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As you play Humankind, you may notice that your empire has a city cap. This mechanic is put in place to limit the number of cities you can have. After playing through several eras, you may feel a bit constrained by this cap, and wonder how you can increase it.

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In this guide, we are going to go over everything you need to know about the city cap, including what it is, what the penalty for going over is, and how to increase it. First, let's take a look at exactly what the city cap is.

Updated November 11, 2023, by Sean Murray: Hit the city cap in Humankind? Don't worry, this guide will tell you everything to know about getting around the city cap. We've give it fresh formatting to make finding that information easier and also links to other helpful Humankind topics.

What Is The City Cap In Humankind?

city cap panel highlighted

The city cap is essentially how many cities you can maintain at a time without facing any penalties. This cap can be seen in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. In the image above, you can see a city cap of five with the player having six cities in total.

This cap only applies to cities, not outposts. Additionally, this cap does not factor in any attached territories to a main city. For example, if you have a city with four attached territories, this will still count as one city.

If you go over the city cap, you will receive a penalty of losing ten influence points per turn.

How To Increase The City Cap In Humankind

zoomed out display of empire

When you first start a game, you will have a city cap of two. This number can be increased in a few different ways. Below, we are going to take a look at three different methods to increase your city cap.

Technology Research

As you grow your empire, you will research new technologies. These technologies can provide new military strategies, resources, and even increases to your city cap. Let's take a look at each unlockable technology that will increase your city cap.

Classical Era

Medieval Era

Early Modern Era

Industrial Era

  • Philosophy (+1 City Cap)
  • Theology (+1 City Cap)
  • Mercantilism (+1 City Cap)
  • Supply Lines (+1 City Cap)
  • Three-Masted Ship (+1 City Cap)
  • Urban Planning (+1 City Cap)

It's important to remember that you will unlock these technologies over time. It takes a while before you arrive in the industrial era, but you can definitely strive to research the Urban Planning technology first.

Leadership Civic

leadership civic panel with small council selected

Alongside technologies, you will unlock civics that will help guide your people. The Leadership civic allows you to pick between Small Council and Autarch. If you choose Small Council, you can increase your city cap by one.

Achaemenid Persians Legacy Trait

Lastly, you can increase your city cap by choosing the Achaemenid Persian culture. This culture will become available during the classical era, and provides a legacy trait called Cyrus' Shadow. This trait increases the city cap by two, as well as providing ten stability to every city or outpost.

An increase by one may not sound too helpful but if you are still in the beginning of a game, this extra city can help you get a headstart in expanding your empire around the world. If you choose to progress to a new era with another culture, you will still maintain this trait.

Every legacy trait for each culture applies throughout the entire game so you can stack several traits if you choose a new culture for each era.

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Going Over The City Cap In Humankind

city in humankind zoomed in

If you accidentally go over the city cap, don't worry!

In general, it isn't too big of a problem. As mentioned before, the penalty for going over the city cap is losing ten influence points per turn. At first, ten influence is a lot. After you have gone through a few eras though, you will be able to lose those points per turn without it really affecting your game.

This influence stacks per city; for example, if you have three more cities than the cap allows, then you will lose 30 influence per turn. Although you can go over the city cap, try to not stretch your empire too thin; managing up to ten cities can be a bit overwhelming.

Overall, you should monitor the city cap if you aren't generating any influence per turn. The city cap is there to help you guide your empire to greatness, but you can go over it without facing harsh consequences. Make sure that your cities are doing well, with plenty of resources and high stability before creating additional cities.

Absorbing Cities

If you are really struggling to maintain a large number of cities, you will be able to absorb one city into another. This ability unlocks with the Military Architecture technology during the medieval era.

Absorbing cities will cost influence depending on the number of districts that the city being absorbed has. After absorption, you will have one city with combined resources.

That's everything there is to know about the city cap! Don't forget to check out our city management guide if you need help managing your individual cities.

Next: Humankind: Things To Do After You Beat The Game