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Game
Game2020
The Battle of Polytopia
Developer Midjiwan AB
The Battle of Polytopia is a 2016 4X turn-based strategy game developed and published by Midjiwan AB. Players take control of a tribe as they build an empire and attempt to defeat the other tribes across a procedurally generated world. Each tribe starts the game with a unique ability, though all have access to the same technology tree. As players explore the world map, they construct and upgrade cities, research new… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
263 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 4, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
93
LovedLoved
198 positive · 16 negative
95% range 88–95%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 198 | 16 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 14 | 0 | 28 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
3,970 of 4,202 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
92% recommend · 184 yes, 15 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 199 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (5,667 of 6,034 positive).
Players praise the game for distilling complex 4X strategy into quick, accessible sessions. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the game's simplicity belies strategic depth, making it easy to learn but hard to master. [1][3][4] A few players criticize the game for being overpriced with paid tribes and unbalanced gameplay. [5][6][7]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
selling multiple tribes as dlc is so anti consumer and makes the game way to overpriced however the game is good
- [1]
Polytopia looks simple at first glance, almost minimalist, but that simplicity is exactly what makes it work so well. Underneath the clean visuals and easy-to-learn mechanics, there’s a surprising amount of depth in strategy, positioning, and long-term planning. Every decision feels meaningful without ever becoming overwhelming. It’s the kind of game that’s easy to pick up for a quick session and then suddenly you …
- [2]
One word: Wow. As someone who has played the Civilization series since the original release three decades ago, I’ve always wondered why no one had mastered the 'bite-sized' 4X formula. The Battle of Polytopia is the answer. It distills the complex strategy of a 10+ hours Civ campaign into a deep, meaningful 45-minute session. Every single turn matters, and every choice carries weight. If you grew up on classic 4X …
- [3]
The best way to describe this game is "Sid Meier's Civilization but fast". The 4X elements are very simplified, which in this case i think it's a good thing since it makes the game more accessible and game sessions shorter. This doesn't mean that the game lacks strategic depth, on the contrary, this game ends up being one of those titles that are easy to learn but hard to master.
- [4]
Easy to learn, hard to master. I've been playing this game for years (probably 6-8, mobile at first and now PC) and although the same tribes and environment repeat over and over, I just can't get bored with it. I haven't found any glitches yet, but the one thing I would rework is the online matchmaking. The filter options are limited, and if you leave one lobby, you may be thrown back in it the next time you search …
Summarised from 34 of the 249 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 9, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked The Battle of Polytopia talk about quick, bite-sized 4X sessions that respect limited time; those who didn't talk about paid tribes as DLC feels anti-consumer and overpriced. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
According to the review aggregator website Metacritic, The Battle of Polytopia received "mixed or average reviews" for its PC and Nintendo Switch versions. Many critics felt that the mechanics of The Battle of Polytopia were simplistic and easy to learn. Gamezebo said that the game was a good introduction to the 4X genre without the complexity of similar games like Civilization, and Nintendo World Report found the game challenging despite its simple rules. Nintendo Life called the game a "gentle introduction to an often-overwhelming genre" but said that players used to the complexities of 4X gameplay would quickly lose interest. Some reviewers highlighted the graphics. TouchArcade found the…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 263 · most liked firstelon musk's obsession with the tic tac toe of video games. We all know Elon Musk as the funniest man alive.  but did you know that Musk is also a lifelong gamer? for example, here he is in the chess club of his whites only…
neutral · AI labelView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☑ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☑ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☑ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i think the general distrust of institutions in Deus Ex obviously informs Musk, if i'm being generous. but it also just reminds me of when Musk said the Battle of Polytopia, a fun but kind of one-dimensional indie strategy game, was deeper than chess. he's not very smart!
