I have been waiting for this for quite a while, but man did i have some sticker shock this morning when i saw the Big Box price. I'm not 100% sure i can justify $109 for a box of cards and some cardboard tokens. I would definitely do the $109 if that was the deluxe price. Conflicted and waiting before i back. Thanks for the review!
yeah, my immediate reaction to "this is the best game in the series with all the modules" I knew it should have followed with "that cost as many games as everything that came before". Then I went and looked and I wasn't surprised. Still looks like Ocean's is the best one for me though. If I want all modules this is like €160, yeah no thanks. But I feel so valued they subsidized shipping cost /s
Nature costs $40, Jurassic costs $30, Flight costs $20, Natural Disasters cost $20, Arctic Tundra costs $20, and the Amazon Rainforest costs $20. Buying everything individually would cost $150. The Big Box includes all of the above + 1 promo card for every module (6 promo packs) + the Elephant Graveyard mini-module + 10 Alternate Art Predator cards. It gives you 24 different combinations to explore for $109. I think it's a pretty good deal.
@@crapuchettes Adding all the modules is like at least buying 3 other evolution games price wise. So it would be weird if there wasn't "more" than in the other games since it's at least triple the price. Also, just because they are telling you it's a good deal doesn't mean it is..
@@crapuchettes I assume it is your game based on the name of the account, but saying hey it costs even more separated is hardly an argument to say it is a good value for money. They could each cost 75 and it would not change that it is a 109 pre shipping card game. A lot of variety sure, but it remains a card game that has price comparison points with your previous line. If you wanted to play a full experience of climate it was 55 dollars to back. If you want a full game of this it is either 80 or 90 dollars, or 109 for everything, no in between.
That one is a clear yes for me - I don't have their previous games, I LOVE the theme, seems fun - your review helped to confirm my decision, thank you very much Alex, I appreciate your work 🙂 Also - that poor ship! 🥺
I like Evolution but not as much as my kids do, but very much looking forward to this one and backing it. Evolution felt a little too "brittle" to me where one bad turn could wipe you out, this looks more forgiving especially depending which modules you play.
You nailed one of the most important changes. A mistake in Nature does not snowball. Anything you might have lost in 1 round is returned in the next. The next important change is that it's a modular game system which allows you to combine modules in interesting way, so there is a ton more content to explore. There are also a lot of little changes that make the game play easier to teach.
Thanks for this great review Alex 👍 Nature is based on the Evolution system but goes another direction in many ways... I was an enthusiast Evolution player, especially in the app... I'm already trying out the Nature beta app too... My question to you: do you think the game 'Evolution' still has a future near 'Nature'? Moreso, will you still play Evolution in the future, or is it a 'lost' game in the shadow of Nature? Just curious, I'll give it a try at least, but it'll feel quite strange I think 😌
Seems like little reason to get this (or replace) if i already have Evo Climate and Oceans, especially considering the price point. Oceans for the most streamlined experience, and Climate for cutthroat 6 player.
The digital beta (iOS, Android, and Steam) will be available to play for free during the entire campaign. I urge you to download it and see if the price is justified. You can play against friends or against an AI.
I like the game, but I got the first Evolution, then they released Climate, so had to get the update pack. Then they released Oceans, then New World and then one with alien animals I think. Now this modular game which sounds an amazing way to optimize all previous games. But honestly at this point I just feel I wasted money on the first games. Probably in 1-2 years there will be a "new" version so I'm scared to buy this one just to be outdated soon. (Also it is quite expensive).
We did not release New World or the Alien World one. That is another company. They have been adding a lot of confusion to the marketplace, and instead of pursuing a path of litigation, we're letting it drop and moving on with bigger and better ideas. I understand that people who purchased everything from Evolution are frustrated that the new Nature system is incompatible with Evolution. There was no way to improve the game without redesigning it from the ground up. Nature fulfills the vision that I initially have over 12 years ago. It just took a long time to get there.
