How to Play Darwin's Journey | Rules & Setup Guide

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Position the board

Place the main board with the correct side face up based on player count (one side for 1-3 players, other side for 4 players)

Prepare Special Action tiles

Shuffle the 12 Special Action tiles, draw 6, and place them face up on the Diary section; return unused tiles to the box

Place neutral Lens tokens

Put the two neutral Lens tokens on the top two Special Action tiles

Set up Correspondence tiles

Shuffle the 8 Correspondence tiles, randomly place 3 face up on the envelope locations, and return others to the box

Remove Wax Seals by player count

For 2 players remove 2 of each color; for 3 players remove 1 of each color; then shuffle remaining Normal Wax Seals into a face-down stack

Populate the Scrolls

Place one random face-down Normal Wax Seal on each of the 12 spots across the 4 Scrolls

Prepare Special Wax Seals

Place all purple Special Wax Seals on the silver tray on the main board

Set aside Starting Objectives

Keep the 8 Starting Objective tiles separate for player drafting

Create Objective decks

Shuffle silver and gold Objective tiles separately, place face down on matching locations, then draw 2 silver and 2 gold to place face up below the decks

Arrange Museum tiles

Place the 16 Museum tiles beside the board matching the Museum exhibit layout

Add coins to Museum

Place one Coin to the right of each row in the Museum exhibit

Place victory point markers

Put one cube of each player color on the starting red book on the victory point track

Place Evolution markers

Put one cube of each player color on the starting large book on the Evolution Theory track

Randomize turn order

Place one cube of each player color randomly on the Turn Order track

Set up Beagle Objectives

Shuffle the 12 Beagle Objective tiles, place 5 face up on locations at the bottom of the map, return unused to box

Distribute Specimen tokens

Shuffle the 16 Specimen tokens and place them face up on each flagged large round location on Island and Ocean tracks based on player count

Handle unused Specimens

For remaining Specimen tokens, find matching Museum tiles and place them on the Museum exhibit

Create supply

Place all Coins, Temporary Knowledge tokens, and Research tokens near the main board

Position starting Explorers

Place one Explorer of each player color on the leftmost island's starting location

Position starting Ships

Place one Ship of each player color on the leftmost Ocean track location

Place HMS Beagle

Put the HMS Beagle token on the leftmost Beagle location on the Ocean track

2-player only adjustment

Place the 2-player Turn Order Action token covering the Coin reward on the board

Gather player components

Each player takes 1 Personal Board, 2 remaining Explorers, 5 Workers, 5 Tents, 6 Personal Lens tokens, 1 Cube, and 12 Stamps in their color

Place workers on board

Put 4 workers on the worker spots at the bottom left of the Personal Board; the 5th worker enters play only after achieving the leftmost gold Objective

Position Tents

Place 5 Tents on the Tent locations at the bottom right of the Personal Board

Stack Stamps

Create three stacks of 4 stamps each and place on the Stamp locations at the bottom right of the Personal Board

Collect starting Coins

Take 4 Coins from the supply

Collect starting knowledge

Take 1 Temporary Knowledge token from the supply

Draft Crew cards (standard)

Shuffle Crew cards and deal 4 to each player; select one and place face down, pass remaining left, repeat until each player has 3 cards

Reveal Crew cards

Players reveal their 3 chosen Crew cards and place them face up beside their Personal Boards

Gain Crew card Wax Seals

Take the Normal Wax Seals shown in the top right corner of each Crew card from supply and place on the leftmost empty Wax Seal spots next to workers

Arrange Starting Objectives

Sort Starting Objective tiles by color, shuffle each deck, place pairs of one silver and one gold face up equal to player count

Select Starting Objectives

In reverse Turn Order (rightmost player first), each player selects one silver and one gold Objective pair and places them beside their Personal Board Objective rows

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Place a worker

On your turn, you must place one worker from your Personal Board onto a location on the main board

Pay placement penalty if needed

If placing into a Diary Section with other workers already present, pay 3 Coins (2-player) or 2 Coins (3-4 player) to the supply

Perform location actions

After placing and paying any penalties, perform all actions shown at that location in any order you choose

Complete optional actions

You are not required to complete all actions at a location

Use gained resources immediately

Benefits earned from an action can be used to pay for costs of other actions in the same turn

Pass when out of workers

If you have no workers left to place, you must pass and take no more turns this round

Check placement eligibility

A worker can only be placed on a location if that worker's row contains at least the required number and color of Wax Seals shown

Use Special Wax Seals

Purple Special Wax Seals count as any color for placement requirements

Spend Temporary Knowledge

Return a Temporary Knowledge token to supply to count as any color Wax Seal when placing a worker

Circular Magnifying Glass

Found only in Diary Sections; any number of workers may be placed; placement penalty applies if not first in that section

Unlocked Lens

Only one worker may be placed; if placing on opponent's Lens token, that opponent gains 1 Coin from supply

Square or Rectangle Magnifying Glass

Any number of workers may be placed with no placement penalty ever

Gain Victory Points

Move your marker up the victory point track by the indicated amount; place overflow marker on "50" space when exceeding 50 points

Gain Coins

Take the indicated number of Coins from supply

Unlock Lens Location

Pay the Coin cost shown and place one of your Personal Lens tokens on a locked location in any Main or Special Action Diary; immediately perform all actions at that location ignoring Wax Seal requirements

Academy

Purchase a Wax Seal from any Scroll by paying the Scroll's row Coin cost, then place it on the leftmost empty Wax Seal spot on any worker row, paying any Personal Board Coin cost

Navigation

Move your Ship along the Ocean track up to the number of spaces shown; when passing a silver banner, place an Explorer on the corresponding island's starting location

