Between hundreds of board games that get published every year, only a few have themes concerning the environment, our ecosystem or an educational approach to such themes. With our planet slowly disintegrating and governments caring less and less for the future of ecosystems, climate change and the consequences of human intervention on our planet, a game that makes us more environmentally aware and gives us knowledge of how an ecosystem works, while also being fun becomes a valuable addition to any gamer’s library and deserves a special mention.
Genius games has been in the board game industry since 2016, being unique in combining science with board games. The company has been delivering board games that have an educational attitude about various forms of science while also being super fun. Ecosystem is one of them, a quick (15-20 mins) card game for 2 to 6 players that focuses on drafting cards and building your own ecosystem of various animals and their habitats, while also pursuing biodiversity. Through this experience, players, young and adult alike, can realize how complicated life on Earth is and how animals depend on its other and their environment in order to survive.
At the beginning of the game, players are dealt ten cards randomly, consisting of animals namely bees, bears, eagles, trout, wolfs, foxes, deer, dragonflies and rabbits as well as their habitats namely meadows and streams.
Ecosystem animals
All players choose a card simultaneously and pass the others to their left. Then everyone reveals the card they have chosen and puts it on the table gradually forming a 5×4 grid of animals and their habitats. All animals and habitats have their own rules of scoring, depending on other animals being close or far from them and their vicinity to the habitat they love.
Ecosystemm habitats (meadows and streams)
The game takes place in 3 rounds, where the direction of passing cards changes from left, then to the right, then again to the left. In the end of the game all players will have built their own unique ecosystem, trying to score the most points according to placement of the various cards. Bonus scoring will come for achieving biodiversity, which means having many different species and habitats in your ecosystem while points will be subtracted from your score if your ecosystem features very few species.
No, let’s go through our usual scoring categories and see how this game stands in the board game world. Remember that Components contribute a 13% in the final scoring, Gameplay 35%, Learning Curve 6%, Theme 5%, Replayability 26% and Player Interaction 15%:
Components
Ecosystem comes in a cute little box that holds the cards of the game, 6 player aid cards and a scorecard. All cards have beautiful illustrations of animals and their habitats. Cards are glossy and thick but sleeving is recommended as cards will be shuffled every time at the beginning of the game and passed from one player to another during the game. A small plastic bag is included in the box but it barely can fit the cards. I prefered to use a somewhat bigger bag to put the cards in, so that it’s easier to put them in and out of the bag. When cards are sleeved and put into the bag, the box of the game becomes a bit cramped. Player aid cards are made of thick cardboard and depict all creatures and habitats with a handy explanation of their scoring. 7/10
Player aid card
Gameplay
Although rules of Ecosystem are quite straight-forward, mastering the game is not so simple. You begin with one card, gradually building your own ecosystem with animals that have certain demands from their environment. For example bears like to be adjacent to trout or bees while foxes don’t like to be next to bears or wolves. Except of adjacency, there are other ways to score big like having a lot of wolves or connected meadows. Somewhere here begins the magic of this game. You must first pay attention to what cards are in the total pool of the game. You may take only one card from the hand that is passed to you by your neighbor but you should take notice of all cards in it because this hand will come around again so you must choose wisely a card that you may combine with others in the course of the game. Each card type has its own rarity (it is depicted on the player aid card) which means some cards will be more difficult to find than others. For example there are only eight Dragonflies in the deck but there are twelve Bears. Trying to think out these combinations and how to make the best pick each round is the heart of this game.
Rabbits
One important thing in this game is choosing the right cards to pick but another crucial decision is where to put it. Especially at the first few rounds of the game when your grid will have only a few cards, you will have to think cautiously about the right placement of each card. You must remember that your grid has specific dimensions that you cannot change and make your choice forseeing future card picks and placement. Mistakes are hard to correct but the game gives us the chance to do so with a special kind of animal: Rabbits. This can be a game changer card especially towards the end of the game as it makes it possible to exchange the place of two cards in your grid. It’s essential that you decide relatively early the species and habitats you will focus on, with a big “but” that comes in the next paragraph.
