We’re old enough to remember when the popular turn-based strategy title The Battle of Polytopia originally launched as an iOS-exclusive under the title Super Tribes. We’re not actually all that old, it was just 5 years ago this month in fact, but boy has this game come a long way since that initial release. Its minimalistic design but deceptively deep gameplay has earned Polytopia a cult following over the years, and that following reached a whole new level when online multiplayer made its way into the game in 2018. Three years ago this past Monday, to be exact. Another major milestone for the game was its Steam launch last summer which was pretty much completely rebuilt from the ground up, and a few months later that rebuilt version was brought to iOS and Android in a huge version 2.0 update.

In addition to all that, during its 5 years of life developer Midjiwan has constantly been adding new content and features to The Battle of Polytopia, including numerous new tribes that players could choose to play as during the game, each with their own unique mechanics and strategies. Today the latest new Special Tribe has been added to the game as paid DLC, and they’re a bug-loving tribe called the Cymanti.

So, I am not a fan of bugs, at all. I also really hate mushrooms and other gross stuff. In this way the Cymanti are built entirely around everything I hate, with their giant bugs that they ride and their fungi that spouts poisonous gas. All that icky stuff aside though, dang do they look cool. Like the other Special Tribes in the game, the Cymanti are available for $1.99 as IAP. If you somehow have never played The Battle of Polytopia before, and think you might fancy a 4X strategy game that has been expertly built for mobile, then you can download the game totally for free and play single-player to your heart’s content. If you want to hop online you’ll need to purchase at least one of the many extra Tribes that are available as IAP, the majority of which are 99¢ apiece while a handful are Special Tribes like the new Cymanti that are $1.99.

At any rate, besides buying at least one to enable multiplayer, the extra Tribes are entirely optional and it’ll take you a good long while to really learn the ins and outs of the Tribes that come included with the game anyway. And trust me, once you get sucked into The Battle of Polytopia, you’ll have no trouble dropping a buck or two on a new Tribe every now and then. In addition to iOS, the game is also available on Android here and Steam right here.