Civilization VI came out last fall and since then, we’ve gotten a relatively steady stream of content updates and occasional DLC civilizations, but now we’re getting the big kahuna: Firaxis games has announced Civilization VI: Rise and Fall, the first full-fledged expansion pack to the hit strategy game. And the new release, which will come out on February 8, 2018, will bring huge and exciting changes to the already-solid core game.

Civilization VI: Rise and Fall Will Bring On The Dark Ages

As the name suggests, Civilization VI: Rise and Fall adds a concept never before seen in an official Civilization game: civilizations that not just rise, but also decline. Rise and Fall adds Dark Ages, a new feature that can send any civilization—including the player’s—into a state of relative moribund weakness for an entire era… but only if their civ is truly failing to compete against its rivals.

Likewise, a civilization that’s doing very well can enter a Golden Age, a more familiar concept to longtime Civ fans. And the Heroic Age is the most powerful bonus of all—it’s a special type of Golden Age that can only come directly after a Dark Age and grants special bonuses to civilizations that fight their way out of the darkness. For the true Civ fans, some of these ideas, including civilizational decline, hearken back to the popular Civ IV mod Rhye’s and Fall of Civilization, which modeled civilizational collapse. Civ VI is exploring some of the same ideas, albeit with its own unique implementation.

Beyond Dark and Golden Ages, Rise and Fall will also add a new system of Loyalty, which can allow a stronger and more influential civilization to peacefully take over cities from its neighbors (like the “culture flip” system in older Civ games). Golden and Dark ages affect Loyalty, but so do another new feature—Governors, which can be recruited to help you take an even more direct hand in a city’s development. They come in several different types and levels, but work differently than Great People, and provide lasting and continuous benefits to cities they are attached to. The expansion pack also revamps the game’s Alliance system to provide more concrete benefits over several different alliance types.

Rise and Fall will also add eight new civilizations and nine new leaders, so somebody—very likely an existing civ—will get a bonus leader. Firaxis has also promised to include a number of female leaders to make the game more diverse; let’s hope they do the same geographically as well.

Although pricing hasn’t been announced, Civilization VI: Rise and Fall is scheduled to come out on February 8, 2018—and that’s good news, because the dead of winter is the perfect time to play just one more turn, over and over again.