Evo
Players breed dinosaurs, fight for territory, and bid for mutations.
Players	3–5
Age range	12 +
Setup time	20 minutes
Playing time	90–120 minutes
Rules complexity	Medium
Strategy depth	Medium
Random chance	Medium
Skills required	Strategic thought

Evo: The Last Gasp of the Dinosaurs is a German-style board game for three to five players, designed by Philippe Keyaerts and published by Eurogames. In 2001, it was nominated for the Origins Award for Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game 2000 Image File history File links EvoBGame. ... A strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, as differentiated from tactics or immediate actions with resources at hand. ... Orders & Suborders Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Theropoda Ornithischia Dinosaurs were vertebrate animals that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for over 160 million years, first appearing approximately 230 million years ago. ... German-style board games, also known as Euro games, designer games, family strategy games or hobby board games, are family games designed to appeal simultaneously to older children and adults. ... Philippe Keyaerts is a designer of German-style board games. ... Eurogames is a publisher of board games. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. ... The Origins Awards, presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, are presented at the Origins International Game Expo for outstanding work in the game industry. ...

Game play

The main game board is made of two reversible sections; on each, the two sides contain differently-sized halves of a prehistoric island. The board can therefore be assembled in four ways: Prehistory (Greek words προ = before and ιστορία = history) is the period of human history prior to the advent of writing (which marks the beginning of recorded history). ...

• small-small for three players
• small-large or large-small for four players
• large-large for five players.

The island itself is made up of hexes of four different terrain types - "Hot", "Warm", "Cool" and "Cold". The game also uses a separate board for marking the current climate and round number, another for players scoring and bidding progress, and each player has a board to mark their dinos' mutations. The players' scores are also used as money during bidding phases. In biology, mutations are changes to the genetic material (usually DNA or RNA). ...

Players start with three Event cards, a stack of "dino" tokens several mutations: one "Egg", one "Leg", one "Tail", one "Horn", one "Fur" and one "Parasol". Each player places a dino token on their starting hex and a scoring marker on "10". Play proceeds through various phases: An average Whooping Crane egg is 102 mm long, and weighs 208 grams A baby tortoise emerges from a reptile egg. ... Leg has multiple meanings: For the limbs of animals that support them above the ground: in the case of the legs of humans, see Human leg; in the case of the legs of horses, see Equine leg; in the case of the legs of crabs, lobsters, and their close relatives... The word tail in the English language has a number of meanings: Tail (anatomy) is used to describe the rear end of an animals body, especially when it forms a distinct, flexible appendage to the trunk; Tail can describe anything like an animals tail in form or position... For other types of horns, see horn (disambiguation). ... A dogs fur usually consists of longer, stiffer, guard hairs—which can be straight, wiry, or wavy, and of various lengths, hiding a soft, short-haired undercoat. ... Umbrella An umbrella is a device used for temporary shade or shelter from precipitation. ...

1. Initiative - the order players will act in is determined by the number of "tail" mutations they have. Ties are resolved by roll-offs on a six-sided die.
2. Climate - a six-sided die is rolled to determine how the climate changes. Normally it proceeds in a cycle from hot to cold and back again, but on a 5 it stays the same, and on a 6 it moves in the opposite direction to the expected one.
3. Movement and Combat - players can move their dinos. The more "leg" mutations they have, the further they can move their dinos. If they attempt to move into a space occupied by another dino, they must fight. The aggressor is at a disadvantage unless they have more "horn" mutations than the defender.
4. Birth - players can add one new dino to the board for each "egg" mutation they possess, next to their existing dinos.
5. Survival and Mutation - dinos die off depending on climate and terrain. "Parasol" and "Fur" mutations allow them to withstand heat and cold, respectively. The players then bid for new mutations; their (successful) bids are subtracted from their score. In addition to the starting mutations, there are "gene" mutations which make future purchases cheaper, and "card" mutations which give the player additional event cards.
6. Meteor and Evolution - In later turns, there is a chance that a Meteor strikes the island, ending the game. In earlier turns, and in later turns in which the game does not end, the players gain one point for each dino of their colour on the board.

Event cards can be used at various points to alter the game. The player with the most points when the game ends wins. A burst of meteors A meteor is the visible path of a meteoroid that enters the Earths (or another bodys) atmosphere, commonly called a shooting star or falling star. ...

Game Interest

The simple turn-based strategy game at the core of Evo is made more interesting by the constantly changing climate. Positions which can be advantageous in one turn are often deadly a few turns later, so unlike many games where a winning player can come to dominate the game, the balance of power shifts frequently. A turn-based game, also known as turn-based strategy, is a game where each participant plays in turn. ...

Unlike most German-style board games, it is possible for a player to be eliminated if all his dino tokens are removed from the board. However, this is very rare in practice. German-style board games, also known as Euro games, designer games, family strategy games or hobby board games, are family games designed to appeal simultaneously to older children and adults. ...

External links

• BoardGameGeek reviews and pictures of the game.