Bios: Megafauna (2011)

About this game

In Bios: Megafauna, a reworking of Phil Eklund's own American Megafauna, players start as proto-dinosaurs or proto-mammals, starting in the post-holocaust world of the Permian catastrophe. Animals are tracked by dentition, size, aggressiveness, swiftness, browsing, grazing, burrowing, swimming, behavior, and insect-eating. Plants and animals that have gone extinct are collected in an area on the map called the tarpits. These tiles are distributed among the most populous players as victory points during four scoring rounds. Players cope with intense competition and environmental changes by starting new species and mutating them. Create bizarre chimeras, from vegetarian velociraptors to flying dolphins. Establish subterranean civilizations, tame fire, or just be super-sexy. Reimplements: American Megafauna

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 1 to 4. It has a designed solo mode.
• Rules load. At 3.7/5 this is a heavy game — read the rulebook before people arrive.
• Age. The publisher suggests 12 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.