I heard this from so many people that I bought it, and ultimately sought a refund. I had similar problems with its UI that I did with Civ VII. The row of 15 unlabeled icons, a parade of numbers. Font pairings that do not work together. It was hard to see the likely good game underneath.

I wish Humankind was a better game because its presentation is so good.

I especially like that they’re still making substantial improvements. It’s quite the contrast to Civ V having game-breaking bugs which were never patched.

Specifically by Soren Johnson, lead designer of Civ 4, so naturally OW has Civ 4 vibes. I will say that Civ 6 and OW seem to appeal to different audiences, so if you absolutely loved Civ 6 plays then OW might not be to your liking.

I am playing this right now and love it, though the learning curve is steep even for a Civilization veteran. This is what Civ VI or VII could be if they didn't try to dumb down the game to increase the audience.