A demo code was used with many thanks to Johnny Atom PR.
Just in time for the Steam Next Fest, Paradox Interactive and developers C Prompt Games have released a demo of their upcoming 4X historical strategy game, Millennia.
The playable demo of Millennia is of the first three Ages of the game, from the historical Stone Age through to the historical Iron Age.
Millennia 4X Strategy

I’m sure, like me, at first glance at the images, you’ll think to yourself, Millennia is like a few well-known 4X games such as Civilization, Old World or Humankind. But after spending some time playing the demo, Millennia is a somewhat different breed of game from the usual 4X gameplay. You see, Millennia is a game built around its Ages, which encloses a broad period of human history.
In Millennia, you start in the Stone Age, and you will guide your nation through the course of history across ten ages, from the first cities to space travel.
You’ll research scientific and cultural advances, unlock new units, buildings, and improvements and manage your economy to grow your cities or strengthen your armies. There is also a good amount of diplomacy options in the game as well.
The Ages

However, in Millennia, ages and eras do not follow a set path. The Ages depend on certain world conditions; you can trigger variations in eras that completely change what technologies are available, as each Age comes with its own bonuses, penalties, buildings, and other features. Furthermore, the challenges you will face will constantly change, and so will the kinds of victories you can achieve.

In some cases, these challenges are based on reality, and others are based on fantasy. However, for example, if you do a poor job maintaining hygiene and health in your city, you run the risk of entering the Age of Plague, whereas constant warmongering triggers the Age of Blood.
The Ages in Millennia is the way in which we see the most change from the other mainstays of this genre, and they do a fantastic job at keeping the game feeling fresh.
National Spirits

While the nations all come with certain characteristics and unique units that remain the same from playthrough to playthrough, players can change how they play by choosing from various “National Spirits”, which grant them additional bonuses, units, technologies, or buildings throughout a game.
These national spirits help define your nation’s style and personality. Germany has German engineering, for example. The spirits are dynamic choices you can make at the start of a game. As you progress in the game, more Spirits will become available as you advance through the Ages, allowing you to customise it depending on what’s going on in the world.
Improvements

Similar to other 4X turn-based strategy games, in Millennia, you can improve your tiles with various buildings. However, unlike other 4X games, you don’t use worker units to improve the tiles.
Instead, you click on the tile you wish to improve and select one of the options available. You can construct most regular improvements with construction points, which you collect over time.
Go To War

In the demo for Millennia, you can try going to war. Here, you can stack your Military units to build larger armies similar to titles such as in Humankind.
Additionally, when nations encounter each other on the map, you’re brought to the battlefield, where you can see the little units fight it out automatically. This screen is very similar to the way war is conducted in Advance Wars or Wargroove, where a screen appears showing where your units line up on either side of the battlefield and fight each other for three turns.

While the animations are pretty simplistic, they do give you a lot of valuable information about how the attack is proceeding. For instance, you see rates of attack, damage, order of attack, and so on.
Each unit type has different strengths and weaknesses to consider, and there are elements like terrain and defensive structures you need to keep in mind as well. Your units will gain experience as they fight, becoming stronger over time, and can be upgraded when new technology becomes available.
Final Thoughts

The demo for Millennia took me through 60 turns; while it did show me some of what the game has in store for us as players it obviously needs to be longer to show everything that Millennia will have on offer once it is released.
However, it is long enough to whet my appetite for what will come. I’ve played the demo many times over the last few days, and I’m excited for the full release of the game. I found the Millennia to be an incredibly refreshing strategy game when I played through the demo. The depth that will be on offer here is sure to please any long-time fan of this genre.
Millennia still needs to get a firm release date attached to it, with only a 2024 launch window announced so far. However, the Steam Next Fest is running from February 5th until February 12th, and you can find the demo for Millennia here.