Ape Game

I am in some kind of game simulation. I am playing an ape man, somewhere near the dawn of civilisation. I am trying to figure out how to advance. I learn that I need to build patches of farm. I see the whole thing from up above like a game board.

After I build my farm squares some disaster rolls in and replaces all my cultivated farm with jungle. I feel frustrated. I decide to move to a space above the regular board in a small patch of land between to sheer cliffs (or maybe the land just floats in mid-air). I recognize that I will be safe hear for a while.