Evolution FAQ
213 questions players ask · Updated Nov 13, 2026 · Full rulebook
GeneralExpansion
- Is the Evolution Small Box Edition a different rules set, and does it work with the expansions?
- Can you play base Evolution using the Evolution: Climate stand-alone box?
- Is there a limit on how many species a player can have?
- Can Evolution: Flight be combined with Evolution: Climate in one game?
- Do I need the 2nd edition rulebook to play with 1st edition trait cards?
- Do the first printing and later printings of Evolution play differently?
- Can players trade trait cards or make binding deals during a game?
- Are there official rules for playing with all promos, Climate and Flight together?
- Is the Bold card from the app version a physical card?
Components and Set-UpExpansion
- Are the food bags required, and must players keep their food totals hidden?
- What should you do when the food tokens run out during a game?
- Do the plant and meat sides of the food tokens matter during play?
- How many trait cards are removed at setup for each player count?
- How many copies of each trait card are in the deck?
- How do you add promo cards to the base deck without changing its size?
- Are Promo Pack II cards compatible with Evolution: Climate?
- How many traits are added to the Climate setup when using Rapid Mutation?
- How many cards are set aside at setup for Evolution: Flight, and do the base rules apply where Flight is silent?
Playing the GameExpansion
- Can you keep unplayed trait cards in your hand between turns, and is there a hand limit?
- Can a Carnivore attack another Carnivore?
- Can a Carnivore attack another species you control, and must it do so when nothing else is available?
- Can a Carnivore attack and eat its own species?
- Can a Carnivore attack several species, or the same species more than once, in a round?
- In the Feeding phase, does each player take one feeding action per turn, or feed one species fully first?
- How much food does one feeding action take?
- Can you pass during the Feeding phase, and can a species that becomes able to eat later still feed?
- If a Carnivore eats a herbivore, does the herbivore get to feed first, and is its food kept?
- Does body size or population decide whether a species is hungry, and how much food does it need?
- Does a new species need a trait card, and does a species with no traits still feed?
- Can a species eat more food than its Population?
- What happens to meat or food a Carnivore cannot store?
- How much meat does a Carnivore get from a successful attack?
- When Cooperation passes food along, which source does the neighbour take it from, and does it work with meat?
- If a Cooperation species is already full, does its Cooperation still pass food to the species on its right?
- If a Foraging species with Cooperation takes the last food, does the species on its right get any?
- Can Cooperation trigger twice when a Carnivore attacks and then scavenges?
- After a Carnivore attack, in what order do population loss, food, Scavenger and Cooperation resolve?
- If a Carnivore's only target has Horns, must it attack, and can the Carnivore go extinct?
- Do Carnivores feed from the Watering Hole or the Food Bank, and what is the difference between meat and plant food?
- Can a Carnivore take plant food from Long Neck, Cooperation or Foraging?
- What does take food mean, and does food from an attack, Long Neck or Cooperation count?
- Can Population or Body Size go above 6 on a species board?
- Can a species' effective body size go above six when it attacks or defends?
- Must a Carnivore's body size be greater than its prey's to attack?
- Can a species voluntarily reduce its Body Size or Population?
- Can you discard a trait already on a species to raise its Population or Body Size, or to create a new species?
- Can you discard a trait from your species without replacing it, and where does it go?
- Can you replace a trait with an identical copy, such as another Carnivore?
- Can you start a Carnivore with fewer than three cards?
- How many trait cards can a species carry, and can you play several in one turn?
- Can a species' Population or Body Size be increased more than once in a turn?
- Can you raise a newly created species, or add traits to it, in the same round?
- How many cards do you draw each round when you already hold cards?
- When are face-down trait cards locked in, and can you swap one after the other players have acted?
- In Phase 3, can a player pass and wait to play trait cards later in the round?
- Is the discard pile face-up, and is it public information?
- Should the food cards played to the Watering Hole be shuffled together so nobody knows who played each one?
