Stone Age (2008)

About this game

The "Stone Age" times were hard indeed. In their roles as hunters, collectors, farmers, and tool makers, our ancestors worked with their legs and backs straining against wooden plows in the stony earth. Of course, progress did not stop with the wooden plow. People always searched for better tools and more productive plants to make their work more effective. In Stone Age, the players live in this time, just as our ancestors did. They collect wood, break stone and wash their gold from the river. They trade freely, expand their village and so achieve new levels of civilization. With a balance of luck and planning, the players compete for food in this pre-historic time. Players use up to ten tribe members each in three phases. In the first phase, players take turns placing their tribe members in regions of the board that they think will benefit them, including the hunt, the trading center, or the quarry. In the second phase, each player activates each of their staffed areas in whatever sequence they choose, in turn order. In the third phase, players must have enough food available to feed their populations, or they face losing resources or points.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 4.
• Rules load. At 2.5/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.