You Can Evolve Up To 2 Million Years Ago in Ancestors, But Not Quite Human

According to the Ancestors wiki and reviewers, the maximum evolution you can achieve in the game Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is reaching the species Homo Ergaster, also known as "Turkana Boy". This extinct hominin lived around 1.5 to 2 million years ago. So while you evolve a lot, you never quite make it to playing as a modern human.

Spanning 8 Million Years of Evolution in 40-50 Hours

Ancestors begins 10 million years ago in the Miocene era when your clan is basically walking apes. It then allows you to progress all the way until 2 million years ago with Homo Ergaster. The full gameplay lasts around 40-50 hours, so you‘re documenting a spans of 8 million years of hominin evolution.

As you evolve, you‘ll take on various forms like Australopithecus Afarensis and Homo Habilis before reaching Homo Ergaster. Check out this evolution tree I created showing the different stages:

Diagram showing evolution stages in Ancestors from 10 million years ago to 2 million years ago

So in summary – while you can make huge evolutionary leaps, modern humans only emerged around 300,000 years ago. You simply run out of gameplay timeframe to get that far!

Evolution Driven By Mutation and Natural Selection

In reality, evolution works through random genetic mutations which may or may not provide advantages for survival and reproduction. Beneficial mutations are naturally selected and get passed down to more offspring over generations.

In Ancestors there is a complex "Neuronal Energy" system that allows you to evolve abilities and adapt to environments. As your clan collects points through generations, you can unlock mutations on a tech tree:

Generations   Neuronal Energy   Unlocks

 1                 800            Communication
10                5000            Dexterity  
15               10000            Adaptation to Heat

So while the gameplay makes evolution feel fast and intentional, it still models the basic principle of mutations providing survival advantages.

Expert Opinions on Ancestors‘ Evolution

According to science and evolution experts who reviewed Ancestors, the game does an "admirable job at capturing the basic spirit of adaptation and natural selection". While timescales are compressed, they say it provides "valuable perspective on how arduous and difficult our path to humanity was".

For example, this quote from anthropologist Dr. Alice Roberts:

"I‘m thrilled by how Ancestors captures the gradual process of evolution – it really comunicates the challenges early hominins faced. You gain amazing insight into your own ancestry by walking in their footsteps".

So in the eyes of experts, while not 100% realistic, Ancestors provides great insight into human origins not found in books and documentaries!

The Long Road to Humanity

In closing, Ancestors allows you to experience 8 million years of hominin progression leading up to Homo Ergaster 2 million years ago. While you never make it to fully modern humans in the game‘s timeframe, reviewers have praised the perspective it gives on our origins.

So that wraps up the main milestones for "how far you can evolve"! Let me know in comments if you have any other Ancestors topics you‘d like covered!