neutral · AI labelView post →Polytopia looks simple at first glance, almost minimalist, but that simplicity is exactly what makes it work so well. Underneath the clean visuals and easy-to-learn mechanics, there’s a surprising amount of depth in strategy, positioning, and long-term planning. Every decision feels meaningful without ever becoming overwhelming. It’s the kind of game that’s easy to pick up for a quick session and then suddenly you realize hours have passed. Straightforward on the surface, quietly deep…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i always find it funny that his tastes are so consistently middle of the road Reddit Guy. like his apparent obsession with that The Battle of Polytopia game, a kinda cutesy and fun but not particularly deep indie strategy game. kotaku.com/elon-musk-gr...
neutral · AI labelView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☑ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☑ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Don't let the cute little guys and the soft clouds fool you. This is an evil video game made by evil people. Everybody is a war criminal so the only way to win is to out war crime them all.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →selling multiple tribes as dlc is so anti consumer and makes the game way to overpriced however the game is good
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the few great mobile games. Kinda hard to see, but on PC, that's not a problem. Crossplay is fully enabled but you have to play through on whatever system you started on. You can play multiple tribes in one game if you invite all your accounts. It's about 40$ either way for the whole game and all the tribes. Price point is wonderful. If you're trying to get a relative into civ, like your grandma or your mom, start here.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Epic] *The Battle of Polytopia*, turn-based strategy. > Award-winning strategy game that combines casual fun with fast paced and deep 4X tactics, all set in a charming low-poly world. > The Battle of Polytopia is a unique turn-based strategy game about controlling the map, battling enemy tribes, discovering new lands, and mastering new technologies. It offers a rare blend of casual gameplay and serious strategic depth, all wrapped in a charming low-poly art style. With millions of players, it…
neutral · AI labelView post →I usually don't like strategy games because they're too complex to understand at all, but even though this game is pretty basic it's still complex enough to require actual strategy, and takes time to master (which I haven't). It hits the sweet spot that I have been looking for in the 4x genre and I love it. 100% worth it full price even though it kind of looks like a game you'd spend one second playing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Folks are asking about this and it's a real thing. Apparently Elon Musk loves the mobile strategy game "The Battle of Polytopia," per his new biography (via The Verge) www.theverge.com/23871530/elo...
neutral · AI labelView post →one of the best games. also great for couples that like boardgames like catan, risk and others. my gf and i are competitive and cant stop playing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Apparently Elon Musk thinks this is more complex than chess. It definitely isn't, but it's still great fun, and a very cute classic! Would recommend if you like strategy, but are looking for something more snack sized than Civ VI. 7/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Battle of Polytopia is a fantastic turn based strategy that I've spent way too much time playing. Beholder is also great on mobile. Similar authoritarian setting to Paper's Please, lot's of decisions, consequences and replayability. I Love Hue is a super relaxing colour puzzle game.
positive · AI labelView post →Have at least 100H on this game from playing the mobile version over the past 8-10 years. That's how fun the game play is and it still hasn't worn off.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →patiently explaining to my six-year-old son that his recent enthusiasm for chess is cute but because there is no tech tree or fog of war it is a game that he will need to grow out of in favor of a more grown-up pastime such as The Battle of Polytopia
positive · AI labelView post →One game mode doesn’t require everyone to be online at the same time. Players have up to 24 hours to plan their move. If everyone locks in early, the turn resolves immediately. Inspired by The Battle of Polytopia. #bevy #gamedev
neutral · AI labelView post →The best way to describe this game is "Sid Meier's Civilization but fast". The 4X elements are very simplified, which in this case i think it's a good thing since it makes the game more accessible and game sessions shorter. This doesn't mean that the game lacks strategic depth, on the contrary, this game ends up being one of those titles that are easy to learn but hard to master.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A quick, easy 4x that captures the heart of the genre without too much complication. Also, matches between friends don't take two weeks and risk a major falling out.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One word: Wow. As someone who has played the Civilization series since the original release three decades ago, I’ve always wondered why no one had mastered the 'bite-sized' 4X formula. The Battle of Polytopia is the answer. It distills the complex strategy of a 10+ hours Civ campaign into a deep, meaningful 45-minute session. Every single turn matters, and every choice carries weight. If you grew up on classic 4X games but now find yourself with less time for marathon sessions, stop thinking…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game itself is fine. It's just that on mobile it's free to play and it get's boring after a few matches. I don't mind supporting creators, but 12 bucks for something that just get's boring in a few hours is not worth it in my eyes.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best mobile games got the pc release. Amazing to play with friends.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good game but all my friends are retarded goyim so I never lose
