Evolution

2014

Evolution: A thrilling board game of survival and strategy. Adapt your species, collect food, and outsmart opponents in over 4,000 unique ways to win.

60
minutes

2 - 6
player(s)

12+

Medium

About the game

Welcome to the thrilling world of Evolution, a board game that emulates the grandeur and struggle of life on Earth. The game’s theme and setting transport you back to the dawn of existence where you have the power to shape life as we know it.

In Evolution, you are not just a player but a steward of nature. Your challenge is to guide your species through the ages, evolving and adapting to ever-changing environments and threats. The game’s design captures the essence of the evolutionary process, including adaptation, survival, and extinction, making it a truly unique board game experience.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Evolution is a dynamic and engaging board game that revolves around the concept of species adaptation and survival. To play this game, a range of components are required, each of which contributes to the gameplay in different ways.

Below is a list of the components included in the game of ‘Evolution’, along with a description of each:

Watering Hole Board: This is the central game board where all players will place their food tokens. It acts as a shared resource pool for all species.
Species Boards: Each player is given a species board that represents a different kind of creature. The species board is used to track the population size, body size, and traits of the species.
Food Tokens: These are the resources that the species need to survive. The tokens are placed in the watering hole at the start of each round and are then distributed among the players’ species.
Population Tokens: These tokens are used on the species boards to indicate the population size of each creature. The more population tokens a player has on a species, the more food that species needs to survive.
Body Size Tokens: These are used to represent the size of the species on the species boards. A larger body size can provide protection from predators, but also requires more food for survival.
Trait Cards: These cards represent various adaptations that the species can develop. Each trait card has a unique effect that can provide a species with different advantages, such as protection from predators or increased efficiency in gathering food.
First Player Marker: This marker denotes who is currently the first player. The first player changes each round, and they are responsible for starting each phase of the game.
Bag: This bag is used to hold the food tokens that are not currently in play.

Each component interacts with the game in a unique way. Players use their species boards, population tokens, and body size tokens to manage their creatures, ensuring they have enough food to survive and grow. Trait cards add an extra level of strategy, allowing players to adapt their species to changing conditions. The watering hole board and food tokens represent the limited resources that species must compete for, adding a layer of competition to the game.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Evolution is an exciting board game that revolves around developing species in an ever-changing ecosystem. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set up ‘Evolution’.

Step 1: Determine Player Roles

In Evolution, each player has the same role: guiding a species through generations. There are no specific roles to assign as each player will have the same objective and capabilities.

Step 2: Arrange the Watering Hole

Place the Watering Hole board in the center of the play area. This will serve as the main source of food for your species.

Step 3: Deal Trait Cards

Shuffle the Trait cards and deal 3 to each player. These cards represent various evolutionary traits that players can apply to their species to enhance their survival capabilities.

Step 4: Allocate Species Boards and Food Tokens

Each player receives one Species Board. Place it in front of you with the side showing ‘1’ in both the Body Size and Population areas. Next, each player should take one Plant Food token from the food bank and place it in their own food bag.

Step 5: Prepare the Food Bank and Trait Card Deck

Place the Food tokens in a pile next to the Watering Hole. This pile serves as the Food Bank. The remaining Trait cards should be stacked face down within reach of all players to form the draw pile.

Step 6: Configure the First Player

Determine the first player randomly. Give the first player token to the chosen player. The game will proceed clockwise from this player.

Step 7: Random Elements

In Evolution, the main random element comes from the Trait cards that players draw. These cards can drastically alter the course of the game, making each playthrough unique.

Now that you’ve set up the game, you’re ready to begin your journey through evolution. Remember, survival of the fittest is the rule of the game!

Game flow Round and round we go

Evolution is a dynamic board game that revolves around creating and adapting species to survive in an ever-changing environment. Here’s a detailed breakdown of how the game is structured:

The game is divided into several rounds, with each round consisting of four phases:

1. Deal Phase

At the start of each round, players are dealt a number of cards based on the total number of species they have on the board, plus three. These cards represent genetic traits that can be used to evolve the players’ species.

