Evolution is the right game. Evolution. Gift set and game rules

” is an exciting adventure and an entertaining lesson in biology. Lay bright cards and chips on the table and you will understand the laws by which life on Earth develops!

Purpose of the game

Form the most developed and numerous population of living creatures and score more points than other participants.

Game description

The game uses a deck of 84 cards, 25 colored chips to represent food, and two dice. "Evolution" is designed for participants over 12 years old and lasts from 30 to 60 minutes. It involves from 2 to 4 players when using one deck of cards and up to 8 when connecting two decks.

In the process, participants combine the properties of living organisms, regulate their numbers and obtain new useful characteristics. The player strives for the population to survive and take a dominant position by the end. The game consists of 10-15 rounds or moves - until the cards in the deck run out.

Preparing for the game

The deck is shuffled and each player receives 6 cards. Then the player who goes first is chosen by rolling the die.

Game progress

Each round consists of several phases: development, determination of the food supply, nutrition and extinction. Players move one at a time, one after the other, clockwise.

If desired, the participant can play his card or skip a turn. When no one at the table can or does not want to act anymore, the phase is considered over.

Development . During the first phase, everyone puts their cards on the table one at a time.

The picture is placed face down or shirt up. In the first case, it reveals some property, in the second, it denotes an animal. An ability card is placed under the animal it is played on.

Properties "Cooperation", "Symbiosis" and "Interaction" must be played on two individuals at once, that is, these properties are paired.

Some cards have two stats, but only one will play and cannot be changed during the game. One animal cannot have two identical properties, with the exception of "Fat Reserve".

When a player no longer wants to create a new animal and does not want to add distinctive features to it, he passes and does not play any more cards. The participant is also required to say "pass" if the cards in his hand are over. A phase is considered completed when no player can make a move.

Determination of the food base . The available food depends on the roll of the dice and the number of players that are taking part in the party. The resulting supply of food constitutes the food base for this turn.

If two players play, 2 is added to the value rolled on the die. When playing with three people, two dice are thrown and the resulting numbers are summed up. For four players, 2 is added to the sum of the numbers on the two dice. Then the required number of red chips are laid out on the center of the table.

Food . The next phase consists of several circles. Players take turns taking one red chip and placing it on one of their animals.

By default, each animal has a satiety point, so one token is enough for it to “eat up”.

Each new creature property requires additional food.

When it is the participant's turn to take the chip, and his animal has already been fed, he can place a square on the "Fat stock" parameter.

If you are the owner of the Predator, then you have the right not to take a food chip, but to attack unprotected individuals on the table.

It can be an animal belonging to another player, your own or another "Predator". After the attack, the prey is considered destroyed, and the carnivore receives two blue tokens from the food supply.

The phase ends when all animals have been fed and replenished with fat, when there are no chips left in the food supply, or all players have passed.

Extinction . Living organisms that do not have food tokens die out, that is, they go to the discard pile along with all their properties. After that, the players are dealt as many cards as they have animals left, plus one card on top. If no one survived the unfortunate breeder, he receives six cards. Then all food tokens, except for the “Fat Reserve”, are removed from the animals, and the next player begins a new round of play.

game over

The final round comes when the deck runs out of cards. At the end, scores are calculated. The player is awarded two points for each surviving animal and one for each property. Additional points indicated on the cards with properties are added to the amount. The winner is the one with the highest result.

And God created great fish
and every soul of reptiles,
which the water brought forth, according to their kind,
and every winged bird after its kind.

And God created the beasts of the earth after their kind,
...and all the creeping things of the earth after their kind.
And God saw that it was good.

Introduction

The board game "Evolution" is a fascinating opportunity to learn how plants and animals evolved, to see natural selection in action, to understand how climate and other environmental factors make us learn to survive.

Like many educational games for children over 12 years old, Evolution will also appeal to adults. After all, the game was originally created for an adult company and was tested by the author's friends.

