Darwin's Journey - Tutorial & Playthrough

Here is my Darwin's Journey tutorial where I teach the game as it is being played. Paid sponsorship by ThunderGryph Games.
Kickstarter link - www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
Teaching Timestamps:
Introduction - 0:00
Game overview - 0:33
Action phase & turn order explanation - 3:54
Gain a seal action - 6:22
Crew cards explanation - 7:49
Navigation action - 10:22
Researching a species - 11:28
Unlock action explanation - 13:13
Occupied area penalty explanation. -16:48
Exploration action - 20:06
Delivering a specimen to the museum - 23:59
Achieving objectives - 25:54
Special actions diary explanation - 30:55
Theory of Evolution track explanation. -31:47
Correspondence action - 33:12
Setting up a campsite action. -38:08
Turn order action - 42:52
Researching a museum specimen - 47:30
Gaining objectives - 51:38
Modify turn order phase - 55:27
Rewards phase & correspondence majorities - 56:02
HMS Beagle scoring explanation - 58:17
Cleanup phase - 1:01:34
Crew distinctions explanation - 1:03:05
Endgame scoring - 1:05:45
Theory of Evolution track scoring - 1:06:17
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[@andrewvankuren6178]

I supported this game on Kickstarter, but all the other videos on how to play have been confusing. This is the best instructional video I have seen yet about this game.

[@S.Kapriniotis]

You are one of the few channels, along with Ant Labs and Rodney's videos that I first click the Like button and then the play. Keep it up!

[@JonGetsGames]

Thanks :)

[@jeffhiatt1682]

@@JonGetsGames i do the same. start it, click while the ad plays. then enjoy

[@yossieven]

Ever since Rodney join the BGK his channel is less of how to play and more reviews and promotions....

[@mikloshollo7773]

Me too. :)

[@karolinabaran8005]

I was confused after reading the rule book - thank you, you've made my evening so much easier! ☺️ Going to play now!

[@JonGetsGames]

Lovely to hear, I hope you enjoy playing it :)

[@sventheultimate]

This is one of those games that makes me wish you still did full extended playthroughs. :) Great video as always! I am always amazed how you sprinkle the rules through the whole vid, instead of doing a rules dump at the beginning. I am so hyped for this game that I had to order the Newton board game from Simone Luciani. :)

[@pipos193]

Not affiliated at all, but you can check a full playthrough from the Before you play channel

[@JustbGood2]

Fantastic video and excellent presentation/explanation of what looks to be an exception game. Great job Jon. I have saved this video to watch again once I receive the game that you have definitely sold me on.

[@adamwood9097]

Wow, that was an amazing walkthrough! Really well explained. Strongly considering picking this one up now :)

[@alexandersapundzhiev9199]

Another Italian masterpiece. Havent backed a kickstarter since Kanban but i will go all in on this one.

[@codydavis3100]

Kanban is so good!

[@Daarunia]

Hey Jon! You did an excellent job on this! It was very clear and made a very aesthetically busy looking game very simple to understand. I love your videos!

[@keithleonard7380]

I really appreciate the detail you use in your tutorials. Thanks!

[@juanjosemarcos2275]

Wonderful explanation as usual. Thanks very much, Jon.

[@thek-man5829]

Looks fun! Thanks for the playthrough. 👍

[@marcoboschetto4568]

Nice tutorial, thanks! This looks soooo good, I am definitely backing it!

[@vangosbourdouris4584]

I always adore the way you explain the rules of a board game with zoom ins on various spots, etc. It seems that sometimes I don't even have to read the rulebook. Good job. Darwins Journey seems to be a very nice game. I'm a backer and you helped in this.

[@JonGetsGames]

It's always great to read comments like this :)

[@henchman3725]

A very clear and concise explanation of the rules. Thank you. Subscribed.

