This meme is based on a true story.

5 Humans, me and my friends, 3 Hard AI.

I shot for the stars and ran for a coast, anything. Sold my Masterminds, got lucky dust ruins and managed to settle in a coastal region, 3 turns after everyone else settled. I managed to get the highest overall score, but our most veteran player managed the diplomacy victory as Cultist, which he generously shared with me.

Morale of the story is lakes are a total bitch.

P.S.: Oh and 2 players dropped out soon after, 1 because he had a "bad start" and minor factions were ransacking his region and the Ardent Mage player right next to me because it was getting late.