The time before man started keeping records of all our accomplishments and failures. It’s a time marred in mystery, where all manner of creatures known and unknown walked the Earth. Just think of the wonders we could experience. Well, luckily, you don’t have to think too hard.
Prehistory games can be anything from as accurate as we understand it to as ridiculous as a fantasy world. Dinosaurs and woolly mammoths, mutations we can hardly fathom, even a plasma ray or two. While some would have been best left in the Stone Age, there a many that stand out and are well worth playing.
10 Primal Rage
Primal Rage has clear inspirations from Mortal Kombat with its more realistic graphics, accomplished by stop-motion, and its gore, even employing fatality-like 'finishers.' It has a fairly meager roster for its time but is quite the fun button masher.
The game has you pick from a handful of dinosaurs, each with its own twist, to fight each other. While you might recognize a great ape or raptor, they have abilities like ice attacks or are mixed with other breeds of creatures. This is because they are 'gods' of one thing or another, like hunger or decay.
9 Civilization 2
The sequel to Civilization offers scenarios where you control a primitive tribe and guide them through building their village. You compete against a rival CPU-assisted tribe doing the same as you try to overtake the other. Of course, you could choose diplomacy, but where’s the fun in that?
Civilization has always been lauded for its in-depth options for building a society of your own making and Civilization 2 is no different. It has a rich suite of mechanics to help you grow your people and civilization.
8 Bonk's Adventure
Bonk’s Adventure is one of those games that you played years ago, didn’t really think about for years, and then when you hear about it again, remember just how fun it was. With its colorful world and comedic elements, it’s just a good time all around.
Bonk’s is a platformer from the Stone Age of gaming, originally designed for the PC in 1989 and eventually ported to the NES. It has shades of Mario in its storytelling, but in its gameplay, it offers a bit more, as Bonk can directly attack enemies with his forehead and even gets assistance during battles.
7 Tomba!
In a time when Sony was looking for a platformer mascot to rival Mario or Sonic, they went through a few. One that stood out was Tomba!, a game about a young boy on a quest to retrieve his bracelet from evil pigs.
Tomba! is a semi-open world Metroidvania with some nice twists like transferring to an isometric view at times or moving between the background and foreground. There’s even something akin to side missions in 'events,' which gives you over 100 different challenges to complete.
6 Black & White
Black & White is a game with an interesting setup and concept. You play as a god who saves a couple’s child from certain doom. Afterward, you follow their journey back to their village as you learn the history of the people and the village itself.
That's when the game truly begins. You choose how to interact with people, and it affects their actions and belief in you. You can help them with tasks, ignore their pleas entirely, or a mix of both. They will grow based on your action or inaction, becoming extensions of your morality.
5 Dawn Of Man
Dawn of Man combines city-building and survival elements to create an engaging experience for practically any player. It’s not as unforgiving as other survival games, but you’ll still need to manage your resources appropriately to survive and thrive.
You take control of a small group of prehistoric humans as they learn everything from hunting and gathering to building and creating. As you progress, you’ll unlock Knowledge by completing milestones. Knowledge Points lets you trade for tech to do things like gaining better tools or unlock new buildings.
4 E.V.O.: Search for Eden
It wouldn’t be surprising if EVOLVE took a few ideas from E.V.O.: Search for Eden. You consume prey and other creatures to grow bit by bit, limb by limb, until you become either a mammal or a mighty monster.
This platformer has you start as a lowly fish a billion years ago and eat your way into gaining legs. You go through several periods of history as you defeat enemies that drop meat for you to eat. Each bit of meat goes to evolution points, which lets you evolve in ways of your choosing.
3 Turok: Dinosaur Hunter
Just the name 'Turok: Dinosaur Hunter' should awaken something primal in you. But then you add in that you’re a time traveler who will employ both primitive and futuristic weaponry to take down a multitude of dinosaurs? It’s a recipe for success.
The premise itself is good enough, but the gunplay also feels good as it’s fast-paced and responsive. While the Native-American protagonist is depicted problematically, to say the least, if you can look past it you’ll find a game that will keep you coming back for more.
2 Far Cry Primal
Ubisoft took their winning formula of the Far Cry series and decided to implant it in a prehistoric world. What followed is one of the best prehistory games ever made with a vast area to explore and hunting that feels incredibly satisfying.
While it may lack the variety of weapons of other Far Cry games, it makes up for it with its animal-taming mechanic. This lets you befriend animals that can be used in combat to assist you and offer different benefits. Larger animals can be ridden while smaller animals like owls can be used to scout ahead.
1 Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey
Survival games are having their time in the spotlight as they can be used in conjunction with almost any other genre. Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey takes the third-person action-adventure approach and offers a litany of options to play.
Every little thing matters in Ancestors. You must, of course, eat, sleep, and drink. But injuries from enemies or even yourself from falling great distances must be dealt with. You can become hysterical with fear of the enemies in the jungle, but you'll grow out of this as you gain knowledge of new tools and abilities.