Microsoft’s take on Civilization is getting an expansion that lets you play through the Bronze Age collapse, the Mongol invasion, and something inexplicably called ‘Spider World’

There’s a case to be made that the Bronze Age collapse has the coolest name of any historical period. Sure, the Dark Ages might be moody and mysterious, while the Renaissance has flair on its side. But the Bronze Age collapse is pure drama. If your era of existence has the word “collapse” in it, you know shit went down. This ends my lecture on ancient Mediterranean history.

Anyway, when I learned that Ara: History Untold‘s upcoming expansion will let you play through the societal disintegration of the eastern Mediterranean in the 12^th century BC, I was immediately curious. Titled Untold Scenarios, the DLC will let you play through several historical and hypothetical challenges within Oxide Games’ turn-based strategy.

Currently, the Bronze Age Collapse scenario is the only one we have specific details for. A screenshot of the scenario summary shows it places you in the sandals of Alexander the Great, squaring off against rulers like Nefertiti of Egypt and the Persian King Xerxes as you scramble to survive economic decline and offshore raids. It’s worth noting that, in reality, Alexander and Xerxes were around somewhat later than the collapse, but I guess Oxide is working with what it already has in the faction leader department.

Other named historical scenarios include Mongol Invasion, Europe at the Crossroads, and Clash of Hemispheres. Oxide Games doesn’t offer much info about these, but Europe at the Crossroads will see players involved in a “pivotal moment of diplomacy, warfare, and cultural evolution,” while Clash of Hemispheres pits “continents against each other in a dramatic encounter”. No details are provided for the Mongol Invasion, but I can hazard a pretty good guess at how it will play out.

These historical scenarios will be accompanied by several “what-if” challenges. Again, there aren’t any specifics here. But the screenshot of the Bronze Age Collapse summary also shows a scenario titled “Spider World”. I really hope this is as literal as that title suggests, replacing all human civilisations with giant sentient spiders.

All the above scenarios will apparently feature “custom-built maps, unique nation configurations, and distinctive events”. The DLC will release on Steam come June 18 (so slightly less than a month) and will cost $10 on launch.

I rather liked this grand strategy game when I played it last year, although, as Robert Zak noted in his Ara: History Untold review, its strategic simulation was a little threadbare in certain areas like diplomacy. But it’s been updated quite a bit since it launched last September, so it may be worth a look if you bounced off the changes Firaxis made for Civilization 7.