Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey

Great game. They oughta make a sequel, cause it feels like humankind’s journey is not complete yet

how come yall got boobies on the females but no weeners on the males. 0/10 (honest review this game is good imo)

I love a game that encourages me to go in the jungle and put everything I find in my mouth

As someone who’s spent countless hours exploring the roots of humanity in Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey, I can say without hesitation: this game is an absolute gem — a bold, intelligent, and emotionally rewarding journey that deserves far more recognition than it gets.

What Ancestors does so brilliantly is challenge everything you think you know about survival games. It drops you into prehistoric Africa, not with a tutorial or hand-holding mechanics, but with instinct, curiosity, and the raw, unfiltered experience of evolving as a species. It doesn’t just simulate evolution — it feels like evolution. Every discovery, every mistake, every leap through generations feels earned. And that sense of earned progress is deeply satisfying.

The world is lush, dangerous, and alive. From dense jungles to sun-scorched savannas, the landscapes are breathtaking and brimming with detail. The sound design — whether it's the chirping of insects, the calls of predators, or the heartbeat of your primate clan — pulls you right into the moment. Combine that with the hauntingly beautiful music, and you have an atmosphere that’s deeply immersive.

What I love most is how the game respects your intelligence. It doesn’t tell you how to evolve — it invites you to explore, to think, to experiment. You learn by doing, just like our ancestors did. When you figure something out — like how to use tools, how to intimidate predators, or how to care for your clan — the reward isn’t just mechanical progress. It’s a real, almost primal sense of achievement.

I’ve lost track of how many hours I’ve put into this game, and every playthrough still feels fresh. The emergent storytelling — the triumphs, the tragedies, the near-death escapes, and the victories over nature — creates a narrative that’s yours. No two journeys are alike, and that’s part of what makes Ancestors so special.

If you’re looking for a game that dares to be different — that pushes you to think, to feel, and to grow — then Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is an unforgettable experience. It's not just a game — it's a meditation on survival, on learning, and on what it means to be human. And for those willing to embrace its challenge, the rewards are profound.

I genuinely can’t recommend it enough.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey - A game that I just couldn’t get into at all for the first 5 hours or so - but I stuck with it, luckily.
At the start, I was super frustrated, because this game really explains almost nothing, and even after watching a few short tutorials, I still didn’t fully understand all the mechanics and made a lot of mistakes.
BUT once I eventually started to understand it more and more, I actually had a lot of fun with the game at times.
The gameplay loop is very unique - nothing I’ve really seen in any other game… as I said, I had to warm up to it first, but then it was nice!
At least until hour 30 or so… then the gameplay loop did become very, very repetitive.
And another thing that bothered me (but in a way also inspired me):
I kept pushing forward with my clan, piece by piece - through the jungle, the savanna, the desert - and finally we reached the ocean AND…
And there’s basically nothing interesting to find at the ocean… it feels like it was never really about the destination, but that it was always about the journey/the process itself… wow… if that’s not a metaphor for life, I don’t know what is.
As I said - inspiring, right?
Even though I would recommend it, I totally understand if many people who try this game quickly drop it and never get the appeal… almost happened to me too.

The absolute joy this game gave me was insane. I agree a lot of the late game is really boring and is just a checklist to get those last achievements, the last area being especially dull and empty of anything interesting, but damn! The first and middle/early late section of the game for me was just mythical, exploring and learning new things often the hard way, wandering around constantly watching my back to make sure a predator wasn't stalking me was a surreal feeling. You could just sense something was stalking you in the long grass or waters edge and for a game to pull that off so well, for me is very impressive.
I had one white sabertooth target my family for a whole generation, it would hang out around my home and pick off my family members one by one and it wasn't until the next generation I was finally able to kill it, leaving me with a great sense of accomplishment. Dragging this spear ridden big cat down and caving it's skull in after what felt like a life time of being hunted by this beast was probably the greatest highlight for me with this game.
I was screaming like an ape behind my computer screen rejoicing in it's demise XD

I played long enough to make my apes smart and strong so I don't really understand complaints saying "The game won't tell you what to do" well, it's your journey, you decide to do whatever you want. It's all up to you to figure out and discover something. You just don't have the patience.
At first I was also confused as well. What am I gonna do? I can't do this? so maybe that? Nope, I can't as well. I fell from a tree and died. Got attacked by anaconda and died. I was bleeding dunno what to do and died. It keeps happening but hey, at least I learnt something new. Now I can kill anaconda that killed me before, even the sabertooth. I know what to do if my apes bleed, have broken bones, get cold etc. My apes only died from old age. You will learn it slowly. Just like the monke.