Survival comes before expansion in Afterworld. You begin with a small band of survivors, explore hostile wastelands and establish settlements while recovering lost technologies. As the tribe grows into a nation, play shifts from managing that small group to grand strategy on a larger scale.
Building a continent-spanning empire involves territorial expansion, settlement management and political struggle. Tribal alliances are part of that effort, alongside wars of conquest against cultists, raider warlords and the immortal Ancients who claim the world.
