DARWIN RULES
Darwin is a survival card game for up to 8 playe
rs.
Players gather, spend, and trade resources in order to survive as long as possible. CARDS
76 Resource cards
52 Event cards
SETUP
Separate the Resource cards into Ration, Med-Kit, Shelter, and Tool card decks. Place these
four decks face-up in the center of the table as the bank. Then shuffle the Event cards
together and place them face-down next to the bank.
To start the game, give each player 4 Ration cards, 1 Med-Kit card, 1 Shelter card, and 1
Tool card. Decide which player will go first by any method everyone can agree on.
GAMEPLAY
Every turn, players must do two things, in order:
1. Discard a Ration card to the bank
2. Flip over the top Event card and follow its instructions.
If a player does not have a Ration card to discard, he will have to attempt to trade (or
beg, or anything else) for one. If a player can’t get a Ration card from another player to
discard, he starves, his turn ends, and he dies (see Death rules below).
Some Event cards affect just the individual player who drew them and others affect
the entire group. There are also several Special Event cards with unique effects that can
apply to either the individual or the group. After following the instructions on the Event card,
place it into a discard pile. Play then passes to the left, with the next player discarding a
Ration card and flipping the next Event card. If the Event deck runs out, reshuffle the discard
pile as the new Event deck.
TRADING
Players may trade any amount of (including zero) Resource cards from their hand for any
other amount of Resource cards from another player at any time.
DEATH
If, at any time, a player is required to discard a Resource card (either as the required Ration
card discard to start the turn or from an Event card) to the bank but can’t, and can’t get one
from another player to discard, that player dies and is out of the game. Deal out the player’s
hand evenly to the surviving players going left from the dead player. Dead players are are not
considered part of the group and cannot receive cards or re-enter the game unless an Event
card specifically mentions dead players.
WINNING THE GAME
The last player still alive at the end of a turn wins the game. It is possible for all of the
remaining players to die at once in the same turn, in which case the environment has beaten
everyone.
ALTERNATE GAMEPLAY OPTIONS
Darwin doesn’t have to be played as an everyone-for-himself game. Players can form
permanent or temporary teams, or even play the game as a cooperative group, sharing
resources and trying to survive for as long as possible.