[@mkitten13]

Very excited for this one, gives me some of that Newton vibe that I love so much :D

[@azariusflashfang5716]

This game certainly appears to be on the much 'heavier' side in terms of a bunch of different mechanics put together but I think it's handled extremely well in this case and thematically integrated which I always love in these games. The subject matter is making me want to go check out the original On the Origins of Species. XD Great work on this video like always Jon, you have some of the best game tutorials on KZbin.

[@saintsalieri]

This game looks absolutely amazing. I never do Kickstarter but I will be backing tomorrow.

[@seanmorgan2257]

Thank you for another great video Jon

[@dragosdominiosp]

Great video as always. Thank you!

[@pldevlin]

Another really great tutorial. Thank you

[@mitchmegaw7201]

Very nice explanation! Even without having the game in front of me, I was able to really comprehend the rules.

[@sweeneytodd473]

Wonderful playthrough! I can only dream of full play, but seeing 1h tutorial, I can only imagine how many hours it already took! I am all ready for tomorrow's big launch! :)

[@JonGetsGames]

FYI I played a 3 player game in 3 hours last week, but we had lots of chatting and discussions along the way so it very likely should have been closer to 2.

[@toddadams1719]

Awesome explanation as always Jon! This is right up my alley with both theme and mechanics, I backed day 1, I’ll have to figure out TTS to mess around with it until it delivers. Speaking of TTS, Jon perhaps you could do a tutorial on how to use that!

[@JonGetsGames]

There are a bunch of good TTS tutorials, though honestly the best way to learn it is to just try it. It's clunky at first but I got the hang of it.

[@cyclemadness]

2 years later I finally got this game. I guess I don’t know anything about production and I suppose a lot is attributed to the pandemic, but my copy is not a lot different from Jon’s copy here. The rules just seem to end and go right into the solo player mode. I’ll have to look again after viewing this. A godsend this video is. Thank you.

[@andrepi1631]

You are the best for learning games ❤ I am German and there is no comparison in my language...two thumbs

[@deanlowdon8381]

Thanks for another really helpful video. Our KS copy arrived this week, and this is a lot more helpful than trying to figure out the rulebook!

[@JonGetsGames]

Good to hear! I filmed this video before I wrote that rulebook, so between the two hopefully you will be good to go for enjoying the game :)

[@deanlowdon8381]

@@JonGetsGames Had no idea you wrote the rulebook, but between the two we seem to have figured out how to play! 🙂

[@zakkoehler6820]

I was gonna sell this,, but now I am super excited to play.

[@highergroundgaming7202]

I could tell by the board and mechanics that it was the same duo design team from Newton (which I just received today in the mail!). Also see Luciani’s similar mechanics from Marco Polo, Grand Austria Hotel, and Lorenzo I’ll Magnifico. All wins for me! 😁

[@Mokkel73]

Thanks so much for investing the time to do this. Your teachings are the only ones that dont feel like an machine gun spewing incoherent thoughts at you. I will consider a Patreon pledge.

[@JonGetsGames]

Thanks for the kind words :)

[@sharingmatters]

Thank you 🎉😊

[@saurontl_]

Thanks!

[@alexanderolferuk8496]

I'm SO glad Luciani didn't use his favorite cruel penalty tracks, like in Lorenzo or Grand Austria Hotel. This game seems warmer and more friendly. Like the idea of constantly upgrading workers.

[@JonGetsGames]

Agreed about the penalty track. I found this one to be much more welcoming. You lose some of the points you would have gained, but you still have a chance to gain something.

[@Atlasfilms08]

Instead he used his Barrage penalty track haha. I will say I think I prefer the unique rewards of something like Grand Austria hotel rather than just straight points like we're seeing here but i agree those penalties are pretty brutal.

[@bazzkrycek7982]

I love JONGETSGAMES :)

[@monkeyunit4533]

8:30 Minor nitpick. During the crew card explanation you start by saying you have them in front of you, but later when you achieve one by having enough seals you say "you reveal the crew card" which is incorrect. Your crew cards are open in front of you the entire game intill you achieve one at which point you flip it over. ( This matter because there is a crew card that lets you copy the abilty of any open crew card on the table)

[@JonGetsGames]

Yeah, I had a brain fart and for some reason thought the cards where hidden (even though I wrote the rulebook that stated they are revealed during setup!). I thought I put enough corrections in, didn't realize I mentioned revealing later on.

