ÐволюциÑ: Случайные Мутации (Evolution: Random Mutations) is an evolutionary take on the Evolution: The Origin of Species game series, serving as a standalone game that reuses some elements and properties of the original game and its expansions, while putting them together in a new way.
At the start of the game, each player receives ten cards face down, laying out three of them as simple animals while placing the other seven in a deck. In a round, each player plays each card one by one by (1) adding it as a new separate animal, (2) adding it to a pile as another animal of an existing type, or (3) flipping the card to reveal its property, then placing it under an existing animal stack to grant its power (or drawback) to the animals in that stack.
In the climate phase that follows, the first player lays out colored cubes to represent how much food is available in this round (red chips), how many refugees are present (green chips), and how many parasites appeared (black chips). Players then distribute chips, placing red and green chips on their own creatures to support them and placing black chips on opponents' creatures or on predators that want to feed on their animals. During the extinction phase that follows, unfed animals die as do animals attacked by parasites or predators.
Players then get a new deck of cards and the game continues with a new round. When the deck runs out and the final round ends, players scores two points for each of their living animals, one point for each property, and any bonuses from card combinations. Whoever has bred the most successful species in a constantly changing and dangerous world wins!
Join Meeple Mountain as we speak to biologist Dr Dmitry Knorre, the scientist and game designer behind the Evolution series.