- Is the number of cards in a player's hand public knowledge?
- Can a species switch between Carnivore and non-Carnivore as many times as you want?
- How does the Last Stand event card affect an attack: does the Carnivore still feed, and does Scavenger trigger?
- Does the start player marker move each round, and in which direction?
- What is a round, as opposed to a phase?
- In Evolution: Flight, in what order do effects triggered around the food reveal resolve?
- Does Fertile still trigger after an earlier player's Good Eyesight removed the last food?
- Can a face-down trait such as Nesting take effect before it is revealed?
- Can Dive-Bomb feed a flying species before the normal Feeding phase?
- Can a Carnivore take food from the Cliff?
- If a flying species cannot feed its full Body Size and Population, which track is filled first, and does it die?
- Are plant species boards separate food sources for Foraging and Cooperation extra food?
- Can a species choose not to eat when food is available?
- If the Watering Hole is empty, does feeding continue for a non-Carnivore with Intelligence?
- Does player order matter for traits that act before food is revealed, such as Long Neck?
ExtinctionExpansion
- How many trait cards do you draw when a species goes extinct, and who draws them?
- When do the replacement trait cards arrive after a species goes extinct?
- What happens when all of your species go extinct?
- When a Carnivore kills a species, whose Food Token bag gets the food that was on it?
- When a species between two others goes extinct, do its neighbours close the gap, and can a new species go in the gap?
- Does a species go extinct if it has no food at the end of the round?
- Can a Scavenger species that is attacked and goes extinct from that attack still get food?
- Does Nesting (Flight expansion) affect whether a species goes extinct?
End of Game Scoring
- When does the last round happen, and does the first extinction end the game?
- Does food a species has eaten still score if the species is later attacked, reduced or dies?
- Does food left on Fat Tissue score at game end, or is it discarded when the trait is swapped out or the species dies?
- Why do surviving trait cards count as points at the end of the game?
2-Player Rules
Trait Cards
- Is filling the Fat Tissue card mandatory whenever a species could eat?
- Can a species keep eating to fill its Fat Tissue after its Population is full, even while other species are still hungry?
- Can a Carnivore with Fat Tissue keep attacking after it is full so the meat goes onto the card?
- Where does food for Fat Tissue come from, and is it gained automatically?
- When is food stored on Fat Tissue moved onto the species board, and must you move it each round?
- When does Fat Tissue trigger relative to Fertile, Long Neck and a Population increase?
- Does moving food from Fat Tissue onto the species board trigger Cooperation, Foraging or other traits that fire when a species takes food?
- Can a Carnivore eat food that is stored on its Fat Tissue card?
- Can a Carnivore take plant food, through Cooperation or the Watering Hole, to store on its Fat Tissue?
- Is food left on Fat Tissue scored, and when?
- If you swap out or replace Fat Tissue, do you lose the food stored on it?
- Can a species put food on Fat Tissue before its population is fully fed?
- How much food can Fat Tissue hold, and does the capacity depend on Body Size or Population?
- If a species loses Population, does its excess food go onto Fat Tissue or into the bag?
- Can a non-Carnivore use Intelligence before the first player feeds?
- Can a non-Carnivore's Intelligence be used during another player's feeding turn, or in response to a Carnivore's attack?
- Can a non-Carnivore discard several cards for Intelligence in one turn, and what does each give?
- Can an Intelligence species take more plant food than it needs and discard the excess?
- Does using Intelligence replace your feeding action, end your turn, or count as feeding?
- Can you use a non-Carnivore's Intelligence on a species other than the one you feed this turn?
- Can Intelligence be used more than once in a turn or round, to feed the same species repeatedly?
- Does a Carnivore's Intelligence cover one attack only, or the whole turn or round?
- Does one Intelligence discard negate every copy of a trait, such as two Warning Calls on both neighbours?