What can a hamster mutate into now?

Of course, a game is just a game, and such an "evolution" in the process of "natural selection" can lead to completely unexpected results like hamster with wings and gills. But the basic principles still remain unchanged, and all sorts of strange mutants only add fun to the game.

All according to the laws of nature

Recall what evolution and natural selection are in general. Evolution - this is the process of development of all living things, which changes in the process of natural selection, acquiring useful traits that help it survive, while those who have not acquired such traits die. In the course of evolution, new species appear, often only remotely resembling their ancestors, and old ones die out, depending on changes in environmental conditions. Just think: there are about 9 million species of living creatures on Earth now, from amoebas to humans, and in the entire history of them there were almost half a billion!

Biologists, get in line!

During the Evolution game, your species is given random mutations that may or may not help the species survive. Biologists will confirm that real evolution and natural selection work the same way. Players have the opportunity to feel like real scientists simulating the development of the animal world.

Fascinating genetic engineering

Or imagine yourself as genetic scientists studying how evolution and its accompanying random mutations led to the existence of existing species. And at the gaming table - and non-existent.

The world of nightmares or the world of dreams

Often in the game of Evolution, natural selection leads to very strange results. Yes, the mutations that have fallen out can be very useful, but in real nature they would never have been found in such a combination. Some animal may even turn out to be cute, but from, for example, a saber-toothed horned carnivorous squirrel, you would prefer to stay away.

Review

The Evolution game was released in 2010. It immediately gained great popularity and was published not only in Russian, but also in three other European languages ​​- English, French and German. By the way, in the game "Evolution" all the names are also given in English, so that, according to the authors' idea, both Russian-speaking and English-speaking players could gather at the same table.

In 2013, the game "Evolution 2" appeared - the tabletop game "Evolution: Random Mutations". This is not an add-on, but a revised edition of the game, with other maps, it has a slightly different strategy. According to the authors, it is closer to natural processes, and mutations now occur not only positive, but also negative, and players can learn a lot about evolution.

There is also a more recent card game, Evolution: Natural Selection. It completely redesigned the design for a more colorful one, and made changes to the rules.

Partners, but rather opponents in the game, will strive to ensure that you lose your cards, and you will respond to them in the same way.

The game "Evolution" is suitable for both children, starting from 11-12 years old, and for adults. She teaches to build a strategy and take your time in making decisions, she will be loved by a calm personality. Play it and see for yourself.

The authors

Invented "Evolution" Russian scientist, biologist Dmitry Alekseevich Knorre. He also created all the illustrations, including a stylish lizard on the back of the card, which has become a game element. Initially, the game was created by him for friends and, before it got to the printing house, it underwent many changes for the sake of game balance.

In work on additions and other variations of the game, Knorre was joined by his friend Sergey Machin.

Purpose of the game

The goal of the game is to develop your population as best as possible and at the same time survive, earning maximum points on this. Well, do not allow rivals to develop - for example, if abilities allow, their animals can simply be devoured.

Packaging and design

"Evolution" and additions to it are released in the "Correct Games" series with a rather strict, almost one-color design. The book-sized box is made in the form of a pencil case with a retractable insert, boxes with additions are the same, but smaller.

Each card has a schematic drawing of an animal or its properties, name, direction of interaction.

Equipment

The base set contains a set of 84 cards, two hexagonal dice, 25 food tokens, a rule booklet, and a guide to the ability cards. In boxes with additions there are only sets of cards, 42 pieces each.

Also for those who want a large-scale development of the game, there is a deluxe edition. It includes the core set, the Time to Fly and Continents expansions, and several cards with properties not yet known. In total, you will find in the box: 168 game cards, 18 special cards, cards with continents, 4 territory dividers, 62 food tokens, 4 dice and rules.

