Last November, we celebrated the Día de los Muertos with the first ever in-game event in Humankind. Now, after our recent community-based events, we are back with another in-game event, this time celebrating the Holi Festival! 

 

One of the oldest recorded Hindu festivals, Holi is celebrated across the Indian subcontinent to welcome spring. Bonfires are lit to represent the victory of good over evil, and huge crowds gather to sing, dance, and engage in battles with colored powders. At its core, this is a celebration of love, life, friendship, spiritual purification, and the different colors of humankind.

 

The Holi event in Humankind will begin on March 17th, with the second chapter unlocking the following week, and will last for about three and a half weeks until April 11th. 

 



The first chapter is called Holika Dahan, Holika's Death, after the story of Holika being burned instead of her devout nephew Prahlad when she tried to kill him. This story is celebrated through the lighting of bonfires on the night before Holi, as it is seen as a symbol of the triumph of good over evil. So most of the challenges in this chapter are related to opposing those who would take what is not theirs.

  • Shrewd General: Force an Expansionist Empire that has Vassals to Surrender 
  • Famous Accumulate 40 000 Fame over several games.
  • Smite the Wicked: Earn a level 3 Hero badge while playing as the Mughals.

We know some of these challenges may seem a bit tricky, so here are some tips for you:

Shrewd General: Set up a game with many AI players, two or three of which should be aggressive (e.g. Agamemnon, Beowulf while the others should be peaceful (e.g. Tjilbruke, Midas, Makeda). You should also have about two to three times as many players as continents (don’t forget that the New World settings means one continent will be empty) to give the aggressive AIs a chance to vassalize their peaceful neighbors. Then you can declare war on them after they choose an expansionist culture.

Smite the Wicked: “Hero” badges are earned for declaring war against an empire with the “traitor” badge, so remember to include a Traitorous AI (e.g. Gilgamesh) in your game. You should play on slower game speeds so the badges last longer. Don’t forget, your war declaration must be justified, and you must not already be at war with somebody else! You only need to earn the third level of the badge as Mughals, and if you need more time, you can also transcend.

Famous: If you have trouble reaching the total Fame, consider playing on faster speeds to play an extra match or two. 


As with the Día de los Muertos event before, you will unlock Symbols and Decorations for each chapter that you complete, and if you complete both chapters you will earn the Nayakuralu Nagamma persona, an astute ruler and strategist from a 12th century kingdom on the Indian subcontinent. 

 

Have fun with this new set of challenges!