Overview

Primordial Soup (Ursuppe) is a strategy game where each player controls a tribe of amoebas in a prehistoric world. Players spend Biological Points (BP) to move, eat, reproduce, and evolve their amoebas by purchasing Gene cards. Genes modify how the game rules operate on your tribe. The more living amoebas and advanced genes you have, the more evolutionary points you score.

Components

• 1 game board (Primordial Soup with Compass and Scoring Ladder)
• 28 amoebas in 4 colors/shapes (7 per player)
• 37 Biological Points (BP) tokens (small = 1, large = 5)
• 25 Damage Point (DP) beads
• 220 foodstuff cubes (55 each of 4 colors)
• 4 score markers
• 33 Gene Cards (+ 3 blanks)
• 11 Environment Cards (showing ozone layer thickness and drift direction)
• 2 dice
• 4 reference booklets

Setup

1. Place game board centrally. Each player takes their color amoebas, reference booklet, and 4 BP.
2. Place 2 foodstuff cubes of each color on every board space. Set aside unused colors.
3. With 3 players, use only Gene Cards marked “3.”
4. Shuffle Environment Cards; place one face-up on the Compass.
5. Roll dice for play order; place score markers on spaces 1-4.
6. In ascending order, each player places 1 amoeba on an empty space (with 1 DP for 4-player games). Then in descending order, place a second amoeba (no DP). No space may have more than 1 amoeba.

Turn Structure

Each round has 6 phases:

Phase 1: Movement and Eating

Each amoeba moves and eats. In ascending player order, resolve all your amoebas one at a time.

• Spending 1 BP allows movement to an adjacent space.
• After moving (or staying), the amoeba must eat: consume 2 foodstuff cubes of different colors (not your own color). If unable to eat, receive 1 Damage Point.
• After eating, excrete 1 foodstuff cube of your own color onto your space.

Phase 2: Environment and Gene Defects

Replace Environment Card. Check if total Mutation Points on your Gene Cards exceed the Ozone Layer Thickness. If so, balance the difference by giving up Genes or taking Damage Points.

Phase 3: Death

Each amoeba with 2+ Damage Points dies. Remove it and its DPs from the board.

Phase 4: Division (Reproduction)

In ascending order, players may divide amoebas by paying BP (cost depends on Gene Cards). Place new amoeba on same or adjacent empty space.

Phase 5: Buying Genes

In descending order, players may buy Gene Cards using BP. Genes modify rules for your tribe permanently.

Phase 6: Scoring

Each player scores points based on living amoebas and Gene Cards owned.

Actions

• Move: Spend 1 BP per space moved.
• Eat: Consume 2 foodstuff cubes (different colors, not your own).
• Excrete: Place 1 cube of your color after eating.
• Divide: Spend BP to reproduce an amoeba.
• Buy Gene: Spend BP to gain permanent evolutionary abilities.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

After each round, players score evolutionary progress. The game ends after a set number of rounds (or when Environment Cards run out). The player with the most points on the scoring ladder wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Amoebas cannot eat cubes of their own color.
• Each amoeba eats 2 cubes of 2 different colors per turn.
• Drift: The Environment Card shows a direction; foodstuff cubes “drift” in that direction between rounds.
• Damage Points accumulate; 2+ DPs kills an amoeba.
• Gene defects occur if mutation points exceed ozone thickness.
• With 3 players, only Gene Cards marked “3” are used.
• No space may hold more than 1 amoeba.

Player Reference

Phase	Action
1. Movement/Eating	Move (1 BP/space), eat 2 cubes, excrete 1 cube
2. Environment	New Environment Card; check gene defects
3. Death	Remove amoebas with 2+ Damage Points
4. Division	Spend BP to reproduce
5. Buy Genes	Spend BP for permanent abilities
6. Scoring	Score based on amoebas and genes