5.0 out of 5 stars Stone Age , a must have board game ..

S. · 23 July 2016

Me and my wife love playing this board game, the art work is brilliant and the game play is fantastic , highly recommended, would be great in anyone's collection.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great fun.

A.H. · 20 August 2014

Simple game. Great fun.

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

C. · 1 March 2016

Excellent game. Strategy plus luck... What fun is all about really therefore you re always in the game.

5.0 out of 5 stars A proper board game!

A.B. · 13 March 2013

Absolutely love this game... Have played it before with friends, and had to have my own copy. On a par with ticket to ride and power grid, which are firm family favourites. The board and playing pieces Are beautiful. The whole thing oozes class. Love it!

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my all time favourite worker placement games

C. · 24 May 2012

This is a great game. I love the theme, the artwork on the board is lovely. And it is just such an addictive game. I have had this game for around 3 years and have played it many many times. As well as online.As with all worker placement games, on your turn you will have to make a decision where to go, from all the options available. You need to balance what you do. You need to feed all the workers you have. So best not to make too many new workers early on, you can make a new worker (the hut! takes two meeples ;) lol), you chose to go up on the food production line (so you need less food each turn, gain wood, stone, clay or gold, make a tool, buy a card, or build a building, or go hunting for food. It's a simple game, but there are many tactics you can use. I for example like the cards, they give you something immediately and help with the scoring at the end, and to get up the food production quickly and then get some workers.It's a fun Euro medium weight game. Easy to learn but takes a bit longer to master. I have enjoyed it as a two player game, but think it is better as a three player game.

5.0 out of 5 stars "It's a grown-up game"

R.T. · 14 March 2010

I like playing boardgames, of all sorts, so when forced to participate in a game of Catopoly (a mongrel offspring of Monopoly and the Observer guide to cat breeds) I looked for a better alternative and eagerly waited for the upcoming tenth birthday.The game has been a great success, playing both with mother and daughter. The game has a lot of options and victory points, but the indivdual mechanisms are all very simple. Certainly it's no worst that Monopoly to teach to play, though it helps that I play such games, so can identify the familiar individual elements and explain them one-by-one. The 'theme' is beautifully illustrated, though slightly abstract, but it is the need for continual (easy) calculations that is the educational side. The 'mating hut' is the source of occasional amusement, but for a ten year old is just part of learning about the birds and bees (one plus one equals three).The ten year is hooked, it's fun to play, but she recognises that, for all the pretty game components that this has some extra layers of complexity, so she proudly explained to her mother that she wouldn't play it with her younger cousin because "it's a grown-up game". And so it is, suitable to all ages of children from nine to ninety!

