Origins is an historical simulation, with the ambitious goal of describing, in three eras, the origins of everything human. Players take the role of Peking Man, Archaic Homo Sapiens, Cro-Magnon, Neanderthal, or Homo Floresiensis, and each attempts to develop instincts and higher cortical brain functioning, such as language traits. The populations expand and collide, and eventually consciousness, society, and culture are sought after.
Players start with a brain map of one of five pre-conscious hominid species, 115 thousand years ago. They also start with a Demography sheet and a single hunter-gatherer unit in the Old World, as it enters the glacial period of the Pleistocene Ice Age.
The maps of the Old and New Worlds depict various plants and animals, from coconuts and maize to mammoths and sheep, that they must try to domesticate to become herdsmen and agriculturists. They must expand their mind, as they learn the arts of language and imitation of competing cultures. Players who do poorly may become enslaved by other cultures, only to get a new chance as advanced civilizations go through cycles of chaos and renaissances. Global Warming may end the Ice Age and flood the coastal settlements, and deserts, jungles, and glaciers advance and retreat as the millenia pass. There are three eras in the development of the mind: The Age of Instinct (pre-lingual), The Bicameral Age (lingual but not yet conscious), and the Age of Faith (conscious with faith-based authorizations). An expansion (to be released in 2008) brings the game into the Age of Reason (today).
The 24 page rulesbook, in English and German, includes maps and 6 pages of historical background, a theory on the origins of consciousness, weather charts and historical maps. The historical backdrop of each and every card, from the Pleistocene to the Medieval Era, is described and illustrated.
Rules and Game components are in both German and English
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