An overview of board games of the dominant types

The clock is 90,000 BC. Earth is a green, thriving city, full of life and activity (although you didn’t find Starbucks because of love and money).

But all is not well. It's cold on the horizon.

Dominant species on the survival of the fittest. Mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, spiders and insects are fighting for dominance in a world approaching the ice age. Better be prepared to adapt or face extinction.

Read the full overview of board games of the dominant types below:

Predominant species

For 2-6 players
Playing lasts 2-4 hours
Great strategy game

A brief overview of the predominant species

The predominant type is a worker deployment game where players take on the role of different classes of animals. Your job is to expand and adapt to changing and ever-changing terrain to avoid elimination. The goal is to reach victory points, which we achieve by becoming the most visible and successful species as the world descends into the Ice Age.

The game takes place in several stages. Players then choose how they want their species to adapt to the terrain and manipulate it to suit their needs. Over time, you can win Dominance cards, which are earthquake events that we can play to your advantage.

Here, things can go deeper, but it was masterfully combined into an intuitive and flawless gaming experience.

Variations and extensions

Predominant types: card game

The Dominant Species extension is not extended, but a map version has been released.

Well, I say ‘version’, but it’s a completely different kettle for fish than a board game. That’s not to say it’s bad, it just doesn’t even have about the same charm as the original.

Players try to win in each round by dropping the cards from their hands with different elements. If you have the most of these items when everyone is done assembling, score points.

The game has a number of complexities that make it quite strategic. You don’t get as many cards in each round and as the rounds progress, you have a chance to score more points. Therefore, you will often have to decide between holding a big punch for later or cashing in.

Compared to the original, it is heavily removed, as you would expect from a card game. It captures the theme and creates a whole new concept. Unfortunately, it feels a bit half-hearted. I was especially disappointed that you don’t play as one particular type. This is a big draw of the original, as you fought for your own survival. Instead, it’s about scoring with very little room for emotional engagement.

Predominant types: card game

2 to 6 players
Playback time: 30 to 90 minutes
Age 13+

Unpacking the predominant species

The dominant types will not put anyone on the “best components” list, but that is not the purpose of this game. Inside you will find:

20-page policy
one game board
six animal depictions
27 cards - 1 survival and 26 dominance
31 large and 12 small hexagonal tiles were used to create the Earth
330 wooden cubes representing species belonging to six animal classes
60 wooden cylinders used as animal pussies
60 wooden cones used as markers of dominance for animals
120 round markers representing earth resources called Elements
6 square markers used to show the initiative of each animal (order at planning stage)
one canvas bag

Depending on which edition you buy, the artwork is quite different. The original got a bit stuck due to the rather dull look. Future editions have changed that, which means the artwork is now much fuller and more colorful, so there are no complaints from me here.

As already mentioned, there is nothing crazy about the components. The pieces are mostly wooden cubes and cones that do their job. There are also many pieces of tile for the slab that are beautiful and thick. Throughout the game, I’ve found that tessellation is a bit sophisticated - even the slightest movement of the table can move a few things - but that’s not a big issue.

The tiles that become Earth are made up of larger sea, wetland, savannah, jungle, forest, desert and mountain tiles, and smaller tundra tiles.

There are also a bunch of tokens that represent the Elements (grass, trifle, meat, seeds, sun and water).

How to play dominant types

Dominant Species is a long game with lots of moving parts and things to remember, but it’s still relatively simple.

To begin, players choose which animal they want to be: insects, spiders, amphibians, birds, reptiles or mammals. By watching an animal, you will see that you have special abilities, along with many elements that your animal needs to succeed. You will be able to add (and subtract) items from your animal screen during the game.

The ground starts with six tiles, one for each type of terrain, and elements arranged according to the rules.

All players also place the dice at zero on the Victory Point track. The goal of the game is to be the player who scored the most points before the arrival of the Ice Age. There are different ways to score points that I will explain while moving by the rules.

When turning

There are three phases of each turn in the predominant species. Each player participates in a phase before moving on to the next. These are:

Planning phase:

This is the strategic part. All players take turns placing the action flag on the available “eyeball” spaces on the action screen. These eyeball rooms indicate the actions you will take in the execution phase, and only one farmer can be placed on each eyeball, so he came first, served first.

Implementation phase:

Go through the action lanes in order (from top to bottom, from left to right), resolve their actions, and remove them as you go.