Card categories

All cards can be divided into groups according to properties (in total, in the main set of them 19 ). At the same time, cards are used in two categories - as the animals themselves and as their qualities. A card facing the player with the lizard face up is considered an animal. And all the properties are already placed under her shirt down.

Number of players

The main set is designed for two to four players, otherwise there will not be enough cards. With double packaging or add-ons, the number of participants can be increased to eight people from 12 to 99 years old.

The game will appeal to those who like calm strategy games in the style of Potions.

How to play Evolution

The rules of "Evolution" are not very complicated, although it is presented as a game with a high level of strategy. The bottom line is to develop animals so that they become the coolest and at the same time do not die out in a hungry year or be devoured by more aggressive rivals.

Since the game is based on cards, the whole mechanics of the game is based on the correct use of cards. One designates the animals themselves, the other - their properties. An element of randomness is introduced by the shuffled deck and the results of the die rolls.

Preparing for the game

From the shuffled deck, players are dealt 6 cards per hand. The rest of the cards are placed between the participants. Next to them in three piles are food chips of three colors (they have different functionality). To choose who goes first, a die is usually rolled.

Turn order

The turn in the game is long and divided into certain phases. There are four of them. These are the phases of development, determining the food supply, nutrition, extinction and obtaining new cards.

First, all players cycle through the first phase, then the second, and so on until the end of the turn. Moreover, development and nutrition are phases that are repeated several times in a row before moving on to the next one. If someone can no longer do anything in the current phase, then he skips it.

Development phase

In the development phase, the cards received at the beginning are placed on the table. First, one card is placed face up - this is the animal itself. Under it so that the inscription is visible, cards with properties are placed. Many cards show not one, but two properties. You will have to choose which one you will use, and put the card with the right part up.

The number of animals and their properties is not limited, but the qualities should not be repeated, except for paired or "Fat Reserve".

At the same stage, cards are laid out indicating interaction. They are placed between your pet cards.

You can play one card at a time. The phase lasts for as many rounds as it takes for all players to lay down their cards or say "Pass".

Mutate or disappear

In the edition of the game "Evolution: Random Mutations" properties are replaced with mutations. They can be helpful and harmful. As a result, only positive mutations go to the player's advantage, as during real evolution, helping animal populations to survive.

Definition phase forage base

This phase is short, consisting of a single roll of dice. If there are two players at the table, then they roll one hexagon and add 2 to the result. If there are three, two hexagons. Four - two hexagons and add 2. The resulting value will be the volume of the food supply for the current turn. It is symbolized by red chips, the required amount of which is stacked on the table near the deck.

Pay close attention to what you eat, or the Nutrition Phase

The feeding phase, like the development phase, lasts several rounds. Participants take turns taking one scarlet chip to place on their animals. Separate cards allow you to take several chips at a time. There are properties due to which you can also take blue additional power chips.

Instead of taking a token, the "Predator" can eat an enemy animal and get two blue extra food tokens for this. But only once per turn.

There is also a "Fat Reserve" property, which allows you to take extra chips, even if the animal has already had lunch. When everyone has received enough food, the fat supply is full, all traits have been played, or the food supply has run out, the phase ends.

victory condition

The final phase of the turn and, in the final, of the game is the extinction phase. At this point, all hungry animals die of starvation and are sent to the player's discard pile face up, along with all the cards associated with them in one way or another. It's time to get new cards - one plus the number of surviving animals each. All food tokens, except fat, are set aside. The next move begins, and the right to move first is transferred to the left from the previous pioneer.

If the cards in the deck are over, then this move will be the final one. After that, the players count their points. They receive 2 points for each surviving animal and 1 point for each property. If there were properties that required additional efforts in order to feed the living creatures, then points are also awarded for them. The one with the most points wins. If there is a draw, then the victory goes to the player who has the thicker pack of discards.

Supplements and Editions

Additions to the game "Evolution" came out almost after her, because the author has accumulated a lot of cards that were not included in the base set for various reasons. And because the game itself “shot” well and was liked by a lot of people.

