Evolution is a strategy-heavy board game that has been available in its physical form since around 2011 or so. The basic premise is that players take control of a species of prehistoric animals, all fighting for resources to survive around the local watering hole. Players take turns playing different trait cards which enhance their species in various ways. What makes Evolution stand out is the sheer amount of variety available in the game, there’s apparently over 4,000 different ways you can evolve your species, but what I find to be the most interesting about it is that you can choose a bunch of different totally viable paths to survive. For instance, you can be a totally non-aggressive herbivore and focus on defensive traits, you can be a carnivore and play by quite literally eating other players, or any variety in between.

The digital port of Evolution has been in the worlds for-ev-ver. Back in 2017, we posted about how we had seen the game at three different PAX events- Leading us to wonder if Evolution would ever actually come out, as it seems rapid dev cycles are the name of the game in the world of mobile. Well, today we got out answer: Evolution will hit the App Store (along with PC, Mac, and Android devices) on February 12th.

Cooler yet, the game will have total cross-platform multiplayer, which is a very good thing as funneling all the platforms together into one multiplayer system is going to create a much larger pool for folks to evolve their critters with. I personally always really like these digital adaptations of board games because they don’t let you play the game wrong. A tutorial teaches you everything you need to do, then the rules engine powering the game won’t let you mess it up. Anyway, Evolution has a really awesome concept behind it, and I’m excited to see what the world thinks of it once it launches on February 12th.