Summary
One of the many wonderful elements of gaming is the complete lack of limitations when it comes to settings, time periods, and realism, allowing players to break the rules of place and time and plunge themselves into an entirely new way of life. Lasting nearly three and a half million years, the Stone Age marked the beginning of humanity’scultural, historical, and societal journey.
There is a whole host of engaging and exciting games set during key periods of human development, but some of the most fascinating, not least due to the reliance on others for survival, areset in the Stone Age period. The following games showcase the enduring fascination with this time, and they are ranked in terms of how involved the player is (or can be) and how much they can learn about what life was like during said era.
7Sapiens
Rewriting Humanity’s History
A title that allows players to evolve their very own civilization from the ground up, the niche gameSapiensis well-deserving of a place among thebest games set in the Stone Age, even though it begins during the Stone Age and then advances through time.Sapiensaffords the player supreme power of a god-like quality. Rudimentary housing, weapons, and survival-based living were the three basic elements in Stone Age humans' lives, and the progression in gameplay heavily depends on the waythe player chooses to rewrite history.
WhatSapienslacks is spontaneity, with characters being limited to which roles they are capable of having within the community, although MODs have now allowed this limit to slightly increase. With this game, it’s all about planning ahead, collecting supplies, gathering food, and building everything, from beds to entire villages.Sapiensis a great game to dip in and out of, with players acting as a kind of civilization manager.
The Roots of Pachaallows players to cultivate a bonded and loyal group of primitive people as they learn new skills and simultaneously learn about the world around them. Instead of racing against a clock andhurrying to build a battle-worthy tribe, this game allows the player to relax and enjoy the everyday life of prehistoric people (even though the introduction states that the characters are not a representation of a particular time period).
The early development of human civilization is explored inThe Roots of Pacha, all with a moralistic undertone that encourages players to work together towards a common goal, rather than going it alone. Even though the player’s community continues to grow, both randomized and customized characters have their own personalities and are far from carbon copies of each other. The relaxing music also adds to the game’s slower-pace.
Sometimes, video games from the 80s and 90s are written off by gamers now due to being deemed as too easy, but a definite exception to this isPrehistorik Man. Little known yet genuinely difficult (especially when fighting the lions at the end of one level ina retro-style boss battle), this game serves a Stone Age man and comedic modern elements.
The protagonist, Sam, is tasked with feeding the entire village by collecting as much food as possible after dinosaurs raid their food stores. As with many games of the period, the controls can be clunky, but if players can set aside the quirkiness of the fundamental game design, there is a lot of fun to be had taking Sam on adventures to save the village.
4Stone Rage
Surviving In Harsh Climates
One thing that makesStone Ragestand out from the rest of the pack is the player’s ability to play as an animal, a Neanderthal, or one of the first humans on Earth. The aim of the game here is pure survival, withStone Ragebringing players back to basics.
A Stone Age game based on and around the concept of loyalty to characters in the same position as the player,Stone Ragehas a slightly formulaic battle and survival system. It also slightly blends the end of the Pleistocene era with the Stone Age, but for fans ofopen-world survival games, it’s definitely worth a go.
Echoes: Secrets of the Lost Cavernis not based in the fire-making and mammoth-hunting ‘nitty-gritty’ time of the Stone Age. Instead, it is more of a prehistoric take on what it is to be a human being. The player embodies Arok, a teenage trainee hunter who feels that there is more to life than simple survival and comes acrossa set of cave paintings that act as the catalyst for the narrative.
The beautiful thing about this game is its involvement with spirit guides and the afterlife. What’s more is the nuggets of information that pop up when something new is uncovered or when a puzzle has been completed. Historically-based games where the player learns something are in a league of their own, andEcho: Secrets of the Lost Cavernis a perfect example of this.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odysseyconfronts the unshakable truth thathumankind evolved from apes. Based in and around Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, this game turns the usual pattern of easy-to-difficult gameplay entirely on its head. Instead, from the very beginning, all the player knows is that they need to advance their knowledge and their intelligence. Luckily,Ancestors: The Humankind Odysseycan be easily restarted and reset, meaning that if a wrong choice is made, the entire game won’t be lost.
For those who are truly curious about the origins of humankind, they will find this game to be immersive and fascinating. They may even find that it raises questions concerning the real purpose of life and the fundamentals of existence.
Animals have, in one way or another, played a fundamental role in the development of humanity through the ages, and the Stone Age was no exception. In fact, food, warmth, and companionship were all even more dependent on animals for early homo sapiens than they are in more recent times.
InFar Cry Primal, the protagonist Takkar (a prehistoric, nondescript hunter) becomes the celebrated leader of a tribe and then the commander as his tribe goes on to fight increasingly skilled hunters. Takkar’s special ability is akin to a Stone Age Dr. Dolittle; he has access to Beast Master skills that allow him to tame everything from Cave Lions and Jaguars to Sabre-Toothed Tigers. Not only doFar Cry Primalplayers get to interact and even bond with such animals, but they also get to ride them.
