Primordial Soup (board game)

German Games Award 1998: 2nd place

Primordial Soup by Doris Matthäus and Frank Nestel is a board game that mimics the evolution of prehistoric life. Primordial Soup in 1998 placed at the second position in the German game prize.

Each player represents a tribe 1-7 amoebae, aimlessly lost in the sea, called primordial soup, bobbing around, take in nutrients and excrete feces. Each round consists of several phases, which are played consecutively.

As in real life amoeba eat only what give other amoebae, and not their own waste. So that they can survive, they must continue to move that goes through drifting, which is dependent on the current flow, or fidgeting, which is the cube luck. Through evolution, a amoeba strain can purchase additional more or less useful properties. So there is speed, frugality, durability, special propagation modes or even intelligence. Only through meaningful combinations can succeed the player to leave his amoebas survive, and were nearly the most developed amoebic strain. After about two hours of play, the player who is on the development scale first in the target area at the front wins.

For the game was released in 1998 the extension " primordial soup - Fresh seasoned ", which contains a set of genetic maps. This extension also makes it possible to play the game with up to six instead of only a maximum of four players.

Under the title "Primordial Soup" has been around since 2004, a realization of the game in English.