Are you tired of Civ variants that set you as a supreme dictator micromanaging your empire? So very soviet! Origins is different, managing from the bottom up. Players start with a brain map of one of five pre-conscious hominid species, a Demography sheet and a single hunter-gatherer unit in the Old World, as it enters the glacial period of the Pleistocene Ice Age.

Maps of the Old and New Worlds depict various plants and animals, that players must domesticate to become herdsmen and agriculturists. They progress through both innovation as well as imitation of competing cultures. Through the millenia, global warming may end the Ice Age and flood the coastal settlements, as deserts, jungles, and glaciers advance and retreat. Players who do poorly may become enslaved by other cultures, only to get a new chance as advanced civilizations go through cycles of chaos and renaissances. There are three eras in the development of the mind: The Age of Instinct (pre-lingual), The Bicameral Age (lingual but not yet conscious), and the Age of Faith (conscious with faith-based authorizations). The Era IV "Age of Reason" expansion deck is now available (published May 2008), which brings the game into the modern era.

The 24 page rulesbook includes maps and 6 pages of historical background, a theory on the origins of consciousness, weather charts and historical maps. The historical backdrop of each and every card, from the Pleistocene to the Medieval Era, is described and illustrated.