# Darwin's Journey

Darwin's Journey is a board game for 1–4 players. It plays in 60–120 minutes and is meant for ages 14 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 3. It is rated 8.5 out of 10 by 129 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $47.99 (United States).

- **Players:** 1–4 (best with 3)
- **Playing time:** 60–120 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 14+
- **Complexity:** 3.9 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2023
- **Categories:** Travel, Exploration
- **Mechanics:** Worker Placement, Different Worker Types, Ownership, Pick-up and Deliver, Point to Point Movement, Worker Placement, Contracts, Set Collection, Solo / Solitaire Game, Variable Set-up, Turn Order: Claim Action
- **Ludoya rating:** 8.5 out of 10, from 129 reviews
- **Owned by:** 251 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 1,237
- **Unique players:** 1,072

**Designers:** Simone Luciani, Nestore Mangone

**Artists:** Kristiaan der Nederlanden, Paolo Voto

**Publishers:** ThunderGryph Games

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cardhaus Games | 47.99 $ | https://www.cardhaus.com/darwins-journey/ |
| Svet deskovych her | 975 Kč | https://www.svet-deskovych-her.cz/produkty/13964/darwinovy-cesty |
| Ludifolie | 44.9 € | https://www.ludifolie.com/16302-darwin-s-journey.html |
| Reflexshop | 17990 Ft | https://reflexshop.hu/darwin-utazasai-tarsasjatek |
| Spelexperten | 589 kr | https://www.spelexperten.com/sallskapsspel/strategispel/darwins-journey.html |
| TLAMA games | 1349 Kč | https://www.tlamagames.com/deskove-hry/darwinovy-cesty-cz/ |
| Alphaspel | 629 kr | https://alphaspel.se/491-bradspel/194082-darwins-journey-eng-regler |
| Pelipeikko | 58.95 € | https://pelipeikko.fi/fi/lautapelit/2030-darwin-s-journey |
| Hyggeonkel | 449.95 kr | https://www.hyggeonkel.dk/produkt/darwins-journey |
| Nexus | 11995 kr | https://nexus.is/vara/darwins-journey/ |

## Expansions

- [Darwin's Journey: Fireland Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-fireland-expansion)
- [Darwin's Journey: Darwin Worker Mini-Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-darwins-mini-expansion)
- [Darwin's Journey: Falmouth Port Mini-Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-falmouth-port-mini-expansion)
- [Darwin's Journey: Oceania](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-oceania)
- [Darwin's Journey: Animal Companion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-animal-companion)
- [Darwin's Journey: Komodo Dragon](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-komodo-dragon-mini-expansion)
- [Darwin's Journey: Great Ship](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-great-ship)
- [Darwin's Journey: Golden Tent Mini-Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-golden-tent-mini-expansion)
- [Darwin's Journey: Scenarios Mini-Expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-scenarios-mini-expansion)
- [Darwin's Journey: Pirates mini-expansion](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-pirates-mini-expansion)
- [Darwin's Journey: Galileo](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-galileo)

## Similar games

- [Darwin's Journey: Collector's Edition](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey-collectors-edition)
- [Anachrony](https://www.ludoya.com/games/anachrony)
- [Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon](https://www.ludoya.com/games/shackleton-base-a-journey-to-the-moon)
- [Cooper Island](https://www.ludoya.com/games/cooper-island)
- [Trailblazer: The Arizona Trail](https://www.ludoya.com/games/trailblazer-the-arizona-trail)
- [Rats of Wistar](https://www.ludoya.com/games/rats-of-wistar)
- [Nippon: Zaibatsu](https://www.ludoya.com/games/nippon-zaibatsu)
- [Village: Big Box](https://www.ludoya.com/games/village-big-box)
- [The Gallerist](https://www.ludoya.com/games/the-gallerist)
- [Luthier](https://www.ludoya.com/games/luthier)
- [Shogun no Katana](https://www.ludoya.com/games/shogun-no-katana)
- [Gùgōng: Deluxe Big Box](https://www.ludoya.com/games/gugong-deluxe-big-box)

## Rules questions

### Do I pay a placement penalty every time I place a worker in a Diary Section?

No. The first worker placed in a Diary Section has no penalty; later workers pay the listed penalty, regardless of how many workers are already there. Square or rectangular Magnifying Glass locations never impose a placement penalty. (pp. 8–9)

### Can I use a Temporary Knowledge token to meet a Wax Seal requirement?

Yes. When placing a worker, you may spend a Temporary Knowledge token to count as any one color of Wax Seal for that placement. Temporary Knowledge cannot be used to fulfill Objective or Crew card Wax Seal requirements. (pp. 10, 21–22)

### Do I have to perform every action at the location where I placed my worker?

No. You may perform the available actions in any order and may choose not to perform some of them. Benefits gained from one action may be used to pay for later actions during the same turn. (p. 10)

### When exploring, does an opponent's Explorer count as a movement space?

No. Occupied spaces containing opponents' Explorers are skipped and do not count toward your movement limit. Only one Explorer may occupy most locations, while the first and last spaces can hold any number. (p. 13)

### Do I have to spend anything when I achieve an Objective?

You do not spend anything to meet an Objective's requirements; you only need to satisfy them. However, if you take the Objective from your reserve and place it on a location with a Coin penalty, you must pay that placement penalty. (p. 20)

### Can I place Correspondence Stamps on several Envelopes with one action?

Normally, no: you may take Stamps from any combination of your personal stacks, but all of them must be placed on one Envelope. You can distribute them among multiple Envelopes only if the action has the Split Stamp Locations distinction or is the Distributed Correspondence special action. (pp. 15, 18–19)

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/darwins-journey)
- [Darwin's Journey in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/darwins-journey)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/322289)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-19. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._