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game is fun, just not with the extra special tribes. If there was multiplayer filtering of the base tribes only it would be a lot more enjoyable. Hence I usually only play offline or with friends.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very enjoyable, chess-like game-play with a ton of depth that is really fun to play with friends. Each tribe has different strategies to choose between and even though some tribes are stronger than others, they all have different strengths and weaknesses - Kikkoo and Polaris are very strong on water maps. Vengir dominates early game but you need to quickly seize the oppositions economy before you start to fall behind later. You can try to get perfect 3 star games against bots or play online…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Super fun game, very simple but has a lot of strategy the deeper you dive. The biggest issue I have is if you have to "spawn shop" playing perfection and are exiting and restarting again and again. Please add in a restart button to streamline this process. Thank you!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Technically a 4X strategy game, it's pretty simple to play for a genre of video game that is sometimes very convoluted and complex, while still requiring some tactical thinking, especially if you choose to play on a map where you've selected all available tribes as it's likely you'll be surrounded at every angle. Each tribe has a different starting specialty, like having a boost in farming or sailing, and so you can choose to play as a tribe which best represents your interest in how you like…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR: A cute, streamlined 4x game that combines elements of Civ with Chess. Great for quick strategic runs if you enjoy optimization, but lacks depth and detail. PROS: ➕Lots of races, each with their own perks ➕Cute vibe ➕Good strategy NEUTRALS: 🔹No achievements 🔹Leaderboard-focused gameplay CONS: ➖Can only have a single game going at once ➖A bit shallow mechanics/simple tech tree ➖Can't zoom in that much, can be hard to see specific units Content (Game world/Narrative) – [5/10]…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Easy to learn, hard to master. I've been playing this game for years (probably 6-8, mobile at first and now PC) and although the same tribes and environment repeat over and over, I just can't get bored with it. I haven't found any glitches yet, but the one thing I would rework is the online matchmaking. The filter options are limited, and if you leave one lobby, you may be thrown back in it the next time you search for a game. If you want to try it out for free, install it from Google Play.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I spent a lot of time picking raspberries this week (we seem to have a bumper crop) and enjoyed eating more than a few. Played The Battle of Polytopia (online game) which I haven't played in ages but was reminded of recently when my kids visited.
positive · AI labelView post →This game is very unbalanced. Some tribes have unbalanced units, the possibility to move faster and more stuff. They can even poisen and spawn units, while the basic tribes cant do anything like that. I got some hours in RTS, no many in this one. But I cant see how this is even close to be balanced by turnig a blind eye. Its very far from that.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the most simple 4X games I've ever played, but also one of the most enjoyable ones.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun strategy game. I'm a huge fan of the Civ series and I really enjoy this game when I want a quicker or less complex strategy game session. I love the cute art and some of the factions have great theme songs. The settings to change the starting situations and difficulty are really robust and can make for some crazy games.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Feels like someone distilled the best parts of a 4X strategy game into something compact, colorful, and dangerously easy to replay. It has that rare quality where a match can feel light and breezy on the surface, but a few bad decisions later you suddenly realize you are fully locked in and min-maxing every move. The simple visual style helps a lot too - it is charming, readable, and gives the whole game a lot of personality instead of trying to look bigger than it is. On Steam, it is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty good strategy game. Kind of like chess. Online multiplayer has good robust competition
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Have been playing this one on mobile for years now, classic example of how simple mechanics gives space for more complex emergent tactics. Pretty cool game to spend some public transport time on.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very addictive, very fun. 4X but simple enough to already start getting good at your second game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Battle of Polytopia, a minimalist 4x strategy game (think Civilization but way faster), just hit 25 million downloads! I discovered it a month ago and it's a pretty fun time, especially on mobile. Full story on @pocketgamercom.bsky.social: www.pocketgamer.com/the-battle-o...
