![\"Evo\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.westpark-gamers.de\/Ressourcen\/evo_t.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Publisher<\/b>: EuroGames<\/p>\n
Author<\/b>: Philippe Keyvaerts<\/p>\n
Game tested<\/b>: German Edition, 2001<\/p>\n
Tester<\/b>: Moritz Eggert<\/p>\n
Scenario<\/b>: 6 million years B.C. (take or give some): A huge (or small, depending
\non the number of players) island with various landscape types. An ever-changing climate
\nthat makes some of these areas inhabitable, some of them barely inhabitable, some of them
\ndeadly for everybody. A comet threatening to extinguish everybody (=ending the game). And
\nbefore we forget it: Some weird pelted one-legged dinosaurs with umbrellas (really!) that
\nare going to kick each others butts – and no Raquel Welch in sight…<\/p>\n
The Game<\/b>: Every player starts with one dinosaur, trying to survive and multiply
\nas effectively as possible, as at the end of each round surviving dinosaurs give victory
\npoints. The climate changes through a directional random table, so all dinosaurs are
\nforced to constantly change their position on the board to survive (the problem being
\nthey can initially only move ONE space). Sometimes this makes for interesting tactical
\ndecisions (what move will give me the best options next turn?) and of course may also
\nresult in bloody confrontations with other dinosaurs (that are resolved through a simple
\ndice roll).<\/p>\n
Of course nobody has a chance surviving this ordeal without….genes (with a tip of
\nthe hat to God, and Doris & Frank, the designers of Ursuppe). Every round a number of
\ngenes equal to the number of players is drawn. Each player, in an ingenious and
\ninteresting victory point – bidding system that forces players to bid non-sequentially,
\ncan acquire one gene per round, that will give all of his dinosaurs special abilities,
\nlike more movement (feet), more biting power (horns), quickness (tail), more reproduction
\n(eggs) and the like. As a little side note one should mention that one gene is very funny
\nin play, as the German word for “tail” (Schwanz) can also mean….ehm….the
\nmale reproductive organ. And as the length of this very trait decides who will be first
\nin a given round the game table booms with discussions who has the longest….whatever.
\nOf course this detail might be lost in other translations…. The only really chaotic
\ngene is the event card gene, that enables one to draw additional cards from a deck that
\nmesses with play considerably, especially with the weather. This is actually the biggest
\nluck element in the game, as some cards are much more useful than others (for example
\ngiving surprise victory points at the end of the game). Knowing these cards is part of
\nthe skill in repeated playing – for example there is one card (flood) that kills most of
\nthe dinosaurs on a shore hex – you’ll not stay on the shore if you experience this
\ncard once (otherwise there is no real reason to wander landwards). But the first time
\nplaying this card will greatly annoy you, I tell you!<\/p>\n
Most of the time dinosaurs will evade each other quite peacefully, battles only occur
\nat the end of the game, or if a dinosaur has no chance of surviving at all if not
\nattacking a certain area. The game has a preset basic length, depending on the number of
\nplayers. After that the chance that the comet ends the game increases every round
\n(depending on a d6 roll), but you won’t be able to calculate it exactly. The
\ndinosaur…eh..player with the most victory points wins.<\/p>\n
Playing Time<\/b>: Explaining the rules probably not longer than 15 minutes. Playing
\nthe game should take 1 \u00bd hours, maximum 2. Different from other Euro-Game-editions this
\ntime the rules are clear and crisp. I should mention one possible confusion, though. A
\nGerman game magazine correctly noted in it’s review that about 50% of players
\nwon’t grasp the climate changing system, although it is not complex at all. Or is it?<\/p>\n
This is how it works: There are four zones, from left to right: Yellow (desert), green
\n(plains), hills (brown) and mountains (grey).The climate pawn, which moves randomly,
\nshows which coloured region will be mild (ideal), the directly adjacent regions are
\neither cold (if to the right) or warm (if to the left). A region that is 2 or 3 spaces
\naway from the climate pawn is either too cold or too warm to live in. But the left
\ndirection of the board is always the “warm” direction (as the right is always
\nthe “cold” one)- the board is not a circle! Some people intuitively perceive
\nthe board as a kind of mobius strip, which gets them all confused in the head, you see…
\nThis is how it really works: If the pawn rests on the grey\/mountain space (the far right)
\nfor example, there will be no “colder” space, as grey is already the
\n“coldest” possible space. And the hills will be “warm”, whereas the
\nplains and desert will be too hot. If the pawn sits on “plains” (2nd from the
\nleft), the desert (yellow) will be warm, and the hills\/brown will be cold. The mountains
\nwill be too cold now. Easy, huh? Now that I try to explain it it sounds very confusing,
\nalbeit it is very simple. Well – it’s in the genes to “get it”, I
\nguess…<\/p>\n
Similar Games<\/b>: Ursuppe<\/a>, La vall\u00e9e des mammouths<\/a><\/p>\n Westpark Gamer’s Opinion<\/b>: Although this is only the second game he The victory point table (called the “Kramer-Leiste” in Germany out of Moritz’ Rating<\/b>: 7 (out of 10)<\/p>\n Westpark Gesamtbewertung<\/b>: 7.5<\/p>\n
\npublished in Germany, a certain style of Philippe Keyvaerts is already transpiring:
\ntaking a good idea (like “History of the world” for his excellent
\n“Vinci”), streamlining and simplifying it, bringing in a pinch of really good
\nnew ideas, and making it interesting for the casual or die-hard gamer alike. So
\n“Evo” is much simpler than it’s “foremother”, the also highly
\nenjoyable “Ursuppe”, but in a way more elegant and accessible in it’s
\nmechanics. Having said this I found that the games we played tended to be similar in
\ndevelopment, much more than “Vinci” with it’s countless variations of
\ncultures. The dinosaur genes are pretty straightforward, and there are less interesting
\npossibilities to explore than in Ursuppe (where players strove to find the
\n“ideal” combination of genes). But then ,”Evo” is much shorter than
\nUrsuppe, and in a way more tactical as movement is even more limited than in
\n“Ursuppe”. And it is never boring one minute (although it CAN be frustrating,
\nlike “Vinci”). A good game, not a classic, but very good indeed.<\/p>\n
\naffection for the game designer who first used it prominently) is WAY to small, though
\n(the markers are 3 times as big as the positions you put them on). Bummer, we thought
\nEuro Games had good it right this time! But Keyvaerts is a guy to watch, that’s for
\nsure.<\/p>\n