This is the final campaign of Darwin’s Choice, a chance for you to obtain the base game and to help us bring these two new products to life! Every single backer is important, because the prepared Stretch Goals will make both the expansion and the encyclopedia an even greater experience for everyone. Thank you very much for your support and trust!
Our small passionate team has very high standards and stands by its principles.
Darwin’s Choice – Before and After is the expansion to Darwin’s Choice and requires the base game. The expansion includes 286 cards, 37 cardboard chips, a box and a rule book. Like the base game, the expansion will be available in English and German. If all Stretch Goals will be unlocked, all cards will show a unique artwork
The cards of “Darwin’s Choice – Before and After” (sizes: 75x50mm; 100x65mm) will have 300gsm black core quality. Box and chips are made of 2mm grey cardboard. The rule book is printed on high quality 135gsm gloss paper.
In this campaign you can also obtain the base game “Darwin’s Choice”.
The core elements of Darwin’s Choice are the Biome Cards and the Animal Cards. All biomes have an individual Food Supply and different Requirements to fulfill.
The objective of each player is to create animal species that are as optimally adapted as possible. Only such animals are able to obtain enough food for themselves in the biomes, which is crucial for their survival.
Between the Eras played, biome changes along with Event Card effects transform the prevailing conditions. Using sophisticated mutations, players can improve already established animal species or save endangered species from extinction.
Along with mutations, players may also move their animal species to other biomes to ensure their survival or even establish the species at the top of the food chain.
The expansion “Darwin’s Choice – Before and After” builds on these established game mechanics of Darwin’s Choice and adds a new intriguing twist. With the rise of humankind, animal species are confronted with a new challenge. Human Territories emerge in all biomes.
Human Event Cards make entire biomes disappear, animal species die out and, above all, change the appearance of the Human Territories. Food is so scarce that animal species must complement their diet with Waste.
As in Darwin’s Choice, the players who collected the most Darwin Points with their species win. However, the expansion requires players to rethink, because food is so scarce and therefore being large and strong may no longer be the most dominant characteristics of a species. In addition, the expansion lets you experience how drastically humankind influences nature.
Here you can find the rule explanation videos of the base game and the expansion.
The rules of the base game have been translated into 11 languages and can all be downloaded as PDFs. Click on the sloth/ape below to enter the rules section of Darwin’s Choice on our website.
As with the base game, the expansion will be available as fully translated versions in English and German. Additionally, we will translate the rules into all 11 languages of the base game and provide PDFs for download. With a click on the iguana below, you are led to the rules of the expansion. (Please note that these rules are not yet final and will be subject to change.)
Marc and Samuel have once again fought an epic battle in order to present the expansion and to gain honor. Let the game begin…
In this section we present the most recent reviews of Darwin’s Choice. During the campaign several more reviews will be added, so it’s worth visiting this section again :) We didn’t pay for these reviews and just provided a free review copy (including free shipping).
Darwin’s Encyclopedia is a “stand alone” animal encyclopedia, which you can enjoy even if you don’t own the game. Darwin’s Encyclopedia includes all animal species that are featured in Darwin’s Choice and its expansion. The only exception are all extinct species (e.g. dinosaurs), which are not included in the book. The reason for this is that the knowledge of these species changes very quickly, and former facts thus become outdated. That’s something we don’t want; Darwin’s Encyclopedia is supposed to be a book that withstands time.
Darwin’s Encyclopedia is intended to enable the players of Darwin’s Choice to learn more about the fascinating animal species in the game. This knowledge is important, because it rises the awareness for the wonderful wildlife of our planet, which is worth preserving.
The encyclopedia will have a minimum of 126 pages showing 224 animal species and will be available in Germand and English. All new animal species that come into play through the Stretch Goals will also be included in the encyclopedia. Additionally, there are also some Stretch Goals that focus fully on the encyclopedia. If all Stretch Goals are unlocked, Darwin’s Choice will include 200 pages, with 308 species. The book will certainly be hardcover and will have a paper thickness of 150gsm, therefore good quality is guaranteed. All drawings, icons and sketches are drawn by the artists Rozenn Grosjean and Yuji Yamamoto.
If you click on the butterfly below, you will find a preview of the first 25 pages of the English version of the encyclopedia. Of course, any feedback is always welcome! (Please note that these 25 pages are not yet final and will be subject to change.)
The Stretch Goals have been designed to enhance both the encyclopedia and the expansion. New animal illustrations will replace duplicate artworks, making the expansion even more diverse. In addition, all animal species with a “*” will be included in the encyclopedia.
At the start of our campaign it is not yet known how many Stretch Goals will be unlocked and therefore how many artworks must be drawn. With this in consideration we have included an extended time margin for the scheduled start of delivery (June 2020). What is worth knowing, is that in no campaign do all backers receive their rewards at the same time, because the distance to the country of origin plays a central role, i.e. the further away your own country is from Switzerland, the longer the shipment will take. In our last campaign, the difference between Swiss backers and backers from the country furthest away (New Zealand) was around 3 months. What we can promise is that we will give our very best to ensure that your deserved rewards arrive as soon as possible. In addition, we will once again work with respected fulfillment partners in all regions of the world.
We have placed much effort into finding options to send Darwin’s Choice to your home at a fair price. For this reason, the shipping prices are also subsidized, i.e. a part of the cost is covered by us like in the first campaign.
Here you can see a short overview of the shipping costs for the 3 base pledge levels (encyclopedia, expansion and base game; 1 CHF is approximately 1 USD). Important: You don’t have to add these shipping prices on top of your pledge, Kickstarter will automatically do this for you.