Exploration

Move your Explorer on an Island track up to the number of spaces shown; skip spaces occupied by opponents without counting them; perform the action at your final location

Evolution Theory advancement

Move your Evolution marker forward on the Evolution Theory track the indicated number of spaces

Galapagos Specimen Research

When landing on a Specimen token location, place a Research token on the matching Specimen space on your Personal Board

Set Up Camp

Remove your topmost Tent from your Personal Board, place it on the empty Campsite location adjacent to the activated icon, pay any Coin cost, then perform actions shown at that Campsite and any revealed Personal Board actions

Correspondence

Move Stamps from any combination of stacks on your Personal Board to a single Envelope on the main board; perform any actions revealed when emptying a stack

Specimen Delivery

Deliver a specimen to the Museum if its matching Museum tile is not already placed; take the matching tile and place it on the Museum exhibit; gain 1 Coin per empty space adjacent and 1 Evolution advancement per Museum tile adjacent; first tile in a row gains the adjacent Coin; last tile in a row gains 1 Evolution advancement

Museum Specimen Research

Select a Museum tile already on the main board exhibit and place a Research token on the matching Specimen space on your Personal Board

Turn Order Reservation

Place your worker in the leftmost empty space of the Turn Order area and gain 2 Coins (3 Coins in 2-player game)

Gain Objective

Take an available Objective tile from the main board and place face up in your reserve (maximum 2 in reserve) or on an empty Objective location of matching type on your Personal Board, paying any Coin cost

Gain silver distinction

When a worker earns their 4th Wax Seal, they gain silver distinction bonuses when placed

Gain gold distinction

When a worker earns their 6th Wax Seal, they gain both silver and gold distinction bonuses when placed

Extra Exploration

Add up to one movement to the Exploration action

Extra Navigation

Add up to one movement to the Navigation action

Extra Stamp

Place one additional Stamp with the Correspondence action

Extra Wax Seal

Gain one additional Wax Seal with the Academy action, paying any required costs

Gain Coins

Gain 2 Coins from supply

Extra Stop

During Exploration or Navigation, stop at an intermediate location to perform its action before completing movement

Split Stamp Placement

Place Stamps on multiple Envelopes instead of just one

Wax Seal Discount

Pay 1 less Coin per Academy action (applies to Scroll or Personal Board cost)

Immediate Victory Points

Gain 3 victory points immediately

Set Up Any Camp

Place a Tent on any empty Campsite location regardless of Explorer/Ship position, pay any costs, then perform associated actions

Repeat Delivery

Perform Specimen Delivery for a specimen already delivered to the Museum; you must have the Research token; does not gain first-delivery Coin bonus

Automatic Objective Completion

Fulfill any of your Objectives without meeting requirements; place face down on any open Objective location paying any Coin cost

Gain Special Wax Seal

Take a purple Special Wax Seal from supply and place on leftmost empty Wax Seal spot on any worker row without paying Coin cost

Gain Temporary Knowledge

Take a Temporary Knowledge token from supply

Convert Temporary Knowledge

Return a Temporary Knowledge token to supply to gain 7 Coins or 7 victory points

Place Explorer

Place an unused Explorer on the starting location of an island where you don't already have an Explorer

Perform Locked Action

Perform all actions at a locked location without placing a Lens, worker, or meeting Wax Seal requirements

Research Any Specimen

Place a Research token on any empty Specimen location on your Personal Board

Move to HMS Beagle

Move your Ship to the same location as the HMS Beagle

Distributed Correspondence

Place up to 4 Stamps distributed across any number of Envelopes

Copy Crew Card

Perform all actions on any unachieved Crew card in front of any player

Check Objective requirements

Objectives require specific conditions such as empty Stamp stacks, researched Specimens, Evolution track position, placed Tents, unlocked Lens tokens, or Ship position relative to HMS Beagle

Achieve an Objective

When you meet all requirements (no spending required), flip the Objective face down in its location or move from reserve to an empty matching Objective location, paying any Coin cost

Receive Objective rewards

Gain the reward shown on the Objective location where the tile was placed

Complete Crew cards

When a worker's Wax Seal row matches the Crew card's requirements (Special Wax Seals count as any color, Temporary Knowledge cannot be used), flip the card and place it pointing to that worker; perform the card's actions immediately

Adjust turn order

If any workers are on the Turn Order location, rearrange Turn Order markers based on worker positions (leftmost worker's player moves to position #1)

Maintain order without workers

If no workers were placed on Turn Order, the order remains unchanged

Resolve Correspondence majorities

Starting from the top Envelope, the player with most Stamps performs the first reward on the Correspondence tile; second most performs the second reward; ties allow all tied players to receive the reward in turn order

Discard Stamps after rewards

All players who received majority rewards discard half their Stamps (rounded up) from that Envelope to the used Stamps tray

Score Beagle Objective

The Beagle Objective tile below the HMS Beagle's current position is scored; each player earns victory points for each time they meet the tile's condition

Apply Falling Behind penalty

For each victory point penalty space between your Ship and the HMS Beagle, reduce your Beagle Objective points by that amount (cannot go below 0)

Flip scored Beagle tile

After all players score, flip the Beagle Objective tile face down

Move HMS Beagle

The HMS Beagle advances to the next Beagle Objective location on the Ocean track

Return workers

All players return their workers to their Personal Boards

Refresh Objectives

Remove remaining Objectives from the main board and draw 2 new silver and 2 new gold Objectives to replace them

Refresh Wax Seals

Remove all Wax Seals from the top Scroll, slide remaining Seals up to fill empty top positions, then draw new Wax Seals to fill all empty Scroll spots