Stone Age marks 10 years of dice-rolling at the dawn of civilisation with Anniversary edition

How time flies. Here we were, thinking that the Stone Age happened 2.5 million years ago, when it turns out it’s only been a decade since humanity began to create stone tools and establish the foundations of early civilisation. Oh wait, ten years since the Stone Age board game emerged? Now you mention it, that makes a bit more sense.

Yes, Bernd Brunnhofer’s Spiel des Jahres-nominated dice-rolling, worker-placing prehistoric adventure about gathering enough food and resources to survive while also carrying the advancement of the human race on your shoulders (erm, it’s simpler than it sounds) turns 10 this year.

To celebrate the occasion, publisher Z-Man is putting out an Anniversary edition of Stone Age later this year that packs in a double-sided game board and fancier components.

Most intriguingly, Stone Age Anniversary will also include “new options for playing in the bitter cold of winter”, with a hint at the increased need to upgrade buildings with insulation and stockpile more food than ever to make it through the chilly months, as well as driving off the threat of wild animals waiting to strike.

The winter mode takes place on the opposite side of the board to the standard game, with two extra variants – ‘The Wild Animals’ and ‘The Igloos’ – also included in the box.

It does seem that the Anniversary edition will not include Stone Age’s 2011 expansion, with the maximum player count remaining four.

Stone Age Anniversary is planned for a release in Q4 of 2018 and will set you back $80 in the US when it arrives. Best start panning that river for gold.