more interesting decisions about where you want to take your nation. 

Ara even tinkers with something as ubiquitous as the concept of turns – rather than one unit action at a time, players tee up all their moves, end their turn, and then the actions for all are initiated simultaneously.  

This advance is evolving due to player feedback: to avoid there being a single “right way” to research your way through the tech tree, Oxide has moved the myriad research options to a deck of cards; 3 options are offered at a time. This randomized element ensures that each run unfolds differently, as well as making what could be an overwhelming mechanic easier for new players to come to grips with – including those playing their first strategy game due to Ara’s inclusion in PC Game Pass. 

The following are some of the ways to get in touch with us: Ara brings these advances in the genre comes as no surprise – many of the team worked on Civilization VThe game is considered to be one of strategy’s greatest games. After a conversation between Oxide founder Dan Baker and Xbox Publishing’s Brian Stone at GDC 2016, the seeds for AraThe trees were planted.  

The following are some of the ways to get in touch with us: Ara brings these advances in the genre comes as no surprise – many of the team worked on Civilization VIt is generally accepted that is one of all-time great strategists.

Prior to developing Ara, Oxide were creating the Nitrous Engine, a next-generation game engine designed to handle enormous amounts of visual and gameplay complexity – as it turns out, perfect for a grand strategy game. 

My session was drawing to a conclusion when my gaze focused on a moving object on the map. Zooming in – and you can zoom way in – I found the world teeming with life. Dozens of camels galloped through the tree-dotted savannah, some being chased by hyenas – both of which are resources which players can make use of. This is the Nitrous Engine at work – creating a living world, no more moving toy soldiers around a board. 

That living world is made further immersive by the game’s music, which Oxide has clearly taken great care creating. The music and audio effects that I encountered as I travelled the map were unique. They drew my attention to the world. To learn more about the music, today we debuted a behind the scenes debuted on the Xbox broadcast today at gamescom (in addition to a sample of the score today on Spotify; search for “Ara: A History Untold” 

We’re looking forward to sharing more about Ara: History Untold As we near release. Sign up to the newsletter at arahistoryuntold.com for more information about the game. AraInsider Program 

 Ara, History Untold Release date for Windows PC is 2024. This game is available on PC Game Pass (PC Game Pass), the Microsoft Store and Steam. Wishlist it now to stay up-to-date with all the news.