Evo board game

by Shelley Stuart

(Upstate New York (USA))

The Game:
The Last Gasp of the Dinosaurs: Evo
Board game manufacturer:
Euro Games
Number of players:
3-5 (ages 12+)

Quick Verdict

You don’t have to be an evolutionary biologist to discover that Evo’s a keeper!

The game and gameplay

Evolve the best dinosaur before the meteor hits! The player with the highest number of mutation points wins the game.

You start the game with three event cards, which can be used during specific game phases. Each turn has up to six phases, with play as follows:

1. Initiative: Based on mutations you’ve acquired, determine who goes first.

2. Climate: Roll a six-sided die and move a marker along a climate chart to determine if you face blazing hot to bitterly cold weather that turn. The climate determines in which landscapes your dinosaurs will fare better (or worse).3. Movement and combat: With the climate conditions in mind, move your dinosaurs so that the most of your dinosaurs will survive the climate that turn. Spaces on the Evo board game board determine what climate favors the dinosaurs; each turn some spaces will annihilate any dinosaurs unfortunate enough to be stuck there. If you move into a landscape where another player already has a dinosaur, fight!

4. Births: Your dinosaurs reproduce; add more dinosaurs to the board.

5. Survival and mutation points: Remove your dinosaurs ill-suited for the climate and landscape, then receive mutation points for all remaining dinos on the board.

6. Meteor and evolution: Check to see if the meteor hits (ending the game). If not, use your mutation points to bid for new mutations.

Once the meteor hits, the player with the highest mutation points wins the game.
Pros and cons

Evo board game is a fun, involving game.

With competent players, scoring tends to fall in a fairly small range, so anyone has the potential to win. Play can sometimes turn a bit vicious depending on opponents’ personalities.

It’s also possible, though unlikely, for one player to be devolved out of the game. That doesn’t prohibit a player from winning, but may make the rest of the game rather dull for him.

The verdict

Evo board game is a well-used game on my shelf. It has a nice combination of skill, luck and entertainment value. The board size varies based on the number of participants, so plays very well no matter how many sit down to the table.