Dominant Species

Setting up Dominant Species involves preparing the board and components for two to six players. First, place the central cluster of six terrain tiles, with tundra surrounding an ocean. Players randomly select an animal class (Mammals, Reptiles, Birds, Amphibians, Arachnids, or Insects) and receive a matching player board, a set of species cubes, and action pawns determined by the player count (calculated as nine minus the number of players). Element markers (meat, sun, seed, water, krill, and grass) are placed into a bag, and starting element pools are drawn and placed onto the board and action display. The 26 dominance cards are shuffled, with the Ice Age card placed at the bottom, and the top five cards are displayed face-up. Finally, each player places starting species cubes on matching element spaces on the board.

The goal of Dominant Species is to lead your animal class to evolutionary supremacy over pre-historic landscapes. Players compete to earn the most victory points by establishing dominance in various habitats, surviving glaciations, and adapting to shifting environmental conditions across a harsh, unforgiving ecosystem.

A round consists of three phases. First, the Planning Phase involves players sequentially placing their action pawns onto available spaces on the action display board, determining turn order through the initiative track. Second, during the Execution Phase, actions are resolved in strict top-to-bottom order from the display. These actions allow players to adapt traits, migrate, increase species abundance, initiate glaciations, or trigger dominance scoring. Finally, the Cleanup Phase resets the board for the next round, drawing new dominance cards and clearing executed pawns.

Scoring occurs primarily when a Dominance action is triggered on a specific terrain tile. Players with species present on that tile score victory points based on their relative strength, modified by dominance values and element multipliers. A massive final scoring phase happens at the end of the game, factoring in remaining board presence and surviving species.

The game concludes immediately after the Ice Age card is drawn and resolved from the dominance deck. Once triggered, a final comprehensive scoring phase evaluates all remaining board states and achievements, crowning the player with the highest total victory points as the winner.