The Battle of Polytopia

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 technologies, and produce units used to battle the other tribes. The game has two modes, one which requires the player to obtain the highest score in a 30-turn time limit, and the other requires the player to defeat all other tribes in combat to win. Polytopia can be played in single-player against AI-controlled tribes, or through local or online multiplayer. The game was created by Felix af Ekenstam, who began drawing its concept art in 2012. He sought to create a strategy game containing the simple mechanics that were common to mobile games at the time, but without a focus on microtransactions. The Battle of Polytopia was originally called Super Tribes, but was changed to its current title due to trademark issues. It was first released in February 2016 for iOS. The game received mixed reviews from critics, who highlighted the graphics and found the gameplay simple and approachable, but lacking in depth compared to other 4X titles. After release, Midjiwan produced several free updates and paid downloadable content (DLC) expansions. By 2025, The Battle of Polytopia reached 25 million downloads across mobile platforms.