@@crapuchettesThat is crazy.. I had no idea they weren't from the same series. I'd personally do everything in my power to get them removed from market. They're even ripping off your name. It is absolutely destroying your brand. I am in the same boat as the OP because of the same reasons they described. Just planning to stick with Climate and Oceans for now. Unfortunately I just feel too burned out from the constant content in this series. But best of luck that they didn't hurt your brand too badly.
@@TheAmazingYeti It's a bit more complicated than that. Evolution was built upon a game they released called Evolution: Origin of the Species. In any case, I'm happy to move the brand forward without wasting time on things that aren't adding to the game system I love.
When I looked at the Kickstarter page the base game comes with no modules. You have to buy the 'big box ' for over $100 compared to the base game costing $40. Has something changed because you and others are all saying game comes with 5 modules.
I think the game looks interesting, but the value doesn’t seem to be there. Those MSRPs are definitely bloated beyond reason to give an illusion of a deal. ($38 for the Jurassic expansion with 40 cards, punch board dials and a die? $37 for a 34-card promo pack?!?) $123 shipped to the U.S. seems like an insane amount to pay for this game.
I like my pimped out, promo filled, complete version of evolution/climate/flight. This company is the Disney of the board game space, just all remakes. Definitely a hard pass.
The campaign is a bunch of red flags. Extremely expensive for what the box contains. MSRP is literal scalping prices. The DIGITAL version is $70 FUCKING dollars. FOMO through the roof. There is 8 seperate instances of cut content for kickstarter exclusive promos. And the kickstarter version you get the 3 of the expansions nearly 2 YEARS "early". Bad bad bad. This is everything kickstarter shouldn't be. I won't be buying it retail either.
I'm sorry you feel that way. We tried to remove all of the FOMO from the campaign. Everything will be available through retail and/or our website after the campaign. Just yesterday we removed the "Back in the first 48 hours" promo and added it to every pledge level for free. I did it against the (strongly worded) advice of our marketing agency because I don't think FOMO tactics are ethical. None of the content was removed to create promos. I don't work that way, and it's somewhat offensive that you make those allegations. There might be companies that do that, but NorthStar is not one of them. Our games are playtested for 5+ years BEFORE we craft the marketing pitch and hire artists. I know other KS companies do it differently, but the thought of pilfering from a game that I've been working on for 5 years in order to add promos to the KS campaign is onerous to me. It would throw off the balance that I've been meticulously crafting. Each module has been tested thousands of times. The TTS link, Print & Play files, and Digital App have been available on the NorthStar discord for over a year. We have many hundreds of games worth of data from the community and nearly a hundred thousand games worth of data from the Digital game. Nature was ready to launch last year, but we decided to take another year to iron out any wrinkles that might crop up because of the complicated modular system. That's why Alex is surprised that our pre-production prototype lookss so good. This is not a half-baked idea! Our goal is to sell Nature because it's a fantastic design, not because of FOMO. The digital beta (iOS, Android, and Steam) will be available to play for free during the entire campaign. So I urge you to download it and see what you think.
I have never removed content from a game to make a promo card. It's an offensive idea to me. I've been working on a delicate balance for Nature and each of the module for the past 5 years. The thought of ruining my creation to make a silly promo card for a marketing campaign is onerous to me. NorthStar has never done that, and never will. The promo cards are blantantly marked as PROMO to ensure that people DON'T think it's part of the game. I've playtested each module over a hundred times. Over a hundred people have playtested each module 1 - 15 times. That's the dedication we have to perfecting the balance. The promo cards are a fun diversion for people who want new content.
