Don't Go Extinct

Everybody starts with a thriving population of animals. The game ends as soon as only one person has population left: they win. (With such hard elimination, a quicker game is warranted.)

These are …

Asymmetric powers / factions / tribes
With well-known extinct animals

The well-known chain of food exists:

Predators eat the animals of other players.
Prey eat the plants.
Plants just try to grow and spread

All of these are managed by players! Their types are fixed based on player count. For example:

Plant
Herbivore
Carnivore
Plant
Herbivore
Carnivore

This way, the game balances itself and is actually quite realistic!

Plants

On your turn:

Divide the number of plants by 5, round up. That’s how many new plants you may add, but they must be connected to a plant already on the board.
SPECIAL POWER: Use the herbivores to move or evolve. For example: any plant eaten by a herbivore goes into your “stash”. If that exceeds X plants, you may place 2 of them back anywhere on the board.
SPECIAL POWER: Plants on/adjacent to water count for two?

Evolve yourself to be MORE nutritious (two animals can live from one plant) or LESS attractive (animals won’t eat you, carnivores can’t destroy you)

Herbivore

Start of your turn: any two of your kind in the same space, with an EMPTY adjacent space, will get a baby. Place a new animal in that empty adjacent space.

During turn:

You get as many movement points as you have animals. (You can use it to move one of them X steps, or all of them 1 step.) => Nah, should probably be modified by some evolution factor or something.
Two animals may be in the same space.
SPECIAL POWER: Herd => if you manage to cut off a carnivore (completely isolated and surrounded by your animals), they die.
SPECIAL POWER: Herd => a group of more than 10 connected animals can only lose one of its members per carnivore turn.

End of your turn: all your animals need to eat.

If they’re adjacent to a plant, they remove it.
If not, they can’t eat and will die.

Evolve yourself to become FASTER/STRONGER (more movement) or MORE SOCIAL (more on a single tile, more protection)

@IDEA: Any animal who drinks (they are adjacent to/on a river), may move another step? Doesn’t need to eat?

Carnivore

During turn:

Divide your animals in half. One half does not move, the other walks at most 2 spaces.
You may only share a space with a herbivore.
SPECIAL POWER: Trample => Destroy a plant when moving through that space.
SPECIAL POWER: ??

End of your turn: all animals that moved, need to eat.

If they share a space with a herbivore, they eat them.
If not, they can’t eat and will die.

Evolve yourself to become FASTER, STRONGER, or an OMNIVORE.

Alternative (Meh)

The alternative is to pick a far more abstract approach. It’s just a card game with random events like “climate change”, “meteor shower”, “food scarcity”, “drought” => these challenge your current population in certain ways.

Example: climate change cards are collected in their own pile. Add their effects to know the current climate. If it exceeds what your beings can handle, they die.
This does allow unique cards for each member of your species and perhaps a more diverse exploration of what makes species go extinct.)

Everybody _starts_ with a thriving population of animals. The game ends as soon as only **one** person has population left: they win. (With such hard elimination, a quicker game is warranted.) These are ... * Asymmetric powers / factions / tribes * With well-known extinct animals The well-known chain of food exists: * Predators eat the animals of other players. * Prey eat the plants. * Plants just try to grow and spread All of these are managed by players! Their types are fixed based on player count. For example: 1. Plant 2. Herbivore 3. Carnivore 4. Plant 5. Herbivore 6. Carnivore This way, the game balances itself and is actually quite realistic! ## Plants On your turn: * Divide the number of plants by 5, round up. That's how many new plants you may add, but they must be connected to a plant already on the board. * SPECIAL POWER: Use the herbivores to move or evolve. For example: any plant eaten by a herbivore goes into your "stash". If that exceeds X plants, you may place 2 of them back anywhere on the board. * SPECIAL POWER: Plants on/adjacent to water count for two? **Evolve** yourself to be MORE nutritious (two animals can live from one plant) or LESS attractive (animals won't eat you, carnivores can't destroy you) ## Herbivore **Start of your turn:** any two of your kind in the same space, with an EMPTY adjacent space, will get a baby. Place a new animal in that empty adjacent space. **During turn**: * You get as many movement points as you have animals. (You can use it to move one of them X steps, or all of them 1 step.) => Nah, should probably be modified by some evolution factor or something. * Two animals may be in the same space. * SPECIAL POWER: Herd => if you manage to cut off a carnivore (completely isolated and surrounded by your animals), they die. * SPECIAL POWER: Herd => a group of more than 10 connected animals can only lose _one_ of its members per carnivore turn. **End of your turn**: all your animals need to eat. * If they're adjacent to a plant, they remove it. * If not, they can't eat and will die. **Evolve** yourself to become FASTER/STRONGER (more movement) or MORE SOCIAL (more on a single tile, more protection) @IDEA: Any animal who **drinks** (they are adjacent to/on a river), may move another step? Doesn't need to eat? ## Carnivore **During turn**: * Divide your animals in half. One half does not move, the other walks at most 2 spaces. * You may only share a space with a herbivore. * SPECIAL POWER: Trample => Destroy a plant when moving through that space. * SPECIAL POWER: ?? **End of your turn**: all animals that _moved_, need to eat. * If they share a space with a herbivore, they eat them. * If not, they can't eat and will die. **Evolve** yourself to become FASTER, STRONGER, or an OMNIVORE. ## Alternative (Meh) The alternative is to pick a far more abstract approach. It's just a card game with random events like "climate change", "meteor shower", "food scarcity", "drought" => these challenge your current population in certain ways. * Example: climate change cards are collected in their own pile. Add their effects to know the current climate. If it exceeds what your beings can handle, they die. * This _does_ allow unique cards for each member of your species and perhaps a more diverse exploration of what makes species go extinct.)