When the group leader decides to start the hunt, you and your group mates shall find yourselves in a hunting field chosen by random. The objective of the hunt is to return to the cave with as many carcasses as possible. Since the meat is all collected before being cooked and distributed, hunting does not earn you energy points directly, but will allow you to earn tribal points for each carcass you return, and that shall improve your reputation which will give you a greater meat portion at the start of each day. Be advised however that the creatures hunted are often very quick and dangerous: a solid team strategy should be devised otherwise you might return empty handed or not at all.

The hunt is all turn based: each player and each animal decides which action to take one after the other. The group leader is always the first to play. The others (animals or players) will then play in an order that is chosen at random and that shall be respected for the duration of the hunt.

When your turn is up, you shall have a certain number of action points which will allow you to complete certain actions: movement (table 3.2), fleeing, attack, etc (table 3.3). These action points are proportional to your energy points, the more energy you have, the more actions you can perform. So a person with little experience, weak, or severely injured will only be able to accomplish a few actions per turn.

The hunters will move square to square on a grid that is superimposed on the terrain. To advance from 1 square to another, use the keys Q-W-E-A-S-D-Z-X-C or 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 on the keypad. The movements of your character are always made in relevance to his position, and not the camera angle. For example, the W key will advance the character 1 square to the front, even if the camera is facing the left.

In order to change the camera position, move the mouse towards the left or the right while keeping the right mouse button pressed. Once you let go of the mouse button, the camera will return to its default position. You can zoom in or out by using the scroll wheel on your mouse or with the – and = keys.

Each square represents a type of terrain that you will encounter during your hunts that is easily identifiable by its colour. There are 4 distinct types of terrain (table 3.2), it’s up to you to use them to your advantage, either to setup an ambush, or to escape at the right moment.

Table 3.2 : Terrain types

Terrain type	Appearance	Line of sight	Can you hide here?	Action points needed (approximately)
Prairies	Light green ground (Light green on the map)	Intact	No	Low
Savannas	Long yellow tinted grass (Yellow on the map)	Intact	Yes	Medium
Forest	Green ground with bushes and trees (Dark green on the map)	Broken if 2 forest squares separates the 2 objects	Yes	High
Mountains	Earthy brown ground with rocks (Brown on the map)	Automatically broken	Yes	Cannot pass

Not only can you move throughout different types of terrain, but you can also hide, flee or attack if you’re satisfied the conditions required detailed in table 3.3..

Table 3.3 : Contextual buttons while hunting

Icone	Conditions needed	Function	Action point cost (approximately)
Hide	Need to be in a forest or a savanna square.	Reduces the chance that you will be detected by an animal.	High
Flee	Need to be at least 10 squares from the nearest animal.	Quits the hunt safe and sound. If you are not the group leader, you forfeit all kills. If you are group leader, it ends the hunt normally.	Very high
Attack	Need to be close enough to the animal (distance varies with the number of energy points you have).	If you hit the target, will cause light damage.	Very high
Attack	Need to be close enough to the animal (distance varies with the number of energy points you have). Also need to possess a small flint.	If you hit the target, will cause medium damage.	Very high
Attack	Need to be close enough to the animal (distance varies with the number of energy points you have). Also need to possess a large flint.	If you hit the target, will cause high damage.	Very high

In order to have success in your hunt, you must first detect the animals and approach them without them noticing you and your group. In order to do this, you need to use the mini map and take into consideration line of sight, and the wind direction.

The mini map is a 2D reproduction of the hunting map. By default this map is minimized and in order to view it you need just click on minimize/maximize the mini map (represented by 2 opposing arrows situated in the top right of the screen). On this map, all of the animals that you can see are represented by a red marker for predators and by yellow markers for your prey. The other markers will represent the members of the hunting party. The camera focus indicator, which is represented by an arrowed circle will surround one of these markers and signify that the participant represented by the marker is currently being followed by the camera, and the arrow shows the direction they are facing. You can change the focus indicator by clicking on a marker except when it’s your turn to play. This will allow you to quickly travel the terrain and help you devise strategies.

