
2024 · Fantasy
Primal: The Awakening
Players cooperate as hunters in a fantasy wilderness, tracking and confronting massive monsters over a linked campaign or in standalone hunts. Play emphasizes tactical positioning on a grid, hand management and card combos as each monster runs its own behaviour deck with targeted attacks, abilities and exploitable weaknesses. Between missions, players craft gear at a shared Forge and customize character ability decks, unlocking items, upgrades and branching story rewards that affect future scenarios. Encounters require coordinated strategies to complete objectives and survive escalating boss fights across 1–4 players.
- Players
- 1–4 best 2
- Playing time
- 60–90 min
- Age
- 14+
- Complexity
- 3.8 / 5
About the game
- Publisher
Expansions
See them in Ludoya
Primal: The Awakening – Mount Havoc Expansion2024
Primal: The Awakening – Nightmare Expansion2024
Primal: The Awakening – Feather Expansion2024
Primal: The Awakening – Ice Expansion2024
Primal: The Awakening – Venom Expansion2024
Primal: The Awakening – Heart of the Wild2026
Primal: The Awakening – Nightmare Expansion 22026
Primal: The Awakening – Crystal Caves and Flooded Wilds2026
Primal: The Awakening – Endless Swamp and Nightmare2026
Primal: The Awakening – Goldarks and Thunder Mountains2026
Primal: The Awakening – Niz-Maraga and Sunset Plains2026
Primal: The Awakening – Woltyar and Frozen Wastes2026Photos from Ludoya tables
All photos in LudoyaWhere to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 134
- Plays logged
- 41
- Players
- 1h 41m
- Average play
- 31
- In collections
- 11
- On wishlists
- 2
- Pre-ordered
9.1/10
from 14 Ludoya reviews
beqs the 1st9.4 Sick boss battler, with satisfying progression system and combo heavy card play. Every boss behaves diffrent. Biggest minus is the housekeeping in this game.
Nira9.0 Best boss battler.
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
How do I generate and pay Stamina — can I use any card as stamina?
You generate Stamina by discarding cards from your hand; each card lists its Stamina value and you pay costs by discarding up to the required total (see Stamina generation and paying examples, p.21). The stamina rules and keyword definition explain that only cards you discard for that purpose count as Stamina unless a specific ability says otherwise (p.113).
What does 'threatened' mean and when does it matter?
A hunter is Threatened when they are on a sector that puts them in the monster’s reach; being Threatened affects movement and can allow the monster or card effects to target you when you move or take actions (see Movement and Threatened rules, p.20). The glossary gives the formal definition and interactions for Threatened (p.114).
If multiple behavior reactions trigger at once, what order do they resolve in?
When multiple behavior reactions trigger you place and use trigger tokens and resolve the revealed behavior cards following the step-by-step reveal/resolve procedure (p.35). If cards are simultaneous, follow the card resolution priority rules described in the priority and resolution section (p.36).
What exactly happens when a hunter is KO'd and how do they get back up?
When a hunter is KO'd follow the KO procedure: place the KO token, apply the listed KO effects (discarding or losing resources as specified), and they cannot act until they Rise; the Rise steps and examples are shown in the KO section (p.30). The glossary entry for Rise/KO gives the detailed step order and conditions to recover (p.111).
How and when does Attrition damage happen, and how can I avoid it?
Attrition checks occur during the Attrition phase at the end of the round and the monster deals damage equal to its stance card’s damage value if the check isn’t avoided (rules and examples, p.28). The rulebook shows examples of avoiding or reducing Attrition damage using defensive cards or meeting specific conditions (p.29).
Can I play action cards during a monster behavior or another player's turn?
You may only play action cards during your Action phase unless a card text or a reaction icon explicitly allows playing/triggering outside your turn; monster reactions and reaction icons resolve according to their trigger conditions and may permit responses (see Action Phase rules, p.22; Monster reactions and reaction icons, p.32; and triggered abilities sequence, p.25).
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Play Primal: The Awakening with Ludoya
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.