Currently released:

add-on "Evolution: Time to fly",

addition "Evolution: Continents",

addition "Evolution: Plants",

"Evolution. Random Mutations" (reworked version of the game, more reliable from the point of view of biology),

"Evolution. Natural Selection (a colorful edition with completely redesigned illustrations, many additional cards and chips, and adjusted rules).

Addition to the game "Evolution. Natural selection" called "Flight"

"Evolution. Gift Edition.

Time to fly

The first expansion is the Evolution: Time to Fly pack. These are 42 new cards and additional food chips and a die. The maximum number of players grows to six people. Many new interesting properties appear. First and foremost, as the name implies, you can now learn to fly in the Evolution board game using the Flight card to look down on all predators (except winged ones). The Intelligence card helps you wisely escape from those who want to dine with you, and predators to bypass one of the properties of a potential snack. Also, animals and birds have mastered the ability to make ambushes and much more.

How about continents

The second addition is the Evolution: Continents set. It adds many more properties, and also changes the mechanics of the game. There are continents that noticeably influence it.

The game "Evolution: Continents" is fully compatible with the base set, but is designed for a maximum of four players. The set contains 42 cards, 24 chips and a die.

And now my animal is slowly and blissfully leaving for another continent

Now, for existence, animals must inhabit certain continents, not counting waterfowl living in the ocean. There are three locations - the continents of Laurasia and Gondwana and Ocean. Each has its own living conditions.

There are three ways to move from mainland to mainland. Or first become a waterfowl and move to the Ocean, and then lose this ability and get back to the continent, already by choice. Or use the properties "Migration" or "Sticky", useful, but not allowing you to get food tokens this turn. Or play Evolution: Continents together with Evolution: Time to Fly, and with the “Flying” property, migrate wherever you want, but only if the animal is not very heavy (has no more than two qualities).

The properties only work within the native location, so if a predator wants to race for a fish, it must first grow gills.

What has changed

The main difference in mechanics is that each habitat has its own volume and type of food. When cards are dealt (10 each), players also receive a territory indicator to help them see where their animals are. Maps of the continents and the ocean are placed in the center of the table, food chips will be laid out on them. Their number is determined by the table in the rules, and it is different for different locations. You can not feed the animal with food from a place other than its habitat.

Disgusting Men continues the educational mission under the conditional name "tabletop classics" - to once and for all close the question of what to play with your disgusting friends in a big (or not so) company. Today, on a carpet with a long pile - the domestic game "Evolution", created by Russian biologist Dmitry Knorre and sometimes not inferior to your favorite "Munchkin" in intensity of passions.

Who is this game for?

This is a card game for 2-4 players; the closest analogue is Pokemon fights, adjusted for the evolutionary setting about dinosaurs and other creatures. The game lasts quickly: usually no more than an hour and a half, and after it ends, you immediately want more - as a rule, to win back. The game has a very moderate amount of randomness, so those who like to think tactically will be delighted. A box of "Evolution" costs about 1000 rubles, and in order to expand the maximum number of players from 4 to 8, you can buy one more copy.

What is inside

A deck of good quality cards with animals (back) and their properties (front side), two dice and multi-colored plastic chips - here they act as food for your manual evolutionary creatures.

How is it played

Players receive cards in their hands, after which the turn is divided into several phases.

• In the development (evolution) phase, players take turns laying out cards on animals and their properties. Properties give a variety of bonuses: for example, a poisonous animal cannot be devoured without dying itself, and a burrowing animal cannot be attacked if the creature is already fed. Bonuses are mainly protective and help protect against predator attacks - for this, animals have camouflage, hibernation, tail drop and much more.
• During the feeding phase, dice are rolled to determine the amount of food available that round. Next, the players take turns taking one food token and try to feed all their animals. Animals with the "predator" property can attack during the same phase - and no die roll is provided. If the animal does not have protective properties, it is stupidly eaten, and the injured player sadly discards the card
• Finally, in the extinction phase, animals that do not have enough food are sent to the dump. If everything is enough for everyone, then the phase is not played, and the turn begins anew.
• The player with the most animals with the most properties surviving at the end wins.