2. Select Food Phase

In this phase, each player secretly selects one of their trait cards to place face down in the center of the table. The numeric value on these cards will determine the amount of plant food available in the watering hole during the feeding phase.

3. Play Cards Phase

During this phase, players can use their trait cards in several ways. They can:

Create a new species by placing a card face down above their player board.
Add a trait to a species by placing a card under a species board – a species can have up to three traits.
Increase a species’ body size or population by discarding a card and moving the corresponding marker on a species’ board. Bigger body size can protect a species from being eaten, while a larger population means a species can eat more food.

4. Feeding Phase

This is the last phase of a round where players take turns feeding their species. A player can either:

Take one plant food from the watering hole and add it to a species’ board. Herbivore species can only eat plant food.
Use a carnivorous species to attack and eat another species. The attacking species must have a larger body size than the species it’s attacking. The player then removes meat food from the food bank equal to the body size of the attacked species and adds it to the carnivorous species’ board.

After all species have either been fed or starved, the food tokens are stored in a player’s bag and the round ends. At the end of the game, the player with the most points – calculated from the number of food tokens collected, the population size of species, and the number of traits – is declared the winner.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

In the board game ‘Evolution’, the players aim to develop their species with the best traits to ensure survival and to thrive. The game proceeds in rounds, each of which consists of several phases. During each player’s turn, he or she can perform a variety of actions. Here’s a detailed breakdown:

1. Deal Cards:

At the start of a turn, players draw cards from the deck. The number of cards drawn is dependent on the number of species a player has plus one. This is not an action the player chooses, but rather a set starting condition for a turn.

2. Play Cards:

Players can choose to play cards from their hand. The cards can be used in several ways:

Species Traits: You can add a trait to one of your species. Traits can provide various benefits such as providing more food, protecting against predators, or increasing population size.
Create a New Species: You can create a new species by discarding a card. The new species starts with a population of 1 and a body size of 1.
Increase Body Size or Population: You can discard a card to increase the body size or population of one of your existing species.

3. Feeding Phase:

After all players have finished playing their cards, the feeding phase begins. Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player must choose one of their species to feed.

Herbivores: These species can only eat plant food from the watering hole.
Carnivores: These species can eat other species. The predator’s body size must be larger than the body size of the prey.

Each unit of food a species eats translates into points at the end of the round. If a species is unable to eat, its population will decrease until it has been fed or goes extinct.

4. End of Turn:

The turn ends when all food has been eaten or all species have been fed. Players then discard all unused cards in their hands, and the first player marker passes to the next player clockwise.

The strategic choices in ‘Evolution’ revolve around how you develop your species and how you interact with the species of other players. Choosing the right traits for your species, deciding when to increase population or body size, when to create new species, and who to prey on if you have carnivores, are all crucial strategic decisions that can greatly affect the outcome of the game.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

In the board game ‘Evolution,’ the game comes to an end when the draw pile has been depleted and players can’t replenish their hand at the end of the round. The game also ends immediately if there are no more species left on the board. After the final round concludes, players proceed to final scoring to determine the winner.

Victory Conditions:

The winner of ‘Evolution’ is the player who has accumulated the most points at the end of the game. Points are scored in three primary ways:

Food Points: Each food token a player has collected in their food bag counts as one point.
Population Points: Each species’ current population size contributes an equal number of points.
Trait Points: Each trait card on a species contributes one point.

Final Scoring Actions:

At the end of the game, players must perform the following actions before final scoring:

Count Food Tokens: Each player counts the food tokens in their bag. Each token equates to one point.
Calculate Population Points: Players count their species’ current population size. Each individual in a species counts as one point.
Calculate Trait Points: Players count the number of trait cards on their species. Each trait card counts as one point.
Total Points: Players add together their food points, population points, and trait points to find their total score.

