Let's embark on a journey

How much gaming do you get in on workdays? We usually spend workdays dreaming about gaming, then end up sitting around exhausted doing nothing in the evening. Well, as my most anticipated game Darwin’s Journey just arrived, last evening was different - this game had to go on the table right away! 😋

I always like researching games, but I don’t always watch full playthroughs or test prototypes in digital form. I was so enamoured by Darwin’s Journey back when the Kickstarter was running, that I actually watched several full livestreams and also played 1-2 solo games in Tabletop Simulator. 🤩 With my high expectations it was time to finally do a real play with the real game. 🥰

The comboey nature of the game was what first drew me to it. Actions can trigger other actions, that could in turn trigger additional actions. ⛓️ Of course not always, but there are some big turns you can take! 💪 We were a bit scared at the beginning, as the first 2 rounds started out a bit slowly. You are quite constricted at first, as you have to pay coins to visit worker areas that are already occupied, and you are poor. 😄
But then the game started to open up as it went by and we loved it!

There is a lot going on, which we will have to cover in more detail later. 👍
It is a worker placement game at its core, but you can specialize your workers with colored wax seals, plus there are also random special actions that have to be unlocked during the game. On the map you are moving your ship ⛵, trying to keep up with the HMS Beagle; Moving your explorers 🧭 on different islands racing for points and trying to research specimen 🔬 that you can ship back; Sending correspondence ✉️ home, which is a majority scoring part for bonus actions. And a bunch of objectives that unlock abilities for you upon completion.

There is definitely a place for analysis paralysis here. 😂 So many things, and there is a second part to the board and some more mini-expansions to boot!
I think we have to get right back to playing after work! 😁