Graphically, it looks really nice.
From a mechanics and pacing perspective, it currently feels like the optimal strategy is to expand as wide as possible early on and capture as much land as you can.
It might be interesting to introduce a trade-off for expanding too aggressively. For example, tiles that are captured far from your core territory could suffer reduced efficiency or loyalty. Distant regions could even risk revolting if not properly managed.
You could then allow players to mitigate this by investing in administrative buildings, palaces, or regional infrastructure that improve loyalty or efficiency, but with an upkeep cost.
This would create a meaningful “wide vs tall” strategic choice instead of expansion always being the obvious best move.