12 different actions need to be implemented.

initiative - move the Initiative mark one jump along the Initiative path.
customization - add an item to the animal screen.
regression - all animals lose the elements shown in the regression field, except those with action pussies in that space.
Abundance - place an element on the corner of any available Earth tile.
Wasteland - all elements in the Wasteland box are removed from all tundra tiles on Earth. If you have an action pawnshop set up here, you can remove one item from the Wasteland field before it happens.
Exhaustion - Remove any element from the Earth that matches the element in the Exhaustion field.
Icing is a powerful action. You can change any tile adjacent to a tundra tile to a different tundra tile. If an item is surrounded by three tundra tiles, it is removed from the game. All the species present in this area are reduced to just one piece. You can also win bonus points here, depending on how many tundra tiles there are new tiles nearby.
Specification - Add types to the board.
Wanderlust - add new tiles to the board.
Migration - Move some species to adjacent tiles.
Competition - remove opposing rows from tiles.
Domination - it's biggy. Select a tile for Domination. Two measures are then taken:
1. If your species is the most populated on this tile, you get victory points.
2. Who is the predominant species on the map - ie. It matches the elements on the tile best - it takes the Dominance Card and performs its actions. These are reward cards and have the power to completely change the game.

Reset phase

With a name that does not fully express the seriousness of his actions, the species is then excluded. If you have on the tile species that do not match any element (alias endangered), they are removed from the game.

There are a few other administrator bits that you need to set before moving on to the next turn.

End of the game

The game ends when the player selects an Ice Age card from the Dominance Card package (placed at the bottom of the pile at the beginning of the game). Make another number of points and then the one furthest away from Victory Point wins!

Your first game of the dominant species

Confused, Dominant Species is a simple yet complex game. There are a lot of different actions to keep in mind, and it’s likely that you won’t exactly appreciate the impact of all of them on first launch. After all, it’s hard to formulate a strategy if you don’t know what it’s all about. As such, your first game will probably be more of a test than a competition.

However, the manual is extremely well written and clear, so it should only take one game to get everyone up to speed on how it works. Similarly, although there are many different actions, the way they are implemented usually follows the same procedure.

There are two things to keep in mind that people often confuse. First, the Dominance campaign consists of two rounds of awards. The winning points are awarded to the one who has the most types on this tile. Dominance Card, on the other hand, receives Dominance Types on the plate. It's not the same. You build dominance based on the quality of the adjustment, not the quantity. Even if there are more amphibian units on the tile than insect units, if the insects match more elements, they will be predominant.

Second, pay attention to the Dominance cards that are placed on the table. They are extremely strong and can completely knock you out of the game if played by an opponent. So make sure you take this into account at the planning stage by immediately placing an action flag on the Dominance eyeball or adjusting your position elsewhere on the board.

For the first time, players can often overlook this.

Advantages disadvantages

Advantages:

All About Strategy , Not Happiness
It can change at any time
This is an attractive topic
There’s a lot going on, but not confusing

If you’re one of the many players who don’t buy risks because he relies so heavily on luck, you’ll love Dominant Species. First, there are absolutely no dice. In addition, there is very little luck in drawing cards or chips. Yes, the predominant maps randomly appear on the board, but everyone can see and plan them before the planning phase even begins. Similar to element tokens.

This is a game about planning and strategy. But it's not slow because of that. Maps of dominance and other mechanics mean that things can change very quickly, so your strategy will need to change as well. If, like me, you live your life and expect the worst and plan unforeseen situations, you will probably do quite well. And there’s nothing to do to prevent the extinction of the TM gland more than preparing a strategy to prevent the extinction of my entire species!

I also liked the theme, which was a refreshing break from most other job games that focus on industry or empire. There’s something special about playing for the survival of the whole species, and the way the game impressively runs and swells captures that with all the moving parts. And yet, despite the number of parts, the game impressively combines them into an incredibly simple system. One pass may be needed to properly afford a head, but it is very intuitive.

Weaknesses:

This may take some time

The only drawback is that this game can take a long time. You’ll probably find yourself at the table for up to four hours, maybe even longer if you have six players or this is your first time playing. But that’s not a big deal, of course, if you know what you’re getting into. Not to mention, the thrill of the game evolving is enough to get everyone’s attention focused on the task we have.

TL; DR

The predominant type is a worker deployment game in which players take on the role of different classes of animals, expanding and adapting to ever-changing terrain.

It's a tough game. But it’s exciting from start to finish, and the status quo can be completely turned upside down in a matter of moments. However, this does not come at the expense of complex planning and strategy going forward. In fact, it is essential. Which is one of the reasons I like this game so much. His play perfectly fits the theme: adaptation and ruthlessness.

Conclusion: a verdict?

Dominant Species is a fantastic game to deploy workers that puts you at the very heart of the wildlife battle for survival at the dawn of the Ice Age.

There is no doubt that a lot is going on. But every mechanic is absolutely necessary and direct and fits perfectly into the darkness.

The dominant species are thrilled from start to finish, and the status quo can be completely turned upside down in a matter of moments. But that doesn’t throw planning and strategy forward out the window. In fact, it is essential. Which is one of the reasons this game is so brilliant. His play perfectly fits the theme: adaptation and ruthlessness.

After all, nature is ruthless. Is it also in your nature to be ruthless?

Predominant species