presentation

Evolution Der Einstieg

... In ein tierisches Abenteuer

Originally published by the Russian company Rightgames / RGB, Evolution was then published by the US company North Star Games and Schmidt Spiele. Now there is an “introductory” game to Evolution.

As in Evolution, you take care of animals with varying characteristics, you must develop them in accordance with the changing habitat. Food is scarce and carnivores are everywhere.

As the active player, you place food chips from stock to the water hole, draw a new card for your display, representing a new species of population 1, and draw three cards in hand. Then you play cards from your hand, openly for a new species, or face-down to enhance a population, or as activated characteristic. A species can have maximum three characteristics; if you want to add another one, you must first discard one already present. Finally, you feed animals with food from the watering hole, one chip per card without a chip; carnivores eat other animals for two chips. Animals that cannot be fed are starving, and this can lead to the extinction of a species. And then, chips on cards of fed animals are placed behind the active player’s screen.

When the draw pile is empty, you score - at the end of the round - food chips behind your screen as well as your own cards in the display and in hand.

This is rather Evolution light than Evolution the Beginning; mechanisms resemble those in Evolution, with less variables. Losses from scarcity of food are unavoidable, because if necessary, your hungry carnivore will attack your other own species! This game is more chance-driven than Evolution, plays quicker and players rather strategic in a game for two players.

Players: 2-5

Age: 8+

Time: 30+

Designer: Dominic Crapuchettes

Artist: Catherine Hamilton, Leon Schiffer

Price: ca. 11 Euro

Publisher: Schmidt Spiele 2016

Web: www.schmidtspiele.de

Genre: Cards, development

Users: For families

Version: de

Rules: de en

In-game text: yes

Comments:

Well-structured, concise rules

Few types of cards, yet lots of variance

Strategic for two, more chance-driven when more are playing

Stand-alone game, cannot be combined with evolution

Compares to:

Evolution for its basic rules

Other editions:

Evolution: The Beginning, North Star Games (en)

Chance (pink): 1

Tactic (turquoise): 3

Strategy (blue): 1

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 0

Interaction (brown): 3

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0