Cradlecrown v2.4: Civilizations that play differently

In v2.3 I worked on explaining what each civilization does. In v2.4 I wanted those choices to make a more noticeable difference in play. Better farms and tougher soldiers still matter; this update adds rules that change how you build a settlement and use an army. I also reworked the interface alongside them.

A civilization’s own rule

Each civilization now has a trait that works while it is your current civilization. When you enter the next age and choose another, its trait takes over.

Sumer’s Fertile fields makes farms and mills free to build. The Indus’ Master builders speeds construction up by 60%. Hallstatt’s Veins of gold adds 0.7 gold per second to every worked gold mine. With the Shang’s First strike, each soldier’s first blow on a new target deals double damage.

Some traits ask for a different habit altogether. With Nomads, you do not need houses for population space: the town centre and military buildings provide it. Night raiders fight harder and move faster after dark. Two reforms lets you choose a second reform in the same age. Your choice now depends on how you want to play as well as which resource you need.

An edict when you enter a new age

The second layer is the selection edict. Your starting civilization’s trait works from the beginning of the match. In later ages, choosing a civilization also applies its edict once.

That can mean five villagers arriving at the centre, gold or building materials, or soldiers joining your army. Restoration repairs every building and finishes construction already under way. Call to arms fully heals the army and gives it extra movement speed and damage for 45 seconds. Survey reveals the map for 90 seconds.

Reaching a new age is therefore also a chance to support a planned attack, rebuild an economy or complete a defence. The choice cards describe the trait and edict separately.

Reforms last for the match

The third layer is the lasting rule granted by a completed reform. Reforms keep their historical names and existing numerical effects, with an additional rule related to their subject.

A military drill reform can train two of the relevant troop type at once. A guard reform lets those soldiers heal outside combat. A wall reform lets walls and gates mend themselves while they are not being hit. Once the reform is complete, its rule stays until the match ends, even after you change civilization.

The trait shapes your current civilization, the edict shapes the moment you enter a new age, and reforms build your inheritance. You can combine what you have kept from earlier civilizations with the rule of the one you choose next.

You choose the first buildings

The town centre is now the only building standing at the start. The prebuilt barracks and mine are gone; you begin with four villagers and six soldiers and decide where the first timber and gold will go.

To support that opening, I raised starting gold from 320 to 480 and wood from 240 to 340. Food stays at 250. Will you establish military production first, or put resources into the economy? The civilization’s trait can matter from the first building decision. Solo and online matches use the same opening, and the AI’s opening was updated to work with it.

Earth, brass and the architecture of the old world

The bright bricks and frames have given way to dark earth colours, brass details and calmer panels. Light text stands out against them; the civilizations keep their colours and their illustrated stages inside the choices.

The main menu has columns, flower bands and steps. A procession of black figures runs across the top of the inner screens. The library, settings, dialogs and in-match panels share the same appearance. Behind it all, the world still moves through daylight and night.

The days and countries behind the count

The visitor count added in v2.3 now opens a panel. It shows the total, visitors here today, those arriving for the first time today and daily figures for the last 30 days, alongside a country breakdown.

A browser counts once as new and then at most once per day as a returning visitor. The countries of visits made before country and day counting began are unknown; the panel explains that too. These are aggregate figures, rather than visitor profiles. An IP address is used to determine the country; apart from temporary in-memory rate limiting, the counter does not retain IP addresses.

This release cannot open older solo saves. The setup screen explains when a save belongs to an earlier version. If you left the game open while the update was released, refresh the page before starting a new match.

The game is at cradlecrown.com. Send bugs and suggestions through r/cradlecrown or to [email protected].