Oceans (KS Deluxe Edition)

Three years in the making, Oceans is the next stand-alone game in the award-winning Evolution series. Enter a vast, underwater cosmos: a mysterious interconnected world of sharp teeth, glowing eyes, and black ink, where your survival depends on your ability to adapt to the unknown.

The foundation of the oceanic food chain are billions of one-celled organisms that capture the sun's energy through photosynthesis. Every other oceanic species is a predator, each bigger than the next, all the way up to the dreaded apex predator. And even bigger than apex predators are enormous filter feeders that gently swim through the ocean scooping up everything in their path with their baleen.

Gameplay
Oceans is a continuation of NorthStar's quest to make heavy hobby games that are easy to teach. Game designers Nick Bentley and Dominic Crapuchettes want to give an immersive experience without a rules explanation that takes 30+ minutes.

The foundation of Oceans is a simple turn structure and a deck of 12 traits, making it easy to learn all of the cards and wade effortlessly into the first game. The 12 traits were chosen because of the rich thematic interconnections, providing a tapestry of synergistic card play. Additionally, there are 2 randomly chosen scenario cards that activate (and sometimes deactivate) at various points during the game. The scenario cards impact the basic tenets of gameplay, encouraging people to vary their play style and strategy each game.

This foundation loosely mimics a scientific oceanic ecosystem, similar to what you've come to expect from games in the Evolution series. This core is fully playable on its own, but there's more if you're willing to dive a bit deeper...

Oceans also includes something which will break the seams of the scientific reality you've come to accept: The Deep. The Deep is a deck of 75 unique power cards that require an additional cost to play. These power cards range from things you might discover in nature to the fantastical Kraken or Leviathan.

Oceans is an engine builder where the world of science is disrupted at the seams by scientific phenomena too outlandish to be believed. Players must adapt to the changing environment with an interconnected ecosystem that can thrive in the face of the inevitable march of time, and the natural struggle of predators seeking to survive.

The Evolution Series
Oceans is a stand-alone game in the Evolution series, but it's a vast departure from other games in the series. The turn structure has been simplified, the game play is much more forgiving, and the web of interconnections has increased dramatically. Whereas Evolution has the feeling of a traditional back-and-forth battle game like Magic: The Gathering, Oceans has the feel of an interactive engine builder where everything is interconnected, and where your engine must continually adapt to a changing environment.

DELXUE EDITION
This Kickstarter Deluxe Edition improves on the Standard Edition in the following ways:

• 5-6 Player Expansion containing 40 additional fish, 2 extra player screens, 2 extra bonus score tokens, and 10 extra species board
• 90 unique DEEP cards as stertch goal
• Includes 240 deluxe translucent acrylic fish tokens in addition to the cardboard fish of the standard edition, so you can decide how you want to play. The acrylic fish are more durable, easier to handle, and they refract light beautifully. Our goal is to make them as delicious-looking and as tactile as possible. We'll have done our job if your first instinct is to eat them. 
• Includes custom-printed, premium food bags for up to 6 players for storing your points, instead of cardboard player screens. They feel super-silky, they have drawstrings, and they help keep your playing area neat and compact. 
• Includes 220 custom Oceans premium matte card sleeves, for sleeving both the core trait cards and The Deep trait cards, plus spares.