Evolution debuted several years ago as a board game created by NorthStar games;since then it’s gone on to receive awards by analog gamers everywhere. This year a digital version of that board game has been released for the Nintendo Switch for $19.99 USD and promises to bring that family game night feel to any 4 players stuck at home. Whether you’re familiar with the board game and want an easier way to play it on the go or you’ve never heard the name Evolution without “The theory of…” attached, if you decide to download this one from the Eshop for christmas I think you’ll enjoy it.
The most important thing to get right when making a board game (digital or physical) is making the game as easy to learn as possible. No matter if it’s chess or checkers, if you don’t actually know how to play the game you’re not going to have very much fun. This was my biggest fear as a new Evolution player. I didn’t know a thing about the game other than it’s watercolor art style looked really neat and I’d heard the board game was fun. Luckily for me the tutorial is friendly and informative. Not long after booting the game up I understood exactly how to play and the basic strategies to win.
Winning requires one player to get more food than any other player. At the beginning of the game each player has a hand of cards of a few different types. First, each player discards a card to put an amount of food in the center of the board but it’s available to all players.Then Each player will play a card to create a species that stays on the board. Then all players will discard different cards to apply traits to those species.
Traits give you species different attributes like: a hard shell, a warning call, and/or vicious fangs. Applying these unique attributes to your species is the key to victory.
As in life, so it is in the board game that some species are better at adapting to secure their survival and, just like life, a species adversaries are largely what shape those adaptations. With four species competing it’s rarely easy to get even a bit of food from the common stockpile. Some species will have large defenses to protect them from the raking claws of their enemies. Others will have enhanced senses or speed allowing them to avoid conflict. But of course there’s always those species that need sharper teeth and more powerful claws to attack other species and steal their food.
Those are just some of the circles of life you’ll see reflected in evolution and after employing each of them to my benefit I do think that what seems like a bit of a shallow game at first but offers complex play when competing with difficult AI or experienced friends. In the several hours I spent with the campaign I found that my computer opponents did a solid job of responding to whichever strategy I was using and giving me a run for my money (in the later levels at least).
Playing with friends is really the main draw here and Evolution does support up to four players both locally and online. Online play works and it does offer an increased challenge over the AI. But what I think is critical here is the local co-op pass-play experience. This means that each player sees the cards of other players when it’s their turn. This isn’t as detrimental to Evolution as it might be in other games because in Evolution the order in which you play your cards matters more than which cards you have. But it does create an awkward situation where board game diehards might not want to play because they’re too preoccupied with other players peeking at their hand to just enjoy playing the game.
I don’t personally share the concern of maintaining a competitive environment when playing board games (much less those played digitally) as I’m more focused on having a good time with my friends. I think Evolution delivers that experience. It does one thing well: it takes an established board game and translates it to a digital platform and makes it enjoyable. It’s a proposition that doesn’t always work out, but in Evolutions’ case it does. If you’re a big fan of the board game and want to play it on the go, there’s no better way. If you’re looking for a fun game to play with the fam I’d say jump in on Evolutions when the price is right for you. If you’re just looking for a digital board game to play and Switch is your main platform then I’d say give Evolution a look, read the rules and make sure it’s for you because the story mode alone can wear a bit thin and online play just isn’t as fun as local play with friends.
Last but not least, a big thank you to the publisher and developer for the review code.