In the Footsteps of Darwin Review

boardgamequest.com:

We review In the Footsteps of Darwin, a cozy game published by Sorry We Are French. In the Footsteps of Darwin is an easy to learn tile drafting game with a bit of point salad mixed in.

For those unfamiliar with it, the Spiel des Jahres is one of the most coveted awards in board gaming. It’s the annual Game of the Year from Germany and is typically given out to light/accessible games. Why is it so coveted? Because the winner tends to go on to sell piles and piles of games. This year, the winner was the excellent Sky Team from Scorpion Masqué.

Close behind in my own personal voting (which doesn’t really count for anything, but there you go) is the subject of today’s review. In the Footsteps of Darwin, published by the excellently named “Sorry We Are French,” tasks players with helping Charles Darwin finish his book On the Origin of Species. Get ready to study animals, carry out cartographic surveys, publish your findings, and develop theories as we set sail for… wherever Darwin went to study animals.

On a player’s turn, they first start by selecting an animal from the row/column facing the HMS Beagle. After claiming the tile, they move the Beagle around the grid a number of spaces equal to the distance the tile was from the ship.

The tile is then added to a player’s board in the appropriate location. The player board is divided into columns by continents, and rows by species type. Players can draft animal types they don’t have, or duplicate a species type, which allows them to publish a theory (earning them a way to score end game VPs). Each animal also provides a benefit when added to their board in the form of victory points, guides, or icons used in set collection.

Once all players have drafted 12 tiles, the game ends and points are tallied. There are a variety of ways to score points, and the player with the most points is the king naturalist… or something.

I first played In the Footsteps of Darwin with my gaming group. While I lost, everyone really enjoyed the