Screenshots & trailers
Review sentiment over time
Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.
How this score was computed
The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.
| Component | Positive | Quality (0-100) | Weight (pseudo-reviews) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Press reviews (OpenCritic) | – | 66 | 60 |
| All-time Steam reviews | 79% | 73 | 1000 |
| Metacritic user ratings | – | – | 0 |
| Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted) | 85% | 79 | 55 |
| Calibration prior (typical game) | – | 72 | 50 |
Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 157 reviews sampled · 151 total reviews in window · weighted 94.3 up / 16.3 down · computed 2h ago · full methodology →
Press & Creators reviews (90)
Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.
- 50
“Our ancestors didn't have it easy, and that's the for-better-and-worse message reverberating through every interaction in the game.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a breath of fresh air in the sandbox/survival genre. At the same time, the original atmosphere and compelling gameplay is blended with some subpar elements that ought to discourage many players, and there’s too much repetitiveness.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“At full price, I wouldn’t recommend this game to anybody except people who truly love the idea of playing as prehistoric human beings trying to discover fire for the first time in the most tedious of ways. It’s obvious that Ancestors is a project made with a lot of passion and ambition. Personally, I found that those elements weren’t properly translated into video game mechanics that actually felt fun or gratifying enough.”
read full review ↗ - 40
“An interesting specimen that would’ve benefitted from annoying tedium and clunky controls being weeded out of its gene pool.”
read full review ↗ - 80
“Ancestors is a great step forward for the survival genre. It has all the pieces you'd expect, including water and food requirements but also a few unique ones. All of these tie into the game in a much better way than in most other survival games. Plus, its narrative of guiding humankind through its early evolution in prehistoric Africa makes for a great story to play in a beautiful place to do it. ”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey has a huge gene pool of potential, but endless repetition and clunky controls need to be removed from its DNA. For die-hard survival and exploration fans there is a worthwhile experience here, but for everyone else this is a game that's so repetitive it'll drive you bananas.”
read full review ↗ - 65
“An interesting experience that will divide players.”
read full review ↗ - 50
“Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey puts humanity's evolutionary past in your hands and leaves you to figure out the rest. The unstructured gameplay is more frustrating than compelling.”
read full review ↗ - 62
“Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is teaches us the evolution of humanity. But the game is not very successful about mechanics.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a fun game to experiment with but if you get frustrated easily I wouldn't recommend this. For anyone looking for a challenge or fans of survival games, this will be right up your ally! To me, the game is worth a try for the experience but that doesn't mean it has no flaws there as there are a few of them, but at the same time, the game can be very rewarding.”
read full review ↗ - 60
“Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey aims to tackle the evolution of mankind from our animal forebears, a hefty task for any one piece of media. While the goal is incredibly admirable, Panache Digital Games puts too much on its plate.”
read full review ↗ - 75
“Ancestors is ambitious and clunky and not much fun - and it's often quietly thought-provoking too. ”
read full review ↗
Slant Magazine
GRYOnline.pl
Kakuchopurei
VGChartz
PC Invasion
Push Square
GameWatcher
PCMag
Merlin'in Kazanı
Chalgyr's Game Room
Worth Playing
Eurogamer…and 78 more tracked reviews.
Patch history
No patch announcements found on Steam yet.