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Biosphere box art
2017 Ranked #4,126

Biosphere

This mythic strategy game has six divine children shape a world born to Artaios and Branwen. Family powers create a contest among gods.

Strategy Games Environmental Action Points Area Majority / Influence Theme: Evolution

Players

2-6

Play time

30-90 min

Age

12+

Complexity

3.45/5

Rating

7.40

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.3/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 3.9/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.8/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.0/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.5/5

Deep strategy

See all 5 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

Artaios, the First Father, had six children with his wife, Branwen, the First Mother. They grew up to be gods and guardians of the biosphere.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

Artaios, the First Father, had six children with his wife, Branwen, the First Mother. They grew up to be gods and guardians of the biosphere. The siblings loved each other very much. They were strong of build and sharp of mind. Whatever they attempted, they succeeded with ease, and faultlessly. When the young gods had grown to adulthood, Artaois and Branwen bade them each create something to add it to their creation, so that it would enrich the world and populate it. And thus, the gods created six very different types. Time passed and the creations of the gods multiplied and spread without restraint across the biosphere. And so it came to pass that Artaios and Branwen bade their children bring order to their creation. Whoever would be the first to bring their population into accord with the biological order would be called "Lord of Creation" from thereon. In Biosphere, the player siblings each control groups of different populations (dubbed "types" in game terms). In each round, a percentage of the types goes extinct, then players receive and spend evolutionary points to make their types either larger or smaller, and more versatile or more dedicated depending on what they think is appropriate for the landscape (which is scaled based on the number of players) and the current state of the game. Reproduction, movement, and lifespan can all be modified by players during the game. If a player meets the right conditions, they can play one development card from hand, gaining benefits from this. Players then move across the landscape, reproduce, and fill the different terrains based on their positions relative to other players. How do the siblings prove their worth to Artaios and Branwen? By fulfilling assignments revealed at the start of play. One assignment is drawn from each of seven categories, and once a player completes an assignment, they mark it, with others still being able to mark it later. Whoever first fulfills five assignments wins the game.

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Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
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Player resources

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Game and edition data

All specifications (5)

Play and group

Players
2–6
Best with
2–5
Play time
30–90 min
Age
12+
Complexity
3.5/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

4
Christoph Bauer Max Kleinschroth Philipp Rösch Tilman Schneider

Artists

2
Katharina Kubisch Elif Siebenpfeiffer

Publishers

1
DDD Verlag GmbH

Linked items

No published linked games yet.