Dominant Species: Marine

Dominant Species: Marine continues to be a game I like very much. The first game in this account was deeply spiteful: everyone was trying to bury everyone else with kid gloves, as though whoever started the bloodshed first would have to apologise for it. Even so, the tension never dropped for a moment, and the game developed quite differently from previous plays.

The interaction is exactly where I want it in a game like this: players hesitate, count their moves, and look for a way to apply pressure without immediately becoming the obvious target. That fragile balance cannot last forever, of course; eventually conflict arrives, but until then the table is full of restrained threats and careful manoeuvres.

Evolution cards provide the unpredictable side of the game. In the first session, their excess crowned a winner early, which can leave a slight taste of arbitrariness. In the later game, though, they fell into place beautifully and the randomness worked in favour of drama: the game was decided on fine margins in the final plays rather than fizzling out early.

Compared with its “father,” I find it noticeably improved and more streamlined, with more fluid gameplay and a shorter running time. It may still be long, so it is not exactly the group’s light little break, but it is clearly more approachable for more casual players too. For me, it is a very worthy successor to the original.

Updated session

The newer game not only failed to change my positive opinion; it strengthened it. Where the previous one had a somewhat premature winner because of the cards, this one was epic and close right through the final plays. The group wrapped up the gathering before the summer break, with Marine confirming that its randomness can, on a good day, serve the tension rather than cancel it out.