On an island, far from humans, animals are locked in a constant struggle of adaption and change. Can they live in harmony and peace, or will competition for food drive them to do the unthinkable?
Evolution is a card game designed by Dominic Crapuchettes, Dmitry Knorre and Sergey Machin which was released in 2014 by North Star Games. In it players attempt to create animals, adding ability cards to them and collecting food from either the pool or other animals. Animal populations, or the physical size of the creature, can be grown. The winner is the player with the most cumulative points at the end.
North Star Games are obviously trying to broaden the audience of the title, by bringing Evolution to the digital game space. Developed by North Star Digital Studios, the relatively new digital arm of North Star Games, Evolution is the same intense creature building card game we all know, with a few handy additions.
All the same gameplay of the Evolution card game remains, but with a heavy helping of automation and pop up reminders. Tasks such as dealing cards, or adding food to the pool, are automatically handled by the game. Where food is in such abundance that no animal will go hungry, the game also auto feeds.
Players can mouse over cards, whether in their hand or played onto any animal, at any time to get details on which card it is and what effect it has. When tasked with manual feeding it is a simple process of clicking one animal and dragging it towards the food source: be it the food pool or another animal.
Should the animal be pointed at an invalid target, such as a carnivore being directed at an animal with a much larger body size, the game will indicate not only that it is an illegal move, but provide details on why. This helps players to not only understand why a move isn’t being made, but possibly allows them to address this in future turns.
This digital version of Evolution provides two basic game types; Local Game and Online Game. In local game the player can choose from AI Game or Campaign. Both pit the player against AI opponents. AI Game is a standalone match against different types of AI, which sets the difficulty of the challenge. Campaign is a string of matches which gradually introduces concepts in Evolution, and gives the player the opportunity to unlock additional opponent AIs.
Online Game is broken up into Find A Match and Private Game. Find A Match allows players to find other random players online and pit themselves against them and AI opponents. Whereas Private Game lets a player create a match and invite those from their friends list into it.
The card game version of Evolution is already pretty solid. So as a game experience the digital version of Evolution has no worries. Those familiar with it will find the same game they are used too, while new players will find it easy to learn using the tutorials contained in the Campaign.
Automation of selected elements is handled well, with indicators which pop up as it happens. A nice touch, so that players understand why the game is taking control from them. So too the way the game shows card abilities, such as passing food from one animal to the next, is done in a strong and visual way. It really leaves the player with little doubt as to what is happening on the board.
Adding a Campaign mode brings a good sense of progression to this digital version. Without it the game would likely feel quite flat, with little reason for the more casual players to continuously come back. As it is the Campaign, along with rewards for fulfilling certain criteria, will bring some longevity to solo play.
Evolution is a fine example of taking a solid existing game and augmenting it in a digital space. The core aspects of the card game aren’t lost, and it doesn’t feel like bringing it to a digital environment was wasted effort. Existing players will find the same game they enjoy. While those new to Evolution will not only have a lot of fun, but learn enough about the game to be able to play the tabletop version with minimal effort.
Evolution is developed and published by North Star Digital Studios. You can get it now on PC through Steam as well as on iOS and Android.