Even if you think you have it all figured out in your head and made all the right picks and placements, at the end you may just end up missing an important detail: “Biodiversity”. In only 20 cards, an 5×4 grid, you must include the most species you can, while also meeting certain requirements to make these species happy. Biodiversity means not having many ecosystem “gaps”, that is cards that didn’t contribute in any way in your ecosystem. Having less than five gaps is rewarded with extra points while having more than six is penalized with negative points. At the end of the game you will end up with a unique ecosystem that you created and that alone, gives a feeling of creativity and fulfillment (feeling like a god?).
The more players in this game the more fun it is. However there is a special ruleset for 2-players making it possible and fun enough for you to enjoy the game when having only one game-mate available. It would be nice if solo rules existed too. Expansions with more animals and habitats would also be welcome.
All in all, gameplay of Ecosystem is intriguing, requires some thought without burning your brain and it certainly feels creative. 7/10
a complete Ecosystem
Replayability
Each time you play this game, it will be a different one. Cards get shuffled at the start of the game and there are numerous combinations of cards that may appear in the starting hands. The Ecosystem you build during the game will be a unique one and when the game ends you will probably end up thinking somethink like “Hmm, maybe I could do a little better if I have chose that card instead of this or if I have put that card in another place.” This thought is the ultimate replayability criterion. It means you are already eager for your next game.
Ecosystem is a quick game, that can easily fill the sweet spot when you might have just 15-20 minutes to play a game. With the crazy rythms most people live with, this will probably be a frequent situation. The small packaging of the game makes it also ideal to take with on your trips.
7/10
Theme
The thematic aspect of Ecosystem is very strong. Playing the game, you will see a whole ecosystem grow little by little before your eyes until it is finished and ready for you to admire. The vivid illustrations of the animals and their environment make your ecosystem feel alive. When I look at the cards, my mind goes off thinking that this is how our planet really functions and makes me realize the connections between animals and their environment. And then I go thinking how fragile these connections are and how easily they can break, usually from our actions. Who could imagine that a simple little game like this would be so thought-provoking.
The way cards are scored also contributes big to immersion in the game because it reflects reality. For example bears eat honey and fish so it’s logical for them liking to be near trout and bees. Eagles fly high and are fast so they can take advantage of two spaces on the grid away from them to hunt for rabbits and trout. 9/10
Learning Curve
Ecosystem rules are pretty easy. The most important thing to learn is how each card is scored at the end of the game and that is information displayed on the player aid cards. That means you can start playing within minutes after opening the game without having to remember much. Exactly what you’d expect from a quick little game like this. 10/10
Player Interaction
There is no direct way to interact with other players in Ecosystem. As an indirect way of interacting, you can study your neighbors’ grids and try to pick cards that they seem to need but then again you must be able to make use of this card yourself so that seems not much good of a strategy. As much as I love player interaction in games I found the lack of it not particularly annoying in this game as I set all my focus on trying to build the best possible ecosystem for myself. 6/10
Final Thoughts
Thinking about how mean we are towards our environment and how many things we don’t realize about the environmental impact of our everyday actions but governmental policies as well, is really dissapointing. Although environmental awareness has grown significantly the last decades, there are still big steps to be made. Playing Ecosystem is a rare, thought-provoking game that makes us more environmentally aware by realizing how animals depend on their habitats and other creatures to survive and flourish, while also providing a lot of fun and intriguing gameplay. It’s a beutifully illustrated game, ideal for kids and adults alike and can ideally fill a gap in your free time of 15-20 minutes.
A finished game of Ecosystem
Many thanks to Genius Games for providing a copy of this game for review. Our written reviews are always unbiased and based on our own judgement of games. If you like this game you can also try Ecosystem: Savanna and Ecosystem: Coral Reef.
