Why I picked the game
Nature is an important thing in my life, from the tiny ant to the elephant and, in Dominic Crapuchettes’ creation, you must adapt to the ever changing environments to out match you fellow competitors against the two threats, starvation and predators, to flourish and thrive. Plus, any game with a solo mode is a bonus for me!
About the game
Game play is based around the watering hole where your species will forage and hunt in order to score the most points. Each round you will receive a new species then choose to increase size from rabbit to rhino, increase the population and add traits to help protect your species. What combination will you come up with, an opportunistic tusked scavenger, a fast clawed avid forager, a social horned hunter, what will allow you to keep everyone fed. Can you keep your species alive in this dynamic ecosystem or will they dwindle and go extinct. Welcome to the incredible diversity of Nature!
Nature by name, Nature by nature
Creating the game inspired north star to think about their environmental impact which I think made it better, instead of coming with loads of plastic bags that those of us with stout fingers struggle with, you get sliding cases and don’t have to search the kitchen for random tubs to hold the pieces. Sometime simplicity is the best.
Meet the animals
· Douc langur monkeys are social and gregarious living in groups of 50
· Pangolins are plated in tough overlapping scales, the world’s only scaled mammals
· Babirusa tusks are so strong that if left will grow into it’s own skull
· Blackbuck antelopes when startled use a high-speed galloping combined with stotting
· Red panda are opportunistic feeder and are simply the best
· Lammergeier vultures diet is 80% bone. Scavenging is what they do
· Tadjik markhors have 5ft long corkscrew horns. A snow leopards worst nightmare
· Tiger vs sun bear. The battle of the claws
· (promo) Prairie dogs, the lawnmowers of the ecosystem
Solo mode
For you, the game is played the same as the base game but now you are against Rani, the Sher Khan of the Nature world. Every round Rani receives one of the solo cards with its new species that will effect whether it will increase population, grow in size or receive traits. This may end up with the ultimate fast plated tusked defender or a contradicting foraging hunter. Who knows what evolution will produce. You will then compete at the watering hole to forage for food and hunt other species but if food isn’t available, you’ll starve. This repeats for 4 round although you can do additional rounds for longer games. You can also play across 5 difficulties levels from mouse to snow leopard. Will you have the success of a dragonfly or end up as dead as a dodo.
My review
Artwork 5/5 – The illustrations by Catherine Hamilton and the members of the art and production team have done a fantastic job with the art work particularly when it comes to the alternate hunter cards, each being illustrated by a different artist, some done with great realism to others belonging on a David Bowie cover.
Complexity 3/5 – If you’ve already played the base game a few times then the other parts are to hard to pick up. If you’re starting with solo then it takes a couple of games to fully understand and get right. Unfortunately the reference cards lack a few bits of important information.
Replayability 3/5 – I like the multiple levels but there’s not as much changes per game as their is in other solo games.
Player interaction 5/5 – From stealing your food to trying to hunt you down, its all about making challenges for you.
Component quality 4/5 - I very much like the boxes for the game pieces and the snow leopard 1st player marker.
Comeback ability 3/5 - Points are hidden for Rani so you don’t know what you got to beat. Also if you have bad first couple of rounds you might struggle.
Solo game 3/5 - I like the player interaction but you do end up doing a lot for Rani compared to Automa players in other solo game, I’m not competitive but I didn’t feel the tension you get from other solo games.
Improvements
· I would of liked to have been able to have more species
· The elephant graveyard although looking cool could of added more to the game.
· Only 2 of the solo cards had extra to them. I think they all should for example the glutton card could of made the species bigger.
What I enjoyed
· The sustainability of the game
· The strategic adaptation of the game
· Rani had a lot of effect to your game
· I’m looking forward to trying the modules to expand the game
Final thoughts
I like the strategic elements of Nature and the art work is top class. Rani was certainly putting up a fight but needed a bit more of a bite.