Line of sight is an imaginary line between 2 participants (human or animal) which allows them to see each other equally. Line of sight can be broken by mountains or by 2 forest squares. Once line of sight has been broken between a hunter and an animal, the hunter can no longer see the animal (the animal will suddenly disappear) and vice versa. Since Homo sapiens had a language that’s primitive, yet developed enough to be able to communicate the placement of an animal, if 1 hunter can see an animal, the whole hunting group can.

Wind direction is indicated by an arrow above the mini map. Since wild animals use their sense of smell almost as much, if not more than their sense of sight, it’s very important to take into account the wind direction so that your odour doesn’t betray you. A good hunter will move in such a way that the wind will never blow in the direction of his prey in order to setup the perfect sneak attack.

Like in the valley you can chat with your hunting buddies to develop strategies by clicking in the chat bar or by hitting the ENTER key. To send your text to everyone, hit the ENTER key again or click on the SEND button. You can also mark an area of the map by using the position marker. To do this, click on the position marker button (the icon in the form of a flag situated in the top right of the screen). Then click on the mini map in the spot where you wish to put the marker (you can also use the main screen to do this, however it’s much harder than using the mini map to get the desired spot). In the mini map, the position marker is indicated by a blinking marker identical to the marker of the person that created it. In the main window the marker is represented by the symbol of the player that created it.

When you are close enough to an animal (the distance will vary depending on your energy points) you can attempt to attack it with a spear. You have in your possession an unlimited number of wooden spears, but you must build your own spears with small or large flints(section 3.5). To choose a spear, click on the corresponding contextual button (table 3.3).

Next step: select your target by rotating the camera around your character (by using the right mouse button and moving the mouse). Once the target is in sight, release the right mouse button (in attack mode the camera will not automatically reset itself) and left click on the animal you wish to attack. If you try and select a target that is too far or that cannot be attacked, the cursor will remain an open hand and you must choose another target. Once the target has been selected, it’s time to attack. The accuracy of your attack is determined by a targeting line(image 3.11) that will appear at the center of your screen.

Image 3.11 : The targeting line

To start your attack, click once with the left mouse button. A cursor will appear and start moving towards the right of the targeting line. The targeting line is made up of squares and each square represents 1 square on the hunting grid. Once the cursor is at the distance that separates you from your target, click a second time with the mouse. If your target is situated in the square right next to you, aim for the first square indicated by a white line called the hand to hand line. Once the cursor has reached the far right of the targeting line, it will return towards the left and you must click a third time, this time as close as possible as to where you clicked the second time. The more accurate you are, the more damage your attack will inflict. If you are too inaccurate, your attack will miss. Whenever you make an attack, wether it succeeds or not, you will lose the spear you used.

You have a limited amount of time to accomplish your actions during your turn. Your time is displayed by a sundial in the top left of your screen. Once your time is up, your turn is over and any left over action points are lost. The sundial will stop however when you’re preparing an attack and the targeting line is displayed. If you finish a turn before all of your time is up, you can click on the end turn button which is located at the center top of the screen or by hitting the CTRL key.

Since most animals move faster than human beings can, you need to try and plan out ambushes to outmaneuver them. One good way of doing this is by hiding a first group of people in the savanna, forest, or in a position where the wind will not blow towards the animals and then trying to herd them with the second group towards the first group. At the right moment, the members of the first group just need to stop hiding and take good aim to fell some beasts.

1 last tip: be careful! Certain animals like the sabre tooth tiger will hunt you in about the same way that you’re hunting your own prey. The rhinos are more docile, however be advised that they can kill you instantly should you bother them. And lastly, try to always protect the group leader, should he die or flee, the hunt will automatically end. Once all of the game animals have been killed or have fled, or the group leader has decided to end the hunt, the group returns to the valley and the spoils are divided equally amongst the hunting group in the form of tribal points. As a bonus, all of the hunters that dealt a killing blow will earn a hunting trophy: an offering.


In Sapiens, you can only have 1 active character per account. If, for some reason you decide to start a new character before your current character dies, you just need to send your current character into exile. In order to do this, you need just move towards the raft that is on the beach and click on the contextual button (table 3.1). You character shall then go into exile, hoping to find another habitable land. Should they succeed or not, well… that’s another story, what concerns us is that you can now create yourself a new character to replace the exiled one.