Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey is a single-player survival game played from a third-person view and set in an open world. Players control a member of a hominid clan and manage its needs by eating, drinking, and sleeping while facing predators and other dangers in the wild. Exploring new places and being hunted can trigger a state of fear, which is offset by rewarding actions such as crafting tools and making discoveries. As the clan learns and grows, players unlock new skills through a neural development system and can switch between clan members, passing acquired abilities to future generations. The game has no structured narrative campaign and instead lets players shape their own experience.