Symbiosis is a clever, short, pocket-sized tableau-building game for 2-4 players. In this game you are populating your pond with creatures so that they work well together and also with your neighbouring ponds.
Ready to go
If there’s a core concept that keeps coming up in Symbiosis, it’s that simple doesn’t mean dull.
The game is played with just a set of 36 cards. Each player creates a 4x2 grid of face-down cards in front of them, and then 4 cards are dealt face up within reach of everyone. That’s it; the setup is almost longer to read than to do.
It’s a small world
Symbiosis is a tiny game. The box will just about fit in a trouser pocket and would have been even smaller if they hadn’t made the cards nice and big.
The large cards themselves manage to be 100% clear and still have a distinct, uncluttered style to them. There’s a large patch of colour (with different shapes in it so colour-blind players aren’t left out) and a pleasant drawing on each card. Each card contains each of the following pieces of information:
1. One of 4 creatures
2. One of 4 colours
3. One of three scoring criteria (with varying numbers)
Every card is a simple variant of these pictures and scoring rules
These are really clear on the cards and take no effort to follow from across the table. They combine well and give a decent amount of interaction with each other to find the best score.
Go fish
Turns are very simple. Each player takes turns choosing one of the four cards in the middle and swapping it with one of the cards in their pond. Most of the time, you are replacing one of your face-down cards, which means you flip your existing card over and put it in the middle. Be prepared for occasional regret when this reveals a great card for another player to take. You can instead replace one of your face-up cards (very useful if your earlier plans didn’t pan out), at which point you swap cards and then flip over a different face-down card in your pond. That way there is always a new face up card in your pond each turn.
Nosy neighbours
When all cards are face up, each player scores each card in the pond using the following rules:
1. If it’s just a number card, you score those points. Easy.
2. If you score per colour, count all of the cards of that colour in the pond and score the amount shown per card.
3. If you score per creature, count all of the cards of that type of creature in the pond and score the amount shown per card.
If this was just about building your own tableau, Symbiosis would be a pleasant enough tableau game but a little short on interaction or decision depth. This is where it gets good.
The middle 4 cards score based on the 8 cards in your pond.
The left 2 cards score based on the 8 cards in the pond to your left.
The right 2 cards score based on the 8 cards in the pond to your right.
This completely changes the level of strategy and interaction in this game and really makes this a different experience. You are always having to watch what others are doing, and you have to look at how each card affects the score for you and both your neighbours. A card might score well for your pond but might score better against your neighbour, so should it go in the middle or the edge? The card you want to play may add 3 points for you but score an extra 4 points for the player on your right, so should you take it? If you see someone getting too many points from you, or your neighbour has not picked up the cards you were planning for, you can swap your new card with an existing card and change the scores for both you and your neighbours.
Early on, you have very little information, so you might just want to grab whatever looks good. Soon you’re starting to weigh up if the creature helps you score for another card you already have, if the colour that it scores on is going to be best in the middle of your pond or on one of the sides, and finally how much you’re helping your neighbours if you take it. So much strategy for such a small choice.
Big fish in a small pond
Symbiosis is a great filler game for gamers, a great teaching game for families, and overall a remarkably chill but interactive card game. I’m not sure how much replay value there is due to the simple gameplay; however, there are 1v1 and 2v2 variants to increase your play options. Besides, at this price it’s worth getting even if just for occasional play.
This game is not trying to be an experience. It’s just a quick game of juggling priorities, and it’s very, very good at it.
Pros:
- A pocket sized game that can fit most tables.
- Simple rules with a lot of strategy.
- Highly interactive with no meanness.
- Very quick to play.
Cons:
- A little short on variety, although 1v1 and 2v2 modes help.
- While more complicated than it looks, it’s still rather simple.
- Some may find the artwork is a little plain.
Artwork 2/5
Complexity 3/5
Replayability 2/5
Interaction 5/5
Components 3/5
Final Score: 80/100
