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The Battle of Polytopia
Welcome to the unique, turn-based strategy game set in the strange, flat world of the Square. Lead one of 16 distinct civilizations to victory by expanding your empire, researching technologies, and ultimately become ruler of the world! Play in single-player or multiplayer mode for up to 16 players.
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-12.
What reviewers agree on
74 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“One of the most simple 4X games I've ever played, but also one of the most enjoyable ones.”
“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…”
15 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I have a lot more hours in mobile, so don't judge me on my playtime. This is a simple, relatively casual, quick to learn and quick to play game, and it is really fun to play against your friends. The game has a…”
“For people who want a game that is like Civilization but cartoonish, simple, and fun, please buy this game. It is super fun. The developers have lore about all the tribes on their website and the updates have made the…”
“If you like games where you can take your time- turn by turn - and play casual, this one is a great one. Easy to learn, easy to play. 0:)”
14 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“the game is very very fun. its like playing chess with some randomizer, which makes it feel less repetitive and fun. would've been better if it has a better matchmaking system though.”
“Always fun to try out new tribes”
“It's deceivingly simple game play will have you going for a long time. Many tribes with different abilities and strategies. Fairly cheap to play.”
11 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I have a lot more hours in mobile, so don't judge me on my playtime. This is a simple, relatively casual, quick to learn and quick to play game, and it is really fun to play against your friends. The game has a…”
“Fun, if not a bit quirky game. Polytopia looks much simpler than it is. And for the way it plays, it barely explains anything. On those two notes alone, it kinda feels like an old school boardgame with arcane rules and…”
“I spent a lot of time in this only 250MB game and can recommend it to those who like minimalist graphics, music, and good strategy. Polytopia is very clean and interesting in its design, with good background music for…”
7 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“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…”
“Polytopia is a game, that i feel like is like we took simplisticness and strategy and combined to create this wonderfully charming, and still strategic game! with 12 base tribes, and 4 add-on tribes (with hopefully the…”
“Very good gam, enjoyable, you can either relax or challange your self. It is impressive how with just simple things they made such a vibrant world!!!”
10 of the 103 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“Horrible. Everyone who plays just uses pay to win tribes and sets the map to their advantage. Waste of time.”
“0 fun game especially when you play with Naim, Tom and Nathan”
“Stale game, fun concept though!”
6 of the 103 reviews raise this · 6 of them still recommend the game.
“It's really nice game. It is like chess, strategic, but the main drawback is that it is partly based on luck of map generation. Even in the finals of championship map generation was clearly not fair. 4/5”
“This game's multiplayer is like civ, but more streamlined. The stars system allows for a lot of strategic depth and proves that more systems isn't better. Units are far more unique than those in civ games and make wars…”
“I have FAR more playtime on mobile, probably something like 100-200 hours. This game is amazing. Simple, but complex. There have been times when tribes were broken (Cymanti cough cough), and times when others were…”
5 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“the game is very very fun. its like playing chess with some randomizer, which makes it feel less repetitive and fun. would've been better if it has a better matchmaking system though.”
“♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and ♥♥♥ servers dont even work”
“Incredible. It's like as if League of Legends and Chess had a sweet sweet baby. I was addicted at first to learn to play for my partner, but this game is goated. I deeply appreciate that this game can be played offline.…”
4 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Probably one of my favorite games ever, but uh released in 2020 on steam....and still no achievements. No achievements in over 5 years, sooooooo absolutely unplayable :steamfacepalm:”
“will run on a toaster, but why dont we have achievements like on google play!”
“i cant get a refund so if u play this on your phone stay on your phone because i bought this game for my friend and the whole play time that i have on this game is just him trying to find a match and if he did it would…”
3 of the 103 reviews raise this · 2 of them still recommend the game.
“♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and ♥♥♥ servers dont even work”
“Incredible. It's like as if League of Legends and Chess had a sweet sweet baby. I was addicted at first to learn to play for my partner, but this game is goated. I deeply appreciate that this game can be played offline.…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 94.0% positive rating · as of 2026-05-12
“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…”
— a player, Steam review · 15 hrs played“Pretty good strategy game. Kind of like chess. Online multiplayer has good robust competition”
— a player, Steam review · 448 hrs played“[h1][b] 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.[/b] [/h1] [h1]PROS: [/h1] ➕Lots of races, each with their own perks ➕Cute vibe ➕Good strategy [h1]NEUTRALS:…”
— a player, Steam review · 3 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
Bardur Qualifications
As the Polytopia World Championship Final gets closer, there are only a few spots left for players hoping to make it to Stockholm and compete for the $10,000 prize pool. Next up is Bardur, with qualif
Summer Discount!
Make proper use of the summer holidays by doing something truly productive, like spending countless hours perfecting your 4X strategy skills. Sunshine is overrated. Get anything in the game at 50% off
Kickoo Tribe Moon + Lore Challenge - Command & Konka!
Konka Nuts are regularly hulled and placed in front of structures of great importance. The nuts are believed by the Kickoo to be a show of great wealth and pride, and the wealthiest Chieftains will de
Come Watch the World Championship 2026 Kickoo Qualifier Finals!
The road to the Polytopia WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS 2026 begins NOW with the Kickoo Qualifier Finals! This Sunday at 17:00 CEST / 11:00 AM EST, the best players battle it out in the Kickoo Qualifier FINALS
Polytopia World Championship are back!
Compete for a $10,000 prize pool and a spot in the live finals in Stockholm. Qualifications start May 11, 2026. Do you have what it takes to make it all the way to Stockholm?Free registration is now o
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-12.
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Casual, Indie, Simulation, Strategy |
| Player tags | Strategy · Turn-Based · Multiplayer · Turn-Based Strategy · Singleplayer · 4X · Turn-Based Tactics · Colorful · Minimalist · Building · War · Isometric (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Multi-player · PvP · Online PvP · Shared/Split Screen PvP · Cross-Platform Multiplayer · Steam Trading Cards · Partial Controller Support |
| Languages | English, French, Italian, German, Portuguese - Brazil, Russian, Spanish - Latin America, Spanish - Spain, Portuguese - Portugal, Japanese, Korean |
| Official site | https://www.polytopia.io |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: OS *: Windows XP SP2 or later Processor: Dual Core 2.0 Ghz Memory: 1 GB RAM Graphics: 128mb Video Memory DirectX: Version 9.0 Storage: 160 MB available space Additional Notes: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system