Book

C.c. · 2 February 2021

For a friends son

Such a fun game for two players up to four ~

C.B. · 20 February 2013

The game seems overly complicated at first. Stick with it. It really comes clear after one play through.First big plus, this game is immensely enjoyable for two players. There are a few options to take to shorten the game a bit (if you didn't, it might take two hours for two people to finish!). But the game usually takes about an hour. The first time through takes about two hours. I recommend setting up the board first, that actually helps to understand a bit, then skim the rules and play through while checking back to the rules cards.The things to note:--> The civilization cards can be a bit tricky to understand at first.--> The hut cards give instant points and POSSIBLY extra points later.--> Make sure all players take the three turns and make sure you remember to allot food.--> The resources are bottomless, if you run out of actual pieces, use something else as a resource marker.--> The game is not very antagonistic, you are really trying to collect more points, not 'beat' the other players.--> That said, read below...The goal is to score higher than the opponents. Scoring comes instantly from huts, but at the end of the game you will have Civilization cards that accrue points (often a lot) as well as points for remaining resources (1 per - no matter the type) and possibly points for huts, meeples, and tools (as long as you collect the hut maker, shaman, or tool maker civilization cards).So you should be trying to gather resources to use to acquire huts and civilization cards. You will also spend time trying to increase your population, add more food supply with the field, add more tools (which assist with resource procurement) and hunting for quicker food collection. You have a limited number of meeple (until you acquire more, but max out at 10), so you cannot do everything at once. And you have to allocate food for your meeple, so you can't just spend all of your time gathering lumber and minerals.It has a nice flow, and rounds pass quickly. It's a rather interesting and engaging game, and I rate it among the better Euro-style board games.Here are a few pointers or things you can do to edit rules:--> Even though it's not an antagonistic game, you can put Meeple on cards to block the other players from acquiring said card or hut, even if you lack the resources to take it yourself. If someone has a ton of huts, and the double hut builder card comes up, by all means, get that before they do or they'll be stacking on a lot of points at the end. You can also fill resources if you have the Meeple. Blocking folks from acquiring, say stone, is fun to do, but it can often be inadvisable if you are trying to collect something else. But collecting the civilization cards and huts before the others do is a fun and rewarding way to screw the opponents.The board is heavy duty, the pieces are actually wood, so I think it will last awhile. Each person has their own card for adding their resources, huts, and civilization cards. There are 7 dice included (since there is seven max than can be used). These are used for collecting resources and you basically roll one die per Meeple on said resource in a turn.It sounds complicated, but after your first play through, it all comes together. Especially once you score the game. It's more complicated than Carcassonne and Samurai, but not as complicated as, say, Caylus.I also highly recommend Samurai as a 2-4 player Euro Board game, and actually it is my personal favorite. It's quicker and easier, but still a lot of fun. Check it out: Samurai.Enjoy!I usually list pros and cons but I think that it's unnecessary here. It's a lot of fun for 2 - 4 people, takes 45 minutes to an hour, has a big learning curve right at first, but becomes clear quickly, and it has a lot of variety each time you play. Highly recommended for those used to Euro board games. If you're idea of a complex board game is Monopoly, then you might want to ease into these games with Carcassonne or Samurai.

Too much math

P.S. · 18 September 2011

This is a good game and I only have one complaint: Too much math. I'll come back to that.Early this year I bought the board game Agricola and loved it. So I started doing research to find other games worth trying. Between BoardGameGeek.com and YouTube I probably read or watched over 100 reviews. Both of these sources will give a good indication of the components.I was attracted to Stone Age based on what I saw. The artwork on the board is terrific. The painted wooded pieces are very nice. And personally the `pre-history' theme was interesting to me.Like Agricola, this is a `worker placement' type game. However, in Agricola you simply take your workers (i.e. farm family members), place them on a board space, and pick up the resources or animals that are located there. In Stone Age you take a number of your workers and place them on the board (or on top of cards to claim them). If the workers are trying to collect food, wood, brick, stone or gold you must role one die for each worker. The rules will restrict you from ever having more than seven workers gathering any one item. So you roll the dice, total all the pips, and then you have to divide the total score by the value of the item being gathered. Food = 2, Wood = 3, etc up to Gold = 6.So for example, if you had seven workers in the forest gathering wood, you would roll seven dice. If you get a 3, 5, 1, 1, 6, 4, 3 on the roll you next need to add them up (23) and divide by the value of wood (3) and this results in the collection of seven wood resources. You have to round down, so you would have needed a total of 24 on the dice to get eight wood resources.It's not that the math is hard. It's just that you can expect to do those calculations over and over again every turn of the game. It just feels like too much work for an otherwise terrific game. I'd recommend the game unless that thought bothers you. I'll keep the game in my collection but I expect it will be played less often than most.

