Designer Jean-Michel Maman Publisher Spiel-ou-Face Players 2-4 Playtime 45 mins Suggested Age 10 and up Additional Info 148517/s-evolution http://boardgamegeek.com/forum/1440385/s-evolution/reviews From fire to smartphone in less than an hour! S-Evolution is a unique combination of a classic card game — with tricks, colors and trump — and of a typical "Eurogame" of resources management and civilization. Each player has a deck of 24 cards, and in each of the six rounds, he draws a hand of four cards from this deck. Each player starts the game in Age 1 and adds the progress card of this age to his deck. Each round consists of a card phase, lasting 4-5 tricks among all the players, followed by an individual management phase. During the card phase, players try to (1) gather resources (which are on the cards) to pay for the needs of their civilization and to construct buildings, (2) avoid diasters, and (3) collect discoveries. However, the value of a player's cards are affected by which Age he occupies. In Ages 1 and 2, for example, his cards have no color, so they automatically lose to cards of players in Age 3 and above as those folks have discovered the awesome power of hue. What's more, in the primitive Age 1, you can't see the cards before you play them. That's how primitive you are! In Ages 5 and 6, a player can start using trump to beat out those in lower ages. The advantages in the card phase are balanced by the needs of your population, which is much greater in later ages. In each trick, each player collects one played card based on the value of their card played, and players then use the resources on these cards (food, tools and science) to satisfy the needs of their population, erect buildings (which supply additional resources), gain advantages (which can protect you from disasters or earn you victory points), or advance to the next Age of S-Evolution. Players score points each round depending on how well they meet the needs of their population, suffering penalties if they fail to do so. At the end of the sixth round, players score points for their sets of discoveries, and the player with the highest score wins!
