Featured Articles   Creating a Successful Lab Buildout Plan

Featured Articles   Creating a Successful Lab Buildout Plan

Games are always a fun way to spend time. Dr Louise Robinson and Dr Ian Turner, reviewed Ecosystem to find out if it is any good.

The game has a surprising amount of strategy for such a small and quick game. The points awarded for each of your ecosystem’s components are different. Some of these are based on abundance, like points for the largest wolf pack or the longest stream. Others are just about presence, like the two points you gain for each row or column a deer features in your final grid. However, many of the cards rely on conditional placement. For example, bees gain three points for each adjacent meadow. Of course, not being close to something can also score you points, like each fox bags you three points, as long as there are no bears or wolves adjacent. Just like a real ecosystem, diversity is really important. The more of the eleven different options you include in your ecosystem, the greater you are rewarded in points at the end of the game.

Ecosystem is a game that is all about creating a beautiful and abundant ecosystem. Players must make an ecosystem of twenty different components but, just like in the real world, your neighbours really matter. Ecosystem is a card drafting game where players draw from a pool of cards to create a five by four grid of twenty cards. The cards are rotated over two rounds, each of ten cards, meaning you can plan ahead and try to guess (and second guess) what your opponents want in their ecosystem. There are eleven different animals and landscapes you can pick for your ecosystem, and each one has its own scoring rules.

The game’s very simple concept does mean there is not a lot of direct scientific content in itself. However, the complexities of realworld ecosystems are beautifully portrayed in the way the game cards interact with each other. Many ecological principles, such as predator/prey relationships, are nicely highlighted, though the simple game mechanics means not all interactions are illustrated. The game would be a lovely way to introduce younger players to the wonder and complexity of ecosystems.

The game is simple to learn, contains a wealth of strategy and is supported by some wonderful art. Get yourself a copy ASAP and build your own ecosystem.