PALEO 

OBJECTIVE OF PALEO: The objective of Paleo is to be the first player to finish their cave painting without collecting too many skull tokens along the way

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 1 to 4 Players 

MATERIALS: 3 Game Boards, 1 Cemetery, 1 Workbench, 222 Cards, 20 Food Pieces, 12 Wood Pieces, 8 Stone Pieces, 48 Tool Tokens, 40 wound tokens, 5 Skull Tokens, 5 victory Tokens, 2 Dice, and Instructions 

TYPE OF GAME: Cooperative Board Game 

AUDIENCE: Ages 10 and Up 

OVERVIEW OF PALEO 

Paleo is a cooperative board game that takes place in the stone age, and the players must work in unison if they wish to survive the harsh environment. Each player will begin the game with a few humans, each possessing a specialized skill and a limited number of life points. Players will complete numerous quests. The players may only win the game if they complete the cave wall painting, leaving their mark for all future generations. 

SETUP 

To begin setup, divide the cards by the symbols found on the back of the cards. Place the game boards in the center of the playing area with the resources organized and placed around them. Five food tokens should be placed in the storage area on the base board. The workbench can be placed next to the base board, with the tokens placed in front of them, organized by type.  

Shuffle the People, Dream, and Idea cards separately, placing them face down on the base board in their designated areas. Take the Base cards and shuffle them. Deal the Base cards evenly to the players.  

Each player will draw two people from the deck and place them directly in front of them, facing up. This will form their individual groups. The tool tokens found on the cards will prompt the player to collect a certain type and quantity of tools. The game is then ready to begin. 

GAMEPLAY 

The game will begin with the Day Phase. During this phase, the players will resolve cards from their decks and make new and interesting discoveries. The players will take their turns at the same time. Each of them will choose a card by examining the back of their three cards, choosing one to look at. The other cards will be returned to their deck. The backs of the cards give the player an idea of what is to be found on the card without giving it away completely.  

The players will then reveal their cards to the group. Each player will choose an option on their card, completing the action that is paired with it. After everyone has chosen, the players will choose the order in which to resolve this card, and this decision will be made as a group. Once all of the players’ decks are emptied, due to all of their cards being chosen and resolved, the Day Phase will come to an end, and the players will sleep. 

The Night Phase will begin once all of the players have fallen asleep. During this phase, the players must feed all of the people found in their group. Each person must receive one food from the storage area to the supply area. If there is insufficient food, then one skull token is earned for each unfed person, and they are placed on the night board.  

After everyone is fed, the players must choose an action that is shown on the mission cards. They must choose one of the actions that is found under the moon symbol. Players are not allowed to ignore the mission cards, and they will remain in play until stated otherwise.  

To begin a new day, the players will shuffle all of the cards in the discard piles onto the Wilderness board. They are then dealt to the players, ensuring that nobody sees the cards. Once they are dealt, the Night Phase will come to an end and a new day begins. The game continues in this manner until the players win or lose the game.  

END OF GAME 

The game may come to an end in two different ways, one where the players win, and one where they perish. If the players are able to collect five victory tokens cumulatively, then the game will come to an end and the players are able to complete their painting, leaving their mark, and winning the game! On the other hand, if the players accumulate five skull tokens, then the players will perish, losing the game.  

Ellie Phillips
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