[@StevenStJohn-kj9eb]

This game is raining bonuses. I like it.

[@JonGetsGames]

I have played a full 3p game once. I remember in the 5th round I had a turn where I took 13 different actions as a result of placing one worker!

[@StevenStJohn-kj9eb]

@@JonGetsGames wow... Dominionesque.

[@seansteel328]

Appropriate for a game about evolution, I suppose

[@michaelcarst6958]

Looks Great Jon! At 17:34 you say yellow has to pay 2 coins but I assume you mean white has to pay it (since he just put his worker on a diary that already has a worker on it) Don't know if you want to fix in in the subs but I thought I'd mention it :)

[@JonGetsGames]

Ah, oops. I imagine that's probably not a big enough deal to need an onscreen note but thanks for bringing it up.

[@nappynut]

Great explanation and playthrough! Thanks, Jon :-) Quick question though : was there any difficulty, or, could you foresee any issues with the arrow markings on the explore (land or sea) being tough to see if you were not positioned directly in front of the board?

[@JonGetsGames]

I didn't notice any issues, but I haven't played from a different orientation.

[@itsok1823]

Happy new year🎉and thank you for the great video👌 At 14:29 player green doesn't need to pay 2 or 3 money, does he? (Because player blue's worker is already on this diary)

[@Plaksa2004]

If i am not mistaken, you said purple seals can help you to fulfill the objectives and the rules day you can't

[@sharingmatters]

Only for the character. Not HMS Beagle goals

[@fmoros]

wow...seems complex, but I like the theme.

[@mizio66]

Great game and, more than else, one of the best play-through ever. It really gives the sense of the game and makes you really wonder... when will it arrive? At the moment JGG is the top reviewer, IMHO.

[@JonGetsGames]

Thanks for the kind words, I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[@Ulgroth]

10 mins in i already opened a new tab and went to kickstarter to back the game. I hardly find games i want NOW.

[@nrebelo83]

Hi! At 17:34 I believe that you want to say the "white player" and not the yellow one.

[@JonGetsGames]

Good catch, I've added a note to the Klingon subtitles. thanks.

[@batmark1974]

Instant pledge.

[@obiezeoputa7748]

Really good teach. Thank you.

[@yemendel]

How do you decide the player count to use to show off a game? Is it how many strategies to play out? How the player interaction goes? What the board is like?

[@JonGetsGames]

I generally show games at 3p unless there is a good reason to push me to a different player count. Sometimes I'll do 2p if the game has tons of steps so that the video isn't too long. Other times I show games at 4p when I think that'll be a better experience, for instance with New York Zoo I wanted to show the game without bonus breeding. In the case of Darwin's Journey I actually decided to go with 4p for clarity reasons. This is a high quality prototype version of the board, but it is still a prototype. This copy has red ribbons going down the middle of each diary which shows the splitting up of action areas and in the final version these will only be there for 4p games. In 2 and 3p the ribbons will be missing and the entire diary is one action area. This prototype had a small token to place on the ribbon to indicate you should ignore it, but I worried this could get confusing and wanted this video to be as future proof as possible. With that in mind I went with 4p so that the ribbons were a match to the final version.

[@yemendel]

@@JonGetsGames thanks! That's what I was thinking, but it's good to get confirmation and a view into your process.

[@RichardDicksondlyrch68]

Does the bug next to the player order space do anything? It has the graphic around it like the other actions on the board, but you didn't mention anything about it when you took the two coins.

[@JonGetsGames]

That icon is the "turn order" action icon. It just happens to only show up in one place whereas other icons like gaining objectives or delivering could possibly be found elsewhere.

[@jessedana9151]

Hi Jon, I’m excited for my pledge to arrive soon. Will this tutorial still suffice for the game? I know you wrote the rule book and made some changes… thanks in advance.