The player with the highest total score is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the player with the most food tokens wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most total population wins. If there is still a tie, the victory is shared.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

‘Evolution’ is a board game that revolves around creating and adapting species in a dynamic ecosystem. The scoring system in ‘Evolution’ is based on three primary elements: the number of species a player has, the population size of those species, and the number of traits each species possesses.

Points are awarded as follows:

Species: At the end of the game, each player receives one point for each species they have on the board.
Population: Players also receive one point per population size. This means if a species has a population size of 6, that species is worth 6 points.
Traits: Finally, players receive points for the traits their species have. Each trait is worth one point.

After the final round of the game, players add up the total number of points they have earned by adding up their species, population, and trait points. The player with the highest total wins the game.

If there is a tie, the game has specific tie-breaking rules. These are:

Step 1:

Step 2: If there is still a tie, the player with the most total food banked throughout the game wins.
Step 3: If there is still a tie after the first two tie-breakers, then the game is a draw, and the players share the victory.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Evolution is a dynamic board game where players adapt their species in a changing ecosystem with limited resources. Here are some rare or special rules, exceptions, and any rule clarifications that might be important:

1. Population Limit: A species’ population can never exceed 6. Any effect, whether from an event or trait card, that would cause a species’ population to exceed 6, will stop at 6.

2. Trait Card Limit:

General Rule: A species can have up to 3 traits. If a player wants to add another trait to a species that already has 3 traits, they must discard one of the existing traits first.
Exception: If a species has the ‘Intelligent’ trait, it can have up to 4 traits.

3. Feeding Phase:

General Rule: During the Feeding phase, each species can only take one food at a time.
Exception: If a species has the ‘Foraging’ trait, it can take 2 food at once.

4. Starvation: If a species does not eat during a round, it loses population equal to the amount of food it did not eat. However, a species’ population can never go below 1 due to starvation.

5. Predation: Carnivores can only attack species that are smaller than them, unless the defending species has a defensive trait that prohibits the attack. Carnivores cannot attack their own species.

6. Traits and Timing:

Some traits, like ‘Long Neck’ and ‘Scavenger’, allow a species to get food outside the normal feeding phase. These traits are resolved at the beginning of the feeding phase, before any species has started to feed.
If multiple players have species with these traits, the food is distributed in turn order, starting with the first player.

7. Player Elimination: If all of a player’s species go extinct in the same round, that player can create a new species in the next round. However, they do not draw a new hand of cards.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Advanced Strategies

1. Defensive Traits: It’s important to equip your species with defensive traits early on in the game. Traits like ‘Hard Shell’ or ‘Horns’ can protect your species from predators.

2. Optimal Population Size: Try to maintain an optimal population size for each species. Too small, and you risk extinction. Too large, and you may face food scarcity.

3. Intelligent Predation: If you decide to go the carnivorous route, make sure to strategize your attacks. Target species that are large in population but low in body size or lack defensive traits.

Beginner Tips

1. Understanding Traits: Start by learning what each trait does. This will help you understand how to best use them for your species.

2. Food Strategy: Always have a plan for how you’re going to feed your species. Whether it’s by increasing the food supply or by becoming a carnivore, make sure your species doesn’t starve.

3. Experiment: Don’t be afraid to experiment. Try different combinations of traits and species to see what works best.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Ignoring Defense: One of the most common mistakes is ignoring defensive traits. These are crucial for protecting your species from predators.

2. Overpopulation: Another mistake is growing your species’ population too large too quickly. This can lead to food scarcity and eventual extinction.

3. Neglecting Evolution: The game is called ‘Evolution’ for a reason. Always be evolving your species to adapt to the changing environment and food supply.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay

1. Efficient Trait Allocation: Allocate your traits efficiently. Make sure each species has a balance of defensive and food gathering traits.

2. Smart Feeding: When feeding your species, prioritize those with the smallest population first. This can prevent them from going extinct.

3. Adapt: The key to winning ‘Evolution’ is to adapt. Always be ready to change your strategy based on the current conditions of the game.