Genotype
- Claire Woodward
- 9 minutes ago
- 2 min read
It’s the 19th century, you’re a cloistered monk and science is progressing in leaps and bounds. Your fellow brothers of the cloth decide to have a competition to test this new-fangled theory some guy called Mendel is calling genetics. You all till a patch of soil each in the monastery garden and the pea-off begins! In the worker placement, dice drafting game Genotype, designed by John Coveyou, Paul Salomon and Ian Zang and published by Genius Games, you and up to four of your friends can recreate the science experiments which formed the basis of modern day genetics. You must compete to breed specific pea plants by collecting the correct genetic traits determined on your pea plant card. These traits come from parent plants on the main board, which can be influenced to have bigger or smaller flowers, green or yellow leaves, tall or short roots, etc.
Rounds take place over a series of phases, starting with the action phase, where each player takes turns placing their workers at various points on the boards, with actions such as selecting new pea plant objective cards, gaining tool or assistant cards to give you an advantage in the coming rounds, altering parental genes or tending your garden to sow new plants and complete breeding of plants with their trait requirements fulfilled. Once everyone has placed all their workers, the next phase is the dice drafting phase, where dice are rolled to simulate genetic outcomes from the combined parental plants traits. Players then draft dice, trying to match the gene pairs on their pea plants' traits cards in their garden. The final phase is the upgrade phase, where players can spend research points, generated during the action phase, to unlock powerful upgrades such as additional worker slots, a bigger garden or increased dice drafting capacity. The board is then reset and the next round starts. The game plays over five rounds, at the end of which the player whose completed pea plants have gained them the most points wins.
Genotype is a clever way to teach younger audiences the scientific theory of genetics in a simple and fun way. However, the board and theme may be intimidating at first to those without a scientific mind. The combination of worker placement, dice drafting and resource management means there’s a lot to consider and makes you think about short-term gains vs long-term plays. Tho' there are some ways to affect your opponents, the majority of gameplay is isolated to your workers and your garden, meaning there is little direct player interaction. The components themselves are well produced, with custom dice and a busy but beautiful game board, and the varied plant cards, upgraded cards and setups means the game can be played over and over again. Despite the initial complexity, Genotype is a great educational game and will certainly grow on any gamer!
(Review by Claire Woodward)
