Oceans

Overview

Oceans is an interactive engine-building game in the Evolution series where players create and evolve species in a dynamic marine ecosystem. Species gain population by foraging from the Reef, attacking other species, or passively gaining from the Ocean. The game is divided into two halves by the Cambrian Explosion, which doubles the rate of evolution. Each population token scored is worth 1 point at game end.

Components

• 1 Reef board, 1 Ocean board (3 zones)
• 120 Surface cards (12 traits x 10 copies), 89 Deep cards (unique, powerful)
• 24 Species boards, 200 Population tokens
• 25 Scenario cards, 1 Cambrian Explosion card
• 4 Player screens, 4 Bonus tokens

Setup

1. Place Reef and Ocean boards centrally. Stack species boards nearby.
2. Place Cambrian Explosion card (Reef Variant side down) on 1st Ocean zone.
3. Place 1 random Scenario card on 1st and 2nd Ocean zone shelves.
4. Deal 6 Surface cards to each player. Place Surface deck face down.
5. Shuffle Deep deck; place 2 face-up cards as the Gene Pool.
6. Create population supply: 60 + 20 per player. Divide roughly into 4 piles across Reef and 3 Ocean zones.
7. Reveal top Surface card; migrate its number of population from Reef and 1st Ocean to 3rd Ocean.
8. Give each player a screen and bonus token (later players get more bonus points: 2nd=0, 3rd=6, 4th=7).

Turn Structure

Each turn has 4 phases:

1. Play Cards

• Before Cambrian Explosion: Play 1 Surface card.
• After Cambrian Explosion: Play 2 cards (Surface and/or Deep).

Cards can: create a new species (play a trait on a new species board), add a trait to an existing species, or be discarded for special effects.

2. Feed

Feed 1 of your species using one of its trait abilities:

• Forage: Take population from the Reef.
• Attack: Take population from another species.
• Gain: Take population from the Ocean.

3. Age

Score population from each of your species:

• Before Cambrian Explosion: Score 1 population per species.
• After Cambrian Explosion: Score 2 population per species. Move scored population behind your player screen.

4. Draw Cards

Draw cards to refill your hand. Draw from Surface deck, Deep deck, or the Gene Pool.

Actions

Traits

Surface traits are common abilities (12 types, 10 copies each). Deep traits are unique and powerful – available only after the Cambrian Explosion.

Species Management

• Each species board holds up to 10 population (9 safe spaces + 1 overpopulation space).
• Overpopulation: If forced to place population on the fishbone space, the species suffers disease and loses significant population.
• Species with 0 population go extinct (remove from game with all traits).

Cambrian Explosion

Triggered when the 1st Ocean zone runs out of population. Flip the Cambrian Explosion card. From now on: play 2 cards per turn, score 2 population per species, and Deep cards become playable.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Last round triggers when the final (3rd) Ocean zone runs out of population. Complete the round so all players have equal turns.

Score: 1 point per population token behind your screen + bonus token value. Highest score wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Scenario cards: Placed during setup; create unique ecosystem conditions for each game.
• Reef Variant (beginner mode): No Deep cards, use specific Scenario cards (Abundance and Fertile).
• Gene Pool: 2 face-up Deep cards available for drafting. Refill when taken.
• Population migration: Some effects move population between Reef, Ocean zones, and species.
• Extinction: A species at 0 population is removed. All its traits are discarded.

Player Reference

Phase	Before Cambrian	After Cambrian
Play Cards	1 Surface	2 (Surface/Deep)
Age (Score)	1 per species	2 per species

Population Source	Icon
Reef (forage)	Forage icon
Other species (attack)	Attack icon
Ocean (passive gain)	Gains icon