@@crapuchettes : I do not think anything bad about having promo cards myself. Nor do I think that the campaign is full of red flags. But the modules are quite expensive for the components they add to the game. And that leads to an all-in that has the price-tag of quite a big game, which it isn't. I'd love to play Nature, but I'll probably just skip it :(
I have been waiting for this for quite a while, but man did i have some sticker shock this morning when i saw the Big Box price. I'm not 100% sure i can justify $109 for a box of cards and some cardboard tokens. I would definitely do the $109 if that was the deluxe price. Conflicted and waiting before i back. Thanks for the review!
yeah, my immediate reaction to "this is the best game in the series with all the modules" I knew it should have followed with "that cost as many games as everything that came before". Then I went and looked and I wasn't surprised. Still looks like Ocean's is the best one for me though. If I want all modules this is like €160, yeah no thanks. But I feel so valued they subsidized shipping cost /s
Nature costs $40, Jurassic costs $30, Flight costs $20, Natural Disasters cost $20, Arctic Tundra costs $20, and the Amazon Rainforest costs $20. Buying everything individually would cost $150.
The Big Box includes all of the above + 1 promo card for every module (6 promo packs) + the Elephant Graveyard mini-module + 10 Alternate Art Predator cards. It gives you 24 different combinations to explore for $109. I think it's a pretty good deal.
@@crapuchettes Adding all the modules is like at least buying 3 other evolution games price wise. So it would be weird if there wasn't "more" than in the other games since it's at least triple the price. Also, just because they are telling you it's a good deal doesn't mean it is..
@@crapuchettes I assume it is your game based on the name of the account, but saying hey it costs even more separated is hardly an argument to say it is a good value for money. They could each cost 75 and it would not change that it is a 109 pre shipping card game. A lot of variety sure, but it remains a card game that has price comparison points with your previous line. If you wanted to play a full experience of climate it was 55 dollars to back. If you want a full game of this it is either 80 or 90 dollars, or 109 for everything, no in between.
That one is a clear yes for me - I don't have their previous games, I LOVE the theme, seems fun - your review helped to confirm my decision, thank you very much Alex, I appreciate your work 🙂 Also - that poor ship! 🥺
I like Evolution but not as much as my kids do, but very much looking forward to this one and backing it. Evolution felt a little too "brittle" to me where one bad turn could wipe you out, this looks more forgiving especially depending which modules you play.
You nailed one of the most important changes. A mistake in Nature does not snowball. Anything you might have lost in 1 round is returned in the next. The next important change is that it's a modular game system which allows you to combine modules in interesting way, so there is a ton more content to explore.
There are also a lot of little changes that make the game play easier to teach.
Thanks for this great review Alex 👍 Nature is based on the Evolution system but goes another direction in many ways... I was an enthusiast Evolution player, especially in the app... I'm already trying out the Nature beta app too... My question to you: do you think the game 'Evolution' still has a future near 'Nature'? Moreso, will you still play Evolution in the future, or is it a 'lost' game in the shadow of Nature? Just curious, I'll give it a try at least, but it'll feel quite strange I think 😌
Seems like little reason to get this (or replace) if i already have Evo Climate and Oceans, especially considering the price point. Oceans for the most streamlined experience, and Climate for cutthroat 6 player.
The digital beta (iOS, Android, and Steam) will be available to play for free during the entire campaign. I urge you to download it and see if the price is justified. You can play against friends or against an AI.
I like the game, but I got the first Evolution, then they released Climate, so had to get the update pack. Then they released Oceans, then New World and then one with alien animals I think. Now this modular game which sounds an amazing way to optimize all previous games. But honestly at this point I just feel I wasted money on the first games. Probably in 1-2 years there will be a "new" version so I'm scared to buy this one just to be outdated soon. (Also it is quite expensive).
We did not release New World or the Alien World one. That is another company. They have been adding a lot of confusion to the marketplace, and instead of pursuing a path of litigation, we're letting it drop and moving on with bigger and better ideas.
I understand that people who purchased everything from Evolution are frustrated that the new Nature system is incompatible with Evolution. There was no way to improve the game without redesigning it from the ground up. Nature fulfills the vision that I initially have over 12 years ago. It just took a long time to get there.
