Evo (Second Edition)

GaGarfieldstar7,0

Nice and easy game with an evolution theme where you can pimp up your dinosaur. [c] Theme: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Very good --> Gameplay: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]It gets a little bit repetitive towards the end --> Interaction: :star::star::star::star::star: <!-- size 7]A lot of interaction, bidding, fighting --> Artwork: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Very nice --> Luck: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Fighting with dice (can be mitigated) --> Strategy: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Carefully look where you can survive --> Components: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Ok, nothing special --> Play duration: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]A little bit too long --> Easy to teach: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Quite easy --> Rules quality: :star::star::star::star::star: <!-- size 7]Perfect --> Setup time: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Good --> No downtime: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Sosolala --> Replay value: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Different genes --> [/c]

EvEvanstar1,6

It's a dinosaur combat game. The main idea is that the board has a few different types of terrain, only one of which you can completely survive on each turn. Each player in turn order moves their guys, and then you breed new guys. guys on the deadly terrain die, and then you score points for guys remaining. To spice it up, there are upgrades you bid on at the star of each round that help increase your abilities. Additionally, the game encourages combat, as moving into a space with another player's dinosaur stars a fight where if the attacker wins, he kills the other guy and takes the spot, and if the defender wins nothing happens. It plays similar to Kemet, but has a few issues for me. During the bidding phase, you either win an upgrade tile or you win an action card. The action cards are of varying usefulness, and so they act as a sort of consolation prize for not getting a tile that helps you in the long run. One type of tile is a "Vial" which has no ability other than to make all future purchases 1 cheaper. This can sometimes make the bidding feel like there are two consolation prizes in a round. There is also a single unique tile that may or may not make it into the mix of tiles each game called "killer babies" where, if you win it, babies can spawn on other players causing a combat with a 50% chance of success, rather than the normal rules which is that they go in empty spaces. We found this single tile to be really game defining for the player who wins it. We also felt that the game makes it somewhat difficult to punish the player in the lead, since points are secret and the changing terrain can cause players to splinter off on their own. Additionally, having the attacks be no risk to the attacker feels uncomfortable. :star: Art, Iconography and components functional :nostar: Clever or interesting mechanisms :star: Reasonably low downtime between turns with mildly AP players :nostar: Multiple plays stay interesting :nostar: Low or mitigatable luck elements :nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar::nostar: Raw enjoyment