Why is it cool

"Evolution" is a dynamic game, specially arranged in such a way that the moves are fast, and between them there is time to think and plan the next actions.

The whole balance is tied to a system of checks and balances - many cool defensive properties have disadvantages, predators require more food than ordinary animals, and certain categories of animals (large, waterfowl) cannot be attacked by ordinary predator animals at all.

In "Evolution" you need to constantly calculate everything a few moves ahead, while your brilliant plans are constantly being destroyed by the actions of other players; have to improvise. It is also the kind of game in which you play each game better than the previous one - the influence of chance is minimized here, and this inspires confidence in your own strategic forces.

Probability of Domestic Violence: 50%

There are two playstyles in Evolution: aggressive and defensive. In the first case, you create predator animals and eat other players' animals with them. Secondly, protect your animals from attacks as much as possible with a variety of defensive property cards. It is also possible to win with a defensive style of play, although it is more difficult, and it is possible that in order to win in one of the last moves you will have to eat someone.

The rules of the game do not prohibit making temporary or permanent alliances, but there is always one winner, which means that confrontation is inevitable. If so, we warned.

Game for 2-4 people for 30-60 minutes. Expands to 5-8 players with the purchase of a second set.

Today, about 8.7 million species of living beings live on Earth - from unicellular to mammals. There are many more species - about half a billion! - inhabited our planet in the past, but did not survive to this day. All these creatures were born - and left it - thanks to a single process of evolution, the essence of which can be summed up in three words: survival of the fittest.

"Evolution" is a desktop simulation of the development of life on Earth, based on the Darwinian principle of natural selection. Each player develops his own population of living creatures, endowing them with various properties - adaptations to environmental conditions. Properties help animals compete for food resources that are limited and change unpredictably over time. Creatures that do not get food die, and survivors allow even more animals and properties to be introduced into the game. The winner is the opponent whose population will be the most developed and numerous by the end of the game.

Living creatures and their properties are represented in the game by cards. Their shirt features a lizard, the symbol of the animal. Each card that is face down on the table in front of a player counts as one of his creatures. On the front side of the card, the property is indicated: "Predator", "Waterfowl", "Symbiosis", "Mimicry" - a total of 19 different ones. An ability can only be played on an animal, placing the card face up under the creature so that all players can see what property the animal now has. On some cards, two properties are indicated at once: in this case, the player must choose which one he wants to give his creature, and turn the card to the desired side up. When an animal dies (from starvation or for some other reason), it, along with all its properties, is sent to the owner's discard pile.

Each player starts the game with six cards in their hand. The game lasts several turns - usually 10 to 15 - until the cards in the deck run out. The turn consists of four phases: development, determination of the food supply, nutrition and extinction. In each phase, the opponents act in turn, starting with the first player. At the end of the turn, the right to act first passes clockwise.

In the phase of determining the food supply, it is known how much food is available to animals this turn. This number depends on the number of players. For example, in a two-player game, the first player rolls one die and adds 2 to its value, and in a three-player game, he rolls two dice and sums up the numbers that have fallen on them. Then the required number of red food chips is laid out in the center of the table. In addition to them, there are also blue and yellow chips in the game, but they are used in a special way. Blue tokens are food from additional sources (for example, when a predator eats another creature, it gets exactly blue tokens), and yellow ones are fat accumulated due to the “Fat Reserve”.

When the chips in the food base are over (or all the players' animals have eaten), the extinction phase begins. Each creature that lacks at least one food token to be full dies and goes to the discard pile with all of its properties. To survive hunger, the animal can hibernate (but this property is applied only once every two turns) or use the fat reserve - if it has accumulated it during previous turns. Finally, each player counts how many creatures they have left and draws one card from the deck for each, plus one more card on top.

