Guide for people who have the buttons understood but are still struggling with getting the timing right.

Other guides cover the audio cue and screen colour flashing. This guide is focusing on becoming familiar with the animations that lead up to the right moment to release OR counting down the seconds between pressing the button and when to release.

Hope this all helps you to get the gameplay mechanics down so you can go do the fun stuff like climb trees and experiment these actions with things you find. I attempted to keep spoilers to a minimum.

If something is not here yet, it is because I have not discovered it yet. At time of publishing I am still only on the second evolution of my first lineage so you may need to be patient for more advanced things.

Elder Dut will take you through the moments to release your button and learn how to make things good too.

Grooming is on roughly a 3-4 second countdown from the moment you push-and-hold.

Visual indicator: when your hominid ducks their head into the other ape's armpit - release when they're getting that good look in.

Branch in left hand. It is a 3 second count from the moment you press-and-hold the alter button.

Visual indicator: when the right hand joins the left hand and stops moving. Wait a moment for the hominid to get a firm grip and then release.

This is for an unaltered rock - altered rocks are different.

Roughly a 3 second count down from pressing the button.

Visual indicator: have your screen face on to your hominid. When the hand raising a rock is above the head, release the button.

Success sign is tiny sticks go flying off your stick.

Applies to whatever rocks you have chosen, but different rocks will have different purposes after altered.

Err on the side of a 2 second countdown.

Visual indicator: Position the camera so you are face on. When the rock is level with your hominids chin or eyes - release the button.

Face on:











Release at this moment:















Release no higher than the eyes. If you wait until after the eyes you'll probably hit too strong (hand goes above head) and break the rock.

Count down with altered rocks is a 2 second from push-and-hold.

Visual indicator: when it is raised and becomes level with the nose/eyes of your hominid. Release no higher or your stick will break.

This one is a tricky one. The fish timer changes between two second and five second count. If you keep holding you can wait to start counting from a splash as they will play over and over until you release.

I use a four second interval which takes roughly 3 tries for success.

Visual indicator: technically the splashing is your cue, however you need to release your button just before the splashing starts in order for the spearing mechanic to hit the splashes as they happen.











I recommend trying on your four second count down over relying on the splash visual

This is comparable to stripping your stick by hand. For a 3 second count.

Visual indicator: When the right hand rests next to the left hand on the stick and starts holding firm, you release the button.

Countdown is 3 seconds.

Visual indicator: once your hominid starts to lean back in to fully stretched arms - this is when you release the button.

This plant is fragile so you essentially have a half second to 1 second countdown. It's basically a quick hold and release.

Visual indicator: as soon as the right hand is joining the left hand, release immediately.

Much like when you stripped the cycad - this one is a quick hold and release for no longer than a second.

Visual indicator: Do not even need to wait for the right hand to join the left, this stick is too short to want that strength.

These are more resilient than cycads but similar press-and-quick-release. Your countdown is no more than one second

Visual indicator: when the right hand joins the left on altering, you release immediately.

Grinding a plant to paste is on 2 second timer.

Visual indicator: Allow 2 twists of the rock on the plant then release.

Takes one successful release or a couple of half-success releases..

This falls under the 3 second countdown from pressing the button.

Visual indicator: Right hand joins the left, let it rest to cup the the coconut then release.

This is another 2 second count down - applies to a whole coconut and to a stripped coconut. This screenshot is of a stripped coconut.

Visual indicator: Raise the rock to eye level then release. Will only take 1-2 hits

I only have advice from the dev team here on the animation to look for when getting ready to release the button:

" For actions like dodging/counterattacking, your hominid will also display a sudden animation change where the hominid will crouch a bit more when he is "ready" to execute the dodge or to counterattack."

I finished the game without ever personally killing something (scaring prey to predators is a good way to get meat)