Here you can see a short overview of the shipping costs for the 3 base pledge levels (encyclopedia, expansion and base game; 1 CHF is approximately 1 USD). Important: You don’t have to add these shipping prices on top of your pledge, Kickstarter will automatically do this for you.
If you want to know the shipping price of one of the other pledge levels (e.g. bundles), just click on the corresponding pledge level in the upper right column of this Kickstarter page. Kickstarter will then automatically show you the corresponding shipping price. Bundles have of course better shipping conditions than the individual products. In the subsection “Pledge Levels” (below) you can see the amount you have to add to double or triple your pledge (e.g. 2 or 3 times the same bundle). This will improve the shipping conditions even more.
Unfortunately, we cannot deliver Darwin’s Choice to the following countries due to international regulations and problematic delivery conditions: Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine.
Here you can see an overview of all pledge levels (1 CHF is approximately 1 USD). You can also see the amount you have to add to double or triple your pledge (e.g. 2 or 3 times the same bundle/product).
Side note: All prices below that add one or two additional copies/bundles to your pledge already include shipping costs.
We would be honored to welcome you to our community. Be part of the story of Darwin’s Choice and tell your friends about us. Thank you very much!
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Darwin’s Choice was our first Kickstarter campaign and we were simply overwhelmed by its success. Sure, we were very well prepared for the campaign, but nobody could have expected this outcome. Darwin’s Choice is now the most successful Swiss game on Kickstarter, and we are very proud of that. What surprised us the most besides this success was the incredibly positive experience we had with our backers. We have gotten to know so many awesome people all over the world and had a blast during the campaign and afterwards. Some of our backers have even helped us voluntarily and invested hours of their free time in e.g. translating the rules. In addition, many have closely followed our project, read all the updates, talked to us in the comments, and so on. Many of our backers encouraged us to run a second Kickstarter campaign, because they wanted an animal encyclopedia and an expansion with dinosaurs. And that’s why we are now back on Kickstarter. Both products, the expansion and the encyclopedia, were created during hundreds of hours of work in the last months. The expansion has been improved in countless test games and is now exactly as we imagined it to be. With the rise of humankind and the inclusion of dinosaur/prehistoric species, Darwin’s Choice is complete. That’s why this is the final Kickstarter campaign of Darwin’s Choice. With this campaign we will close this chapter and start focusing on new exciting projects (more games ?).
Marc, Samuel and Elio have been friends for ages, so they have stopped counting the years. They know and appreciate each other very well. The different skills of the team members complement each other perfectly. Marc has a Master’s degree in Business Administration (University of Zurich) with an avocation for design, drawing and art. Samuel has a Master’s degree in Microbiology and Immunology (ETH Zurich) and is a big fan of everything that is a bit geeky. Last but not least, Elio is the technical genius in the team, giving 3D printer courses and currently studying toward a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (ETH Zurich). The newest member of the team is Darwin, a 185cm high, 150kg heavy Pirillaphant, which follows the three members to each convention. Children love Darwin and Darwin likes children too (luckily, we feed him well before every convention ?).
Beyond their friendship, the three are also connected by their love for nature and natural science. Darwin’s Choice, the expansion and the encyclopedia are a dream come true, which the three want to bring to the tables around the world. The entire team has invested countless hours and a considerable amount of capital – because these products should meet the highest standards and, above all, provide something for everyone to enjoy!
Want to get in touch with us? No problem; write us an email to info@treecer.com or a comment in the comments section. We look forward to your feedback or questions and will respond quickly and with great pleasure.
Without these fantastic people, none of this would have been possible. Our deepest thanks to all of you.
“Darwin’s Choice – Before and After” and “Darwin’s Choice – Encyclopedia” have been tested, improved and optimized by us over months. Both products we present here are final and work without restrictions. All assets (artworks, icons, texts…) included in the base form of both products (without Stretch Goals) are ready for production.
Darwin’s Choice was our first Kickstarter campaign and we can truly say, that it was a positive experience for both sides (creators and backers). The delivery of Darwin’s Choice was scheduled for March 2019 and started one month late in April 2019. By the end of July, 99.9% of all backers had received their rewards even in peripheral regions such as New Zealand and Chile. During the time after the Kickstarter campaign we learned a lot and also saw where we can improve. We now know exactly where the risks of delays lie, how to prevent them and how we can deliver our products even more quickly/secure to peripheral regions. This time we are even better prepared than before our first Kickstarter campaign thus we have gained valuable firsthand experience in developing a game from concept to prototype, through production, to its final delivery at the backer’s mailbox.
Nevertheless, there are always unforeseen circumstances that can affect the process during the production/shipment of a game. Delay by third parties, shortage of materials, strikes and natural disasters can never be fully excluded. You can rest assured, however, that our team will do everything to reduce the influence of unfavorable circumstances to an absolute minimum. In addition, we promise to provide regular and transparent information regarding the current status via weekly updates and social media, so that you will always have a clear overview of the overall situation. Additionally, you can always contact us via comment function, KS personal message or with a mail to info@treecer.com directly. As mentioned before, we will take each of your problems seriously and try to find a quick and efficient solution.
“Darwin’s Choice – Expansion and Encyclopedia” is only our second Kickstarter campaign, but as it is clearly visible from the campaign page, we really have become quite familiar with the topic and have done our homework. We know what to expect and where possible risks lie. Worldwide, the Swiss are considered punctual, organized and reliable, and we want to and will fulfill this cliché. We would be happy if you support our project and in return, we will deliver a functioning, high-quality product on time.