@@crapuchettesThat is crazy.. I had no idea they weren't from the same series. I'd personally do everything in my power to get them removed from market. They're even ripping off your name. It is absolutely destroying your brand.
I am in the same boat as the OP because of the same reasons they described. Just planning to stick with Climate and Oceans for now. Unfortunately I just feel too burned out from the constant content in this series. But best of luck that they didn't hurt your brand too badly.
@@TheAmazingYeti It's a bit more complicated than that. Evolution was built upon a game they released called Evolution: Origin of the Species. In any case, I'm happy to move the brand forward without wasting time on things that aren't adding to the game system I love.
When I looked at the Kickstarter page the base game comes with no modules. You have to buy the 'big box ' for over $100 compared to the base game costing $40.
Has something changed because you and others are all saying game comes with 5 modules.
I think the game looks interesting, but the value doesn’t seem to be there. Those MSRPs are definitely bloated beyond reason to give an illusion of a deal. ($38 for the Jurassic expansion with 40 cards, punch board dials and a die? $37 for a 34-card promo pack?!?) $123 shipped to the U.S. seems like an insane amount to pay for this game.
I like my pimped out, promo filled, complete version of evolution/climate/flight. This company is the Disney of the board game space, just all remakes. Definitely a hard pass.
The campaign is a bunch of red flags.
Extremely expensive for what the box contains. MSRP is literal scalping prices. The DIGITAL version is $70 FUCKING dollars. FOMO through the roof. There is 8 seperate instances of cut content for kickstarter exclusive promos. And the kickstarter version you get the 3 of the expansions nearly 2 YEARS "early". Bad bad bad. This is everything kickstarter shouldn't be. I won't be buying it retail either.
I'm sorry you feel that way. We tried to remove all of the FOMO from the campaign. Everything will be available through retail and/or our website after the campaign. Just yesterday we removed the "Back in the first 48 hours" promo and added it to every pledge level for free. I did it against the (strongly worded) advice of our marketing agency because I don't think FOMO tactics are ethical.
None of the content was removed to create promos. I don't work that way, and it's somewhat offensive that you make those allegations. There might be companies that do that, but NorthStar is not one of them. Our games are playtested for 5+ years BEFORE we craft the marketing pitch and hire artists. I know other KS companies do it differently, but the thought of pilfering from a game that I've been working on for 5 years in order to add promos to the KS campaign is onerous to me. It would throw off the balance that I've been meticulously crafting.
Each module has been tested thousands of times. The TTS link, Print & Play files, and Digital App have been available on the NorthStar discord for over a year. We have many hundreds of games worth of data from the community and nearly a hundred thousand games worth of data from the Digital game. Nature was ready to launch last year, but we decided to take another year to iron out any wrinkles that might crop up because of the complicated modular system. That's why Alex is surprised that our pre-production prototype lookss so good. This is not a half-baked idea!
Our goal is to sell Nature because it's a fantastic design, not because of FOMO. The digital beta (iOS, Android, and Steam) will be available to play for free during the entire campaign. So I urge you to download it and see what you think.
I have never removed content from a game to make a promo card. It's an offensive idea to me. I've been working on a delicate balance for Nature and each of the module for the past 5 years. The thought of ruining my creation to make a silly promo card for a marketing campaign is onerous to me. NorthStar has never done that, and never will.
The promo cards are blantantly marked as PROMO to ensure that people DON'T think it's part of the game. I've playtested each module over a hundred times. Over a hundred people have playtested each module 1 - 15 times. That's the dedication we have to perfecting the balance.
The promo cards are a fun diversion for people who want new content.
@@crapuchettes : I do not think anything bad about having promo cards myself. Nor do I think that the campaign is full of red flags. But the modules are quite expensive for the components they add to the game. And that leads to an all-in that has the price-tag of quite a big game, which it isn't.
I'd love to play Nature, but I'll probably just skip it :(
@@crapuchettes Ok thats wonderful. The price is way too high. I could buy IV studios games for less.