Evolution: Dino Dudes

The Humans is a puzzle game similar to Lemmings whose objective is to manipulate the given number of humans, taking advantage of abilities and tools to achieve the level's goal, usually consisting of finding a certain tool, killing a certain number of dinosaurs or bringing at least one human to the end point, marked by a conspicuous colored tile. Each level is independent of the next, each with its own tools, goal, and set number of humans allowed per level. The only things that carry from level to level are the total number of humans in the player's tribe and the player's total score.

The player controls one human at a time, and may switch between any human at any time. In order to complete a level, it is often necessary to use certain tools or abilities, such as stacking to reach a high ledge. For instance, the spear, a tool obtained in the first level of the game, may be thrown across gaps to other humans, used to jump chasms, thrown to kill dinosaurs or other enemies, or brandished to hold off dinosaurs temporarily. Certain levels also feature NPCs like the pterodactylus that can be ridden in order to reach otherwise unreachable platforms, that cannot be controlled, but can be used to the player's advantage. Several forms of enemy appear and can range from dinosaurs that eat a human if he is unarmed and within its walking range to spear-wielding members of enemy tribes.

The Humans was the creation of former Imagitec Design designer Rodney Humble during his time working at the company in Dewsbury who, inspired by Psygnosis' Lemmings and its puzzle elements, created and drew his ideas on storyboards before transferring his work to the Imagitec programmers, developing them further into a trilogy based upon human evolution. Coding on the project started in December 1991, with Suspicious Cargo programmer David Lincoln being responsible for the Amiga version, although design work originally started on the Atari Lynx under the working titles Dino Dudes and Dino World. Atari Corporation reportedly liked the game and commissioned Imagitec with two additional conversions for their Atari Falcon and Atari Jaguar platforms respectively.

The Humans' creation process was overseen by co-producers Martin Hooley and Simon Golding, the latter of which oversaw all versions of the game. Golding stated that the production was inspired by Lemmings instead of being "a rip-off" but focusing towards "bigger graphics", a cartoon-esque feeling reminiscent of short films like Tom and Jerry, more varied levels, among other features. Lincoln employed Cross Products' SNASM programming tool to write the code on an editor using a PC before porting it to Amiga for testing. Video game artists Andrew Gilmour and Michael Hanrahan drew the pixel art, while composers Barry Leitch and Ian Howe were responsible for the soundtrack. Other members at Imagitec were also involved in the title's production across every subsequent version released.

The Humans garnered generally favorable reception from critics. Amiga Mania's Ashley Cotter-Cairn lauded the game for its cleverly designed level puzzles, excellent graphics, crisp sound, and addictive factor.

The Sega Genesis version also received generally favorable reviews. GamePro's Marvin Kubeczech highlighted the caveman's antics, particularly the illustrations of each new tool acquired, and the audio-visual department, but noted that the game's controls take time getting used to. Electronic Gaming Monthly's four editors commended the game's take on the Lemmings formula and the high level of challenge in later levels, but found its slow pace aggravating, especially since a single mistake can force an entire level to be restarted.

Following the success of The Humans, a sequel titled The Humans: Insult to Injury was launched in 1992 as both a stand-alone release or as an expansion pack. In 1993, the two games were combined and released for both Amiga CD32 and PC under the name Humans 1 and 2. In 1995, a third entry in the series titled Humans 3: Evolution - Lost in Time was released, keeping to the original game idea but differs from the original entry in storyline, gameplay style, and level continuity. Between 1994 and 2001, the trademarks for the Atari Jaguar version were abandoned and cancelled respectively. About a decade after GameTek declared bankruptcy, Deep Silver released a fourth entry for Microsoft Windows and Nintendo DS under the name The Humans: Meet the Ancestors!, retaining the same general gameplay style but improved the graphics and added more interactive objects and enemies.