Objective: The goal is to be the first player to collect all the Species cards.
Setup:
- Shuffle the Species cards and deal them evenly between the players. Discard other card types.
- Each player places their deck of cards next to them.
Game Dynamics:
On their turn, players draw the first card in their pile (without showing it) and selects an item within the sequencing information section of the Species card that they believe holds high value: the oldest first publication date, the largest genome size, the highest number of coding genes, or the highest number of unique chromosomes. They announce the value to other players. The rest draw the first card in their pile, taking turns clockwise to declare the value of the same item. The player with the highest value for this item wins all other players’ cards, placing them facing down beneath their card pile.
Sequencing technology: Cards are categorized into three sequencing technologies: first, second, and third (top-right circle of the Species card). During a round, players can change the sorting item if they possess a Species card of the second or third-generation technologies. The player making the change must hold a card with higher priority than the one who selected the initial sorting item. Order of priority (from highest to lowest): third > second > first-generation technology. Multiple players can attempt to impose their favored sorting item during a round. For example, the first player chooses as sorting item the number of coding genes with a Species card of first generation. The second player, which has drawn a card with less coding genes but second-generation sequencing, decides to change the sorting item to publication date. The third player draws a card, which has the highest number of coding genes and it is a third-generation card, so they change the sorting item once again to number of coding genes, thus winning this round.
End of the game:
The game concludes when a player collects all the Species cards, declaring them the winner. Alternatively, the game can end after 15 minutes, with the player holding the most Species cards securing the victor