[@JonGetsGames]

I believe this video is still accurate. I have yet to find something that changed enough to need a note here.

[@jessedana9151]

@@JonGetsGames thanks Jon, the video was instrumental in me backing the Kickstarter so this is great to hear.

[@xumaroo1]

In the rulebook the symbols for distributed correspondence and copy crew card are swapped.

[@JonGetsGames]

Yeah, I spotted that as well. That rulebook is far from finished at this point. We are still working on it :)

[@Guillaumethuru]

Lots of those mechanics are very reminiscent of Newton to me, the tracks and stacking symbols particularly

[@JonGetsGames]

I believe it's the same set of designers for both games. I only played Newton once and didn't enjoy it, though I've loved my one play of Darwin's Journey so I think they do feel different.

[@monkeyunit4533]

I had the same feeling, and then found out it's by the same designers. Having seen more of this now ( and backing it) I do believe this is a more polished version of Newton. It has many similarities, even less obvious ones, like how your workers are getting more powerfull over time is a bit like adding cards and tiles to your tableau in Newton, but in this the actions seem to make more thematic sense.

[@Atlasfilms08]

@@JonGetsGames That's a relief as Luciani is my favorite designer and even I was pretty meh on Newton.

[@anthonvanderneut]

19:33 White paid two coins back to the bank ( 4player game, blue is already there) and one to green (for occupying their lens), so shouldn't they have just one coin left from the four they started with?

[@JonGetsGames]

Huh, I must have changed my mind on the action and forgot to put the money back. Good catch!

[@anthonvanderneut]

@@JonGetsGames No problem, that can happen. Thanks for the confirmation, I am still learning the game, and wasn't sure I missed something in the rules or not.

[@Hakucho64]

Doesn't the lens "owner" get the coin from the bank, not the player placing the worker?

[@Skycroft1000]

Hmm, I'm a big fan of complex, heavy games usually, but this feels too busy. The theme is also... there's the exploration and discovery part, but I don't get the seals and such as anything but abstract rules. I was interested in a game about Darwin's journey, but I don't think I like this all that much.

[@monkeyunit4533]

The seal represent knowledge/ skills of that worker. You can send one of your workers to aquire more of it, so technicaly wour team is learning. The only thing thematic wise which is a bit strange is worker A can do the action, and worker B and C can get the knowledge but you can explain that as well. The worker you send to get the knowledge doesn't go to school themselves, but aquire the book/tools needed for someone to get schooled. And with the improved knowledge ( seals) that worker can perform stronger actions. I agree the board looks busy, but I think it will all "click" once you get going. This seems to make way more sense than Newton which is quite similar.

[@starcolonel3893]

Maybe you should take a look at "On the Origin of Species". The same theme but somewhat lighter.

[@mikeharman4257]

Super confusing that 3 of the player colours are the same as the seal colours.

[@evatar4052]

pleeeeedge!

[@jacobjslee]

You don't state your opinion of the game on tutorials and playthroughs. Does this mean you plan to include that in a future review or first impression video of this game?

[@JonGetsGames]

In general I don't play prototypes like this and therefore don't cover my impressions until much later when I potentially play a final copy. That being said, I have played the more finalized version that's on TTS already and I loved it. I plan to talk about it in an upcoming vlog.

[@jacobjslee]

@@JonGetsGames Cool. Looking forward to seeing that. Based on this runthrough . . . it looks pretty dense.

[@scottlogan8293]

I may be in the minority, but i really miss the full game play thrus.

[@JonGetsGames]

I doubt you are, I imagine most viewers wish I still did them. If I was to film and edit the last 4 rounds of this game it likely would have taken ~12 hours.

[@yannisguerra]

Is this the game you wrote the rules for? Congrats!

[@JonGetsGames]

Yep :)

[@bryanbrammer4353]

@@JonGetsGames Congrats, man!

[@stevenightfall6634]

25:33 Six coins

[@sanderschippers2708]

Are the resource tokens limited?

[@JonGetsGames]

I should know this, but I am not sure. I'd suggest posting on the BGG forums to get an official answer. I suspect they are not limited though.