positive · AI labelView post →This is a stupid ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game. I love it, I have spent way too long on this game. Looking at it from an outside POV I can see that it is similar to Stelarris - however I find this a lot more fun than stelarris. It shouldnt be fun. It is simple - and world domination is easyish
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Epic Games PC/Mobile] The Battle of Polytopia | 100% off/Giveaway. PC: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/the-battle-of-polytopia-12fed6 Android: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/the-battle-of-polytopia-android-2acf81 iOS (EU only): https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/the-battle-of-polytopia-ios-afc195
neutral · AI labelView post →I got this game to introduce my 8 year old son to the 4x game genre and it was a huge success. I find the game enjoyable to play myself as an adult, and it's great because you can cross play between PC, Android and iPad. You can also buy it for the Nintendo Switch 2 which he has, but can't cross play with that platform. Very happy with this game and will be buying all the factions and skins. Things that I would like to see in the future for this game are cross play between Nintendo and the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →spawns have been way too big of a win factor for years, the balancing of tribes is still ass, snowballing happens way to fast and once its start a comeback is basically impossible, we still didn't get 5min games back, L devs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →this is so chill and get cancer at the same time
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I can see people liking this game but it isn't really my type. It's extremely repetitive and has very little content. I wish there was story mode and more technologies
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →2 stars too easy, 3 stars too hard. Games should scale.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really great game. Its easy to learn but the potential for strategy is massive.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Two of the awesome projects I work on include: The Battle of Polytopia, a pretty popular strategy game that I would (obviously) recommend you check out. It's free on mobile, has zero ads, is still getting new content updates and has quite an active community, including an eSports scene.
positive · AI labelView post →This game is a masterpiece. I solely play on Perfection mode against 3 crazy bots, because I consider it to be the most engaging and balanced set up. This game does everything right. Combat is fun and so is building the economy. The tall versus wide gameplay strikes a great balance. Diplomacy is also nice, it makes sense and works very well even at the highest difficulty. Research is amazing, everything is useful and situational. Futhermore, the victory condition is fair. It´s…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What I really enjoy about this game is it is a simplified turn-based game a la Civ series, with lively art and character designs. It is also very easy to learn, but harder to master, so it is challenging every time. You might able to cheese sometimes using Knights or Defenders or Catapults but its not always the case. Enjoy!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Battle of Polytopia: Free (Paid for extra playable factions) Believe it or not, it's a civ-lite strategy game and not a civil war between a polyamorous society
positive · AI labelView post →ASSEMBLE, YE GLADIATORS! The Battle of Polytopia is now available for 4800 points on SomeAwesome.com ! ⚔️This critically acclaimed, turn-based strategy game lets you build your civilization and conquer a square world. Grab this game before it disappears! 🕹️ #TurnBasedStrategy #4X #IndieGame
neutral · AI labelView post →this ga(y)me gets the UNHAPPY PUPPY seal of DISAPPROVAL. IT PISSES ME OFF!!! WHY DO I STILL WANT TO PLAY IT >:(
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is so cozy, the nice vibe the art style gives off is a perfect combo with a nice snack or coffee! Besides, the engaging gameplay and genuinely human-like bots makes this game reminiscent of chess.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Easy to run, uses almost no system resources, and it can be played while running another game at the same time.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very underwhelming with surface-level complexity. Can master it in a couple of hours and after that it's just boring.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An engaging strategy game that can be customized and played in about an hour.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nice and fun game, gets boring rather quickly
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great ratio of interesting decisions vs micromanagement, although ordering units may get tedious late in the game. I played the Domination mode and there was some anticlimactic mop up at the end. Overall great distilled fun!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is my go to game for chilling out - set to crazy and have a blast! :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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