Paleo

Survive the Stone Age, One Day at a Time

Every morning your small band of early humans wakes up with no guarantees. You know roughly what lies beyond the ridge — food, maybe, or materials for the tools you desperately need — but you never know what's waiting in the shadows. That uncertainty, that collective held breath before you flip a card and see what fate has dealt your people, is what makes Paleo one of the most compelling cooperative games in recent memory.

A Cooperative Survival Story

Published by Hans im Glück — the German publisher behind some of the most celebrated family and strategy games of the past few decades — Paleo is a cooperative survival game set in the prehistoric world. Two to four players manage a small group of early humans working together toward a single shared goal: completing a mammoth cave painting that will mark your people's place in history. It's a race against hunger, danger, and attrition, and you win or lose together.

The core loop is built around daily expeditions. Each of your humans carries a skill and a number of life points. You send them out to explore locations — stacks of cards that hint at what they might find without revealing the full picture. Food to keep your group fed. Crafting materials to build better tools. Allies who can join your cause. But danger hides in those same stacks, and a bad day in the wilderness can cost you dearly. At nightfall, you pool your resources, tend to your wounds, and plan for the next sunrise. Paleo won the Kennerspiel des Jahres in 2021 — the German award for games with meaningful strategic depth — and the recognition is well earned.

Who Should Play It

Paleo is a strong fit for groups of two to four who enjoy cooperative games with genuine tension and meaningful decisions. The rulebook is approachable without being simplistic — new players can get into it without a long learning curve, but there's enough strategic depth to reward experienced gamers. Plan for sessions in the 45–75 minute range depending on player count. It's an excellent choice for couples, small friend groups, or families with older kids comfortable with some complexity.

What's in the Box

The component design reflects the game's prehistoric identity — illustrated cards carry the feel of the ancient world without sacrificing clarity, and the modular mission structure means the cave painting you're working to complete changes across different configurations. The game ships with multiple mission cards that allow you to adjust difficulty and vary your objectives, giving Paleo meaningful replay value well beyond your first session. The card-driven exploration system is elegant: location stacks are built from a shared pool each round, so no two games play out quite the same way.

Specifications