Cavemen: The Quest for Fire

About this board game

Cavemen: The Quest for Fire is a card-drafting game for 2–5 players, playable in about 60 minutes, in which tribal leaders compete to invent fire.

Each tribe must manage two vital resources: Food and Teeth. Food is spent every turn to prevent starvation, while Teeth represent prestige and can be used to bid for the conch or acquire Cavemen and Caves.

During each turn, cards are drawn to create a shared Card Pool. Players choose actions based on the opportunities available, including hunting Beasts for Food and claiming their Teeth as a sign of bravery. The pool can also offer opportunities to recruit tribesmen and discover new technologies.

The player holding the conch acts first during the Action Phase, then takes a second action after every other player has acted once. Players may bid Teeth to take control of the conch, making its initiative especially important when competing for the best cards in the pool.

• Draft from a changing common Card Pool.
• Manage Food to keep your tribe from starving.
• Spend Teeth to bid for the conch and acquire Cavemen and Caves.
• Use 21 different inventions to develop varied strategies.

Every turn presents challenging choices. Evaluate the available resources, anticipate what your opponents may pursue, and decide how much risk your tribe can accept while building knowledge and prestige.

Released in 2012, Cavemen: The Quest for Fire places competition, resource management, and evolving technology at the center of a race to usher in the age of modern humanity.