Neolithic (2016)

About this game

Neolithic is a 2 player card game set at the dawn of the Neolithic Age, where each player takes on the role of leader for their village. Neolithic uses a mix of Hand Building, Worker Placement, and multi-use cards. The game is played over alternating player turns. Players send Villager cards from their hands to perform Tasks and acquire more cards, to help unlock Innovation cards and boost their Culture(s). Returning these Villagers allows the player to play the cards they previously acquired. Each turn, the player chooses one of two options: Take a Task turn (play Villager card(s) from their hand to one of the five Task decks to acquire more cards) Take a Village turn (returns all of their Villager cards to hand, and for each Villager returned, may play a non-Villager card to their Village). The game ends when 2 of the 5 Tasks have no cards remaining. Players score points based on the cards in their Village. Points come from Culture cards (which award points based on certain Icons), Innovations, and for having the most Icons. The player with the highest score wins.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 1 to 2. It has a designed solo mode.
• Rules load. At 2.1/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 14 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.