- Can Intelligence negate Scavenger, Cooperation, Fat Tissue, the Carnivore trait, Body Size or another Intelligence?
- Which defensive traits can a Carnivore's Intelligence negate?
- Is using Intelligence mandatory when a hungry species could only eat by discarding a card?
- Does Intelligence still work if the Carnivore trait is removed from the species?
- How much food does Intelligence give when the species also has Foraging, and does Cooperation trigger on each use?
- Can food gained through Intelligence or Foraging be shared with or split among other species?
- Does Foraging's extra Plant Food count as a separate take that triggers Cooperation again?
- Does Cooperation trigger Foraging on the species to its right?
- Does Foraging add its extra Plant Food when the species takes plant food from the Food Bank, Cooperation or Long Neck?
- How do Foraging and Cooperation work together when one species has both traits?
- Can a Carnivore benefit from Foraging or Long Neck?
- Can Foraging's extra food be placed on Fat Tissue, and do other traits apply to food added to the card?
- Does Long Neck take food from the Watering Hole or the Food Bank, and where does that food go?
- Does Long Neck feed a Timid species while non-Timid species are still hungry?
- Do Cooperation, Warning Call or Symbiosis affect a neighbouring player's species?
- What food does Cooperation pass to the species on its right?
- Does Cooperation affect every species to the right, or only the adjacent one, and does it chain?
- Must Cooperation trigger, and what happens when the neighbour is already full or the Watering Hole is empty?
- Does Scavenger trigger when any player's Carnivore feeds, including your own Carnivore and bystanders', and when the Scavenger species is itself attacked?
- Does Scavenger still trigger when a Carnivore's attack gives it no food, such as against a species with Horns?
- Does a species that is already full still take Scavenger food, and can you decline it?
- Can a Carnivore have Scavenger, and can a non-Carnivore Scavenger take food from the Watering Hole?
- Does Scavenger give a Carnivore an extra food with each successful attack?
- When Scavenger and Cooperation chain together after a carnivore attack, does each scavenge trigger Cooperation, and does the species on the right get meat too?
- When does Fertile trigger, and can a Carnivore have it?
- If two traits trigger at the same time, who decides the order?
- Can a Pest card trigger when its species is only just fully fed, even with food left on Fat Tissue?
- When Unstable DNA gives you a new species, must you take it, and can you play traits on it that round?
- Do trait cards with a top-corner icon, such as Long Neck or Fat Tissue, act only on the turn they are flipped, or every round?
- Does Cybernetic Limbs reduce the food a Carnivore takes from a species carrying it?
- How much Body Size does Hard Shell add when a Carnivore decides whether it can attack?
- Does Hard Shell add Body Size to a Carnivore when it attacks, or give the attacker extra food?
- Does Hard Shell on a Symbiosis species, or on its protector, count when deciding whether Symbiosis protects it?
- Can a Carnivore attack a Hard Shell species of Body Size 6 without Intelligence or Pack Hunting?
- How does Pack Hunting change whether a Carnivore can attack another species?
- Does Pack Hunting or Ambush make a species a Carnivore, or let a non-Carnivore eat meat?
- Does Defensive Herding require the Carnivore to be larger in Population as well as Body Size, and are the two summed?
- Does Horns make the attacking Carnivore lose Population before it takes food?
- Can a Carnivore attack a Horns species when the Horns loss would make the Carnivore go extinct, and does the prey still lose Population?
- Can a Carnivore attack a Burrowing species that has food equal to its Population, even while it is still eating into Fat Tissue?
- Can a Carnivore with Burrowing cancel a prey species' Burrowing defence?
- Can a Carnivore use Climbing against a prey that has Climbing?
- What does Ambush let a Carnivore do, and can it negate other protective traits?
- Which species does Warning Call protect, and can two Warning Calls protect each other?
- Does a Warning Call on the attacking Carnivore's own tableau still protect the species it attacks?