Stone Age Review by Dad's Gaming Addiction

D.G.A. · 8 January 2014

Stone Age: 2-4 Players, Ages 13+, Average Play Time = 60-90 MinutesFor as simple as the round phases are, there is a lot of strategy and depth. The civilization cards provide different ways to score, allowing players to specialize in particular areas. If your farming score is high on the track, for example, you may want to pick up as many civilization cards that provide bonuses for farming. Players can opt out of civilization cards altogether and buy out as many buildings as they can in the hopes that they can score a ton of immediate points and end the game quickly by exhausting one of the building stacks. There is some luck involved since the value of your dice rolls determine how many resources you collect, though tools can help to offset that a little. Some may be turned off by the luck factor, especially if dice in general normally holds a grudge against a particular person. Yahtzee and I, for example, have a hate-hate relationship.The components are very well done and easy on the eyes. The dice cup was a nice touch. I had enough baggies to hold everything by category separately, so no complaints there either. The board itself is fairly easy to follow, once you get accustomed to how each worker area operates. The rules do an excellent job in explaining how it all comes together and includes a separate sheet that serves as a guide for the various civilization card types.The kids enjoyed playing the game and I enjoyed watching them try to figure out how they wanted to earn their points. Anthony (16) concentrated on buying / constructing buildings and scoring immediate points and quickly took the lead. Vinnie Jr (11) struggled in the beginning with food, but managed to get lucky rolls and feed his people despite the odds and earn himself a few civilization cards and a few buildings. I bought out civilization cards almost every turn, while bringing my farming up to 10 food per turn and bringing my population up to 10. I was in the position to not worry about food, and soon had myself a nice stack of civilization cards that pushed me ahead in the end. Each of us had our own strategy and it was neat to see how it all came to its conclusion.Oh, and those who hate math with a passion may want to steer clear or play with someone who is willing to do all the legwork. You’ll be doing a lot of multiplication and division, and finding answers to the lowest whole number. Not a problem for a crack accountant like myself, and it was even educational for the kids. As a father and a math guru, I approve of this particular gameplay mechanic.Stone Age is an excellent way to introduce new players to the worker placement genre, though newcomers should be aware that there is a small learning curve to overcome. Experienced players of the genre will be able to jump right in after a quick rules primer. All in all, this game would make an excellent addition to your family game night rotation, just be aware that it can take an hour or two to play.

great for casual and serious gamers

R.H. · 27 October 2008

Over the past decade, a new genre of board game has emerged, largely from Europe. This new category falls between the casual and simple Parker Brothers games and the heavy and serious old school Avalon Hill games. If Monopoly feels like a waste of time dominated by luck, but you aren't interested in dedicating an entire weekend and basement to a giant game with miniature figures, the new "eurogames" might be just the thing for you. Rio Grande is one publisher that targets this niche. Popular and approachable games in this category are "Settlers of Catan", "Carcasonne", "Ticket to Ride", and "Puerto Rico".Stone Age is an excellent new addition to this field. It's easily the best game I've played in the past few years, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it win several board-game-of-the-year awards. Like other "eurogames", it's not so light as to be dominated by luck or trivial to master; it's strategically deep and compelling, with many different paths to victory. Yet at the same time, it's easy to learn and you can play an entire game in under 2 hours.Stone Age is particularly well balanced for 4 players, though you can also play with 2 or 3. The 4-player game lasts about 2 hours after you've learned the rules. It's deep enough to be enjoyed by hard-core board game fans, yet simple enough to learn that casual game players will be able to pick it up in a few minutes. Best of all, Stone Age has an excellent design feature that keeps all players actively engaged at all times; gone are the dead times where you wait for 3 other players to take their long turns, and you won't find yourself getting up from the table and asking someone to play for you. (If you want or need to take a break, though, there's a great way to do so; you can simply put all your people out to hunt/gather with minimal loss in strategic advantage.)The board consists of approximately 15 different locations where workers might be deployed. Some locations give you more resources such as food, wood, and of course, stone. Other locations give you opportunities to spend your resources building huts or advancing your civilization, both of which contribute to your score. A third group of locations contribute to your "infrastructure", so to speak: you can plant crops to ease a food shortage, build tools to make workers more effective, or focus on increasing your population. If it sounds complex, it's not, it's actually done in a very straightforward and easy to understand way. The strategic depth comes in part from a "guns or butter" choice: opportunities are limited, your ability to capitalize on them is limited, and your competitors will also be scrambling to capitalize on those opportunities.For better or worse, the game does involve luck. Each worker only has a certain probability of achieving his goal. However, luck does not dominate this game, and it's completely up to the player to determine how best to manage the risks and rewards of the game. For instance, you can send multiple workers and they can combine their efforts, plus you can augment your capacity with tools. So, do you send one worker and rely on a good roll, or do you send several to guarantee that you get at least as much of the resource as you require and thus miss out on other opportunities?I plan to give this game as a gift to multiple people this year. The only problem is, Bolo's current price is close to full retail; I expect better pricing from Bolo.