In Genotype, we crawl into the skin of geneticists, collecting experimental data on pea plants.
1-5 players
45-90 minutes
Designers: John Coveyou, Paul Salomon & Ian Zang
Artists: Tomasz Bogusz & Amelia Sales
Publisher: Genius Games
https://www.geniusgames.org/
The game is played over the course of five rounds, each consisting of three phases:
1- Players place their action markers on various spaces on the board, gaining new plant cards, tools or first access to the traits, acquiring money, and placing research markers on goals.
2- In the plant breeding phase, players draft dice to collect the traits they need for the plants on their player boards.
3- Finally, players spend money on upgrades they can use on future turns, like assistants, extra action markers and dice slots, or a new plot for an extra pea plant card.
At the end of the game, points are awarded for completed cards, phenotype research markers of players placed on the board, unspent coins and traits on uncompleted pea plants.
Over the last couple of years, the folks over at Genius Games have proven to be a master in converting science into board games, with games like Subatomic and Periodic. With Genotype, they went for a branch of biology that’s lesser known for me, but it sure was a pleasant acquaintance, as this is a beautiful production, with the theme dripping all over it.
The worker placement and dice drafting we’re already familiar with from other games, yet the combination of them feels very fresh in this one. If you’re still looking for a game that offers a solid medium-weight euro experience, I’d definitely recommend this one!
Tabletopping 