I once spotted a barracuda while scuba diving. It darted in close, shimmering silver, its features reminiscent of a high school bully: lean, sharp, with an underbite that jutted forward in defiance of both authority and band kids.
If I were to build that creature in Oceans, the latest card game from North Star Games, its traits would be Speed, Apex Predator, and Scare The Crap Out Of Fourteen-Year-Old Dan. (That last one is a promo card. It isn’t available, so don’t request it.)
Evolution redux?
The first thing people ask about Oceans is whether it’s different enough from Evolution, North Star’s previous game, to warrant a look. (Read our review of that game.) This is a valid question. Both games revolve around similar concepts and mechanics, right down to the processes of evolution itself. Creatures are assembled from trait cards, resulting in wacky (but feasible) creations like filter-feeding parasites or tentacled schools of transparent fish.
As they’re developed, those creatures are set loose into an ecosystem of your fellow players’ swimmers, predators, scavengers, and octo-things, where they need to eat. Like its predecessor, Oceans is about gathering the most food, though certain creatures would rather take their food out of your tail than graze from the reef. That is, until you evolve a defense—at which point your pursuer may try to evolve around your evolution. The game is effectively an arms race, except that the “arms” under development are sleeker fins, sharper teeth, and the ability to squirt ink when startled.
With so many similarities, it’s natural to wonder if Oceans is just Evolution with bluer illustrations. In practice, however, differences assert themselves almost immediately—and for the most part, they result in a more confident and interesting game.
