On The Origin Of Species

Categories: Animals, Post-Napoleonic

Mechanics: Hand Management, Tile Placement

Players: 2–4

Ages: 9+

Playtime: 45–80 Min

"I am very anxious to see the Galapagos Islands— I think both the geology and zoology cannot fail to be very interesting." — Charles Darwin, Letter to his sister, Catherine, August 1835.

Join Charles Darwin on his Beagle voyage across the Galapagos Islands, exploring new species and conducting research to enhance your understanding of the natural world. On each turn, players choose between two actions:

• Research: Place 2 research pieces on different species tiles to gain knowledge about air, land, or water habitats.
• Discover: Use your habitat knowledge to place new species tiles on the board, earning victory points, evolution, characters, and objects cards. Advance the Beagle on its journey as well.

The game ends when the Beagle completes its voyage and exits the archipelago through New Zealand. Players tally their evolution points based on the final goal card and add them to their in-game points. The player with the highest total score wins.