If after the cards are dealt the deck is exhausted, the opponents play the last turn and then count up the victory points. Each surviving creature is worth 2 points to its master, and each property is worth 1 point. In addition, additional points are given for cards that increase the need for food. The one with the most points at the end is the winner.

"Evolution" is one of the most popular domestic board games, well known both here and abroad. It is willingly played by those who like simple short board games, and those who like to build complex multi-way strategies. "Evolution" is both an exciting intellectual competition for all ages and an entertaining biology lesson. No wonder "Evolution" was highly appreciated not only by the players, but also by scientists and teachers.

If you have any questions about the rules of our game, we will be happy to answer on a special forum about it on the international portal BoardGameGeek in Russian.

Recognition of evolution

Immediately after its birth, "Evolution" collected a whole bunch of board game awards and titles. It was recognized as the best game of the Krasnoyarsk Meeple-2010 exhibition and received the Tesera-2011 award as the best card game. In addition, it became the game of the year according to Boardgamer.ru, Boardgames and Uncut Board Games. In 2013, "Evolution" became one of three nominees for the international Toy Award, which is presented at the largest toy exhibition in Nuremberg, and also received the Start Up children's festival award.

In 2011, "Evolution" came to education. The presentations of the game were held as part of the Tenth Moscow Pedagogical Marathon of Academic Subjects and the All-Russian Congress of Biology Teachers. Articles about "Evolution" have been published in Russian and Ukrainian pedagogical publications, and in 2013 the American University of Minot included the game in the course of general acquaintance with biology.

The First Animal appeared on Earth. Behind him is the second. The first plucked the grass, the Second turned out to be a Predator. The first acquired a protective coloration, the second developed sharp eyesight. The first escaped in the water - the Predator also learned to swim. The first hid in a hole, and then the Second had to satisfy his hunger with roots. And there were more and more Animals around, and now there is not enough food for everyone ... The eternal run of the predator after the prey, the eternal struggle of the victims, and the predator with hunger - the struggle for their lives and for the survival of the species - this is what "Evolution" is.

The game "Evolution" is based on the evolutionary theory of our Charles Darwin, but you can also be the Creator in it: create any creature in pairs, make them change, hunt and survive ... Our game can - apart from jokes - be considered as an unusual biology lesson for schoolchildren, but adults play it with enthusiasm, for hours. It appeals to both fans of simple board games (to understand the rules, half an hour is more than enough), and those who like to build intricate, multi-way winning strategies.

In the game "Evolution" players are invited to combine various properties of animals and develop their own population in the face of a constantly changing amount of resources - food. By regulating the number of animals, obtaining new, useful properties and counteracting rivals, the player's population must survive and, by the end of the game, take a dominant position in the ecosystem.

At the beginning, players receive 6 cards each - using any of them, you can either create a new animal, or endow an existing animal with a new property: for example, make it Big or

Poisonous.

The game goes by turns, and each move is divided into phases:

First, players create new animals and give their animals new properties;

A dice roll then determines how much food will be available in the current turn;

Players take turns distributing food, indicated by special chips, among the animals: one animal needs one chip, others (depending on their properties) need two or three, and then

and more;

Animals left unfed die out, but the survivors allow the player to get new cards - future animals and their properties.

When the cards in the deck are over, scoring is done. Points are given for surviving animals and all their properties. The winner is the one who was able to create the most extensive and

balanced population.

We recommend "Evolution" as an excellent game for family leisure, for an evening with friends, as well as an educational and educational game for schoolchildren: it was created on the basis of a scientific picture of the world and helps to explore the complex process of evolution of living organisms on planet Earth in a playful way.

Equipment:

• 84 cards;
• 25 food tokens;
• 2 cubes;
• rules of the game.