[@EfrainRiveraJunior]

There is a lot going on in this game.

[@mikeharman4257]

One piece of general feedback I have been meaning to give you for a while Jon. Is there a reason why you never go through setup in any of your videos? Your tutorials are excellent on learning how to play, but I have often had to go elsewhere to find out how to setup a game if the rules are not clear - many of the games you demo have complicated and variable setup, but you never cover it, you just say "the game is set up for X players"

[@JonGetsGames]

Long ago I decided not to go through setup in these videos and the main reason had to do with the goal of the video. These are all about getting the viewer into the mindset of actually playing the game as quickly as possible, and setup sections of videos can sometimes be lengthy. I also think that the setup section of most rulebooks are quite straightforward and better used for players than a video which needs to be paused etc. The last reason is time, if I added those in then not only is that extra time I'm spending filming and editing but it also makes the video longer overall. People could of course skip ahead past the setup, but I've decided this is something I just don't want to do. I suppose I should also mention that these videos aren't meant to be comprehensive rules tools, I usually end by saying that I've covered "most of the rules" for this reason. I think players should always read through the rulebook even after watching one of my videos because I rarely cover every single rule due to the playthrough style of the video as well as variable setups. In this game I only explained the actions that were showing on the board, there are at least 10 other actions that didn't appear which I also didn't explain.

[@mikeharman4257]

@@JonGetsGames Good explanation, thanks. I'm "the rules guy" for my group - no one else likes learning and teaching new games. I quite like it so no biggie. I always read the rules fully, but if possible even if I think I understand I find videos like yours and Rodneys invaluable to get a better understanding of the flow of the game and how best to teach my group :) I don't think I've come away from one of your videos, even in the "non full playthrough" era not feeling like I know how to play the game.

[@martinpaulsen7211]

Great explanation of the game, as most of your videos. Nevertheless I have no great interest of learning and playing this game. It is quite heavy expert game and has a lot of fiddly rules to remember, and a whole bunch of tiny icons to discover. The theme of traveling along and dicovering/observing plants and animals is not very strong. Instead you are collecting seals and goal tiles and spends stamps. It is too much of complexity with too little theme, so I will play some lighter games of this author.

[@dennissein2119]

Great video.....but it seems like they put every mechanic known to man into 1 game .....dont think I would like this.

[@shatnershairpiece]

Wow, this is the definition of overwrought. Looks like a play test version. Is this really the final art? This really points out how sadly overlooked the already released, and superior, Darwin game is. On the Origins of species gets no love and has been mostly forgotten (and it was just released last year!) , but it is a very strategic and thematic game that has a few advantages over this one: 1) smaller footprint 2) much quicker set up. 3) much better art. 4) much more interesting and refined gameplay that is closer to Knizia levels of interaction and rules reduction. 5) very reasonably priced at $30. I believe the hype on this Darwin’s journey game is undeserved and mostly attributable to the more well known designers behind it. After playing origins of species, I checked out Darwin’s journey but so far I don’t see any reason to buy it over Origin of species. I just don’t understand the kickstarter thing. Games are overpriced, overhyped, and you wait a year. Meanwhile the real gems are already out, but sit unsold in a warehouse even at low prices. I guess that low prices and actually being available to buy must be extremely boring these days when hype, anticipation and Lacerda levels of insane overpricing fuels the market.

[@GregDurrett]

Jon disclaimed right at the start that this was an advanced prototype, so not sure how you came to the conclusion that this was final art.

[@shatnershairpiece]

@@GregDurrett I seriously doubt they would release this game for a paid preview days before KS goes live looking significantly worse than the final product. That would not be smart, because many people would not invest in it. Also, the art is only one minor problem I have with the game in comparison to origin of species. Now that I learn Jon got paid for preview as well as doing the rulebook, it’s obvious he is going to very biased about the game.

[@raspberryberet4291]

I'm not keen on the art at all.

[@cevo70]

Excellent video as always, thank you!