Premise is simple.
You play as evolutionary lineages. You ensure continued existence by speciating. If you have no more species left, you die. There is no sealife. All of you are terrestrial animals and start from a common ancestor.
There are islands. Each island is a single biome composed of a variable and changing number of tiles, ranging from 1 to 10. Each tile can hold up to two herbivorous, one carnivorous, and one omnivorous species. New islands will rise from the ocean, expand, then slowly sink back into the waters.
You each have 5 actions you can take. Speciation is without roll, but outcompeting another species is done with two d5 dice rolls, one for attacker and one for the defender. Changing niches is also without dice, but it is strictly linear. A herbivore lineage first has to become an omnivore to become a carnivore. You also roll for jumps between islands, though there are modifiers for distance and size of the island for accounting the island dispersal effect. The distance determines the dice number, and size determines the roll amount.
There are some evolutionary adaptations you can choose from that can give you bonuses on rolls. You cannot remove these once you adopt them, and all new species descended from a species with an adaptation will inherit it. Don't forget to always have unadapted generalists, lest you get stuck. Adopting one costs an action point.
1: Specialised Herbivore: (Can only be adopted by herbivores)
Pros: Gains +1 in outcompetition dice.
Cons: Cannot change niche.
2: Specialised Carnivore: (Can only be adopted by carnivores)
Pros: Gains +1 in outcompetition dice.
Cons: Cannot change niche.
3: Large:
Pros: +1 in outcompetition dice
Cons: -5 in dispersion dice
4: Small:
Pros: +5 in dispersion dice
Cons: -1 in outcompetition dice
There is also a chance your species may gain or lose random, inheritable signifiers with no effect on gameplay. This is for the sake of distinguishing between different lineages and giving them character.
There are no teams. It is a battle royale.
Begin.
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Topic: Competitive Evolution Mini! (Read 608 times)