Any thoughts on Dominant Species?

So Chad Jensen of Combat Commander fame just had his new euro game- Dominant Species- released by GMT. Anybody around play it? What did you think? It's a big, long, Euro with lots of cubes. Is it a good one?

Buzz is pretty good but I certainly haven't tried it...

I don't think anyone has it in stock yet. Most show the end of the month as the earliest. It's definitely on my buy list for the year. Along with MUNERA, High Frontier, and Inca Empires

Very well produced. Got my copy from GMT last week. Haven't actually tried it yet with a gamer but the mechanics look quite interesting. No dice so essentially a eurogame.
I'll give it a go because Combat Commander is such fun but not too keen on euros so it will have to be really good!! Apparently best with 4 players not sure it plays very well with less than this.

I've played two games of Dominant Species. It's got a lot of interaction & struggle and a lot of different ways to influence the game. The different animals all have their own feel, not extreme differences but enough to notice. The map is grown by the players over the course of the game, and the ice-cap expands by player action as well, wrecking prime real estate in the process. The presence of and adaptation to resources is also governed by competitive player actions. It is a Euro but everything in the game is direct competition. In that sense it's a lot like a wargame, I think it's deceptively great.

I would shorten the game though - pull out 5 cards to knock a turn off the play time, otherwise it drags in my opinion. It does require patience and there is constant counting, as well as a giant round of scoring at the end (expect 25-50% of your points to come from the final scoring round). Not a good drinking game.

Played it once, got about an hour or so in, and opted out. As far as Euros go, I guess it's alright, but I couldn't have seen myself playing it the next 1+ hours the game would require. I had seen all I needed to. It has plenty of interaction, which is good. I don't know, if you think you'd be into it, give it ago. It's not anything that I personally would play again, and it's way too long for what it is.

GMT just announced that they sold out. While there are still copies in retail channels, it could be scarce for a while. They are looking at a reprint, but no time frame has been given.

I played DS a couple of weeks ago. If that's the type of game I'm going for, then it would be my game of choice. So, DS is it if I have four players, four hours, and feel like playing a deep worker placement. Basically it's a whole lot of how far can I go before someone else eliminates my options. There is a lot of potential for screwage.

It's definitely in the I'd never buy personally because I know it will rarely get to the table, if ever again.

Schlacht der Dinosaurier...

Now that is dominant species- RAWR!

Steve"my dinosaur bites your cube's head off"Avery

But you're so fickle Steve. On Valentines Day your heart will be won by . . . Godzilla!

Feckin' refresh button . . . mutter, mutter . . .

This just went out of stock at GMT in like a couple months! Wow. So if you want it get it now, GMT says it's going to take a bit to reprint it.

My thoughts-

"Some people on BGG make this game sound really cool."

"Man, I wish I got into that game of Dominant Species instead of this game of Age of Steam."

"80 bucks is a lot. I guess I'll never know."

Yeah, it's pricey. Would have been a prime candidate for GMT's half off sale from a couple weeks ago.

NagaPepper wrote:

I played DS a couple of weeks ago. If that's the type of game I'm going for, then it would be my game of choice. So, DS is it if I have four players, four hours, and feel like playing a deep worker placement. Basically it's a whole lot of how far can I go before someone else eliminates my options. There is a lot of potential for screwage.

It's definitely in the I'd never buy personally because I know it will rarely get to the table, if ever again.

NagaPepper welcome aboard with your first post to F:AT. Keep posting, we're not The Hive here, we like many views on games.

DS looks like a game I'd like to try out some time but... Do I really need a 4 hour euroey to collect dust on shelf?