- Can Intelligence negate a Warning Call, including one on a neighbouring species?
- Can a Carnivore attack a Symbiosis species while the larger species protecting it is still on the table?
- Does a Symbiosis species stay protected when the attacking Carnivore is larger than its protector?
- What do the border colours on trait cards mean, and must a species' diet match them?
- Do event cards count against the three-trait limit on a species?
- When you play a trait on a species that already has three traits, when is the existing trait discarded?
- Can you discard a trait already on a species to gain Population, Body Size or a new species?
- How many trait cards can one species have in a two-player game?
- Can you discard the Carnivore trait, and do traits that do not fit a species' diet still score?
Evolution: FlightExpansion
- Can a flying species have the Carnivore trait, and does the double-sided Flight card change anything?
- When does the Nesting card give its Meat food: every turn, or only when Population is gained?
- Can a non-carnivore avian species take 2 Meat food with Nesting?
- Is every species an omnivore unless it has the Carnivore trait?
- How much food does the Cliff generate each round in Flight?
- Does Brood Parasite work if my only other Avian species also has Brood Parasite?
- Does Brood Parasite do anything if I have no other Avian species?
- Does Flight count toward the two-trait limit in a 2-player game?
- Can Intelligence negate the Flight trait?
- Do the 2-player setup and trait-limit adjustments still apply when adding the Flight cards?
- What happens to food a species gains from Nesting that it cannot eat?
- Can an Avian species with upkeep take more food than its Population?
- When an Avian species goes Extinct, how many Trait Cards do you draw?
- In Evolution: Flight, does dealing from the 40 set-aside cards end the game?
- If an avian species cannot feed its Body Size, does it go extinct?
- If you have no species left, does the free replacement creature come with Flight?
- When can you play Event cards in Evolution: Flight?
- How does Hibernation work when a flying species with Body Size 2 is one food short during the Feeding Phase?
- How do you play Climate and Flight together?
- Can an Avian species take food from both the Cliff and the Watering Hole in one Feeding Phase?
- Can you discard an Event card to pay for body size, population or a new species?
- Does the Flight trait make a species a carnivore?
- How many copies of each trait card are in the Flight expansion?
- Does Flight always come with an avian species board?
- Where does the upkeep food of a flying species go when it is eaten?
- Can an avian carnivore get its body-size upkeep from the Watering Hole or the Cliff?
- Does Foraging add food to Dive-Bomb's food from the Watering Hole?
- Does Nesting let an avian species increase Body Size without discarding a card?
Evolution: Promo Pack IIExpansion
Evolution: Promo Pack IIIExpansion
- Does a Carnivore that defends your Plant Species still feed normally on its own turn?
- Can you discard a card to increase a Plant Species' population?
- Where does a Plant Species population marker start, and can its population drop to zero?
- Can uneaten food on a Plant Species board score many points in the first round?
- Can a player have more than one Plant Species board?
- How do you use the Promo Pack III plant micro-expansion cards in a game?
- Is Evolution: Promo Pack III compatible with the Flight expansion?
- In what order do Foraging, Trample and Cooperation resolve when the Watering Hole has little food?
- In the Darwinian Selection scenario, what happens when a revealed trait duplicates one already on a species?
- Can Mimicry copy Claws onto a Carnivore that already has Claws, to give it a second copy?
- Do all of a player's Insectivore species trigger on the same feeding turn, and can the player still feed afterward?
- Can Intelligence be used repeatedly in one feeding turn to take Food Bank plant food, and does that count as feeding the species?
- Can an Insectivore also be a Carnivore?
- Does Trample trigger on a neighbour when a Cooperation partner takes food from the Watering Hole?
- Can Coprophagia let a species take food from its own food bag, and what does that do?
- Does Insectivore trigger once per round or at each feeding turn?
- Can a Timid species feed from the Watering Hole while another species is still unfed?
- Can food sit on a plant board when its population is increased?