Nature is the supreme being of the evolution genre

Nature is a modular, ecosystem-building strategy game from North Star Games and Dominic Crapuchettes that follows on from the popular Evolution and Oceans games which use remarkably similar mechanics. This latest effort offers the most streamlined experience yet thanks to the iterative design, and it’s already available across both physical and digital formats, with modular expansions like Jurassic and Flight adding evolutionary complexity and thematic flair.

As mentioned, Nature is the spiritual successor to Evolution, redesigned from the ground up to be more accessible, expandable, and balanced. In both its tabletop and digital forms, players create and guide species through a dynamic ecosystem, adapting traits, managing food scarcity, and surviving (or becoming) predators. Its modular system allows for tailored complexity, making it ideal for both newcomers and seasoned strategists depending on which cards you choose to mix in.

The base game centers on tableau-building and resource management. Each player controls one or more species, represented by cards with evolving traits. Traits like Climbing, Nesting, and Fast offer strategic advantages — helping species evade predators, grow populations, or access scarce food. The ecosystem itself is dynamic: food availability fluctuates in a shared watering hole, predators emerge, and competition intensifies. Players must adapt constantly, choosing whether to evolve, feed, or reproduce each turn.

All of these actions are controlled by cards — and how you use them. Playing a card for its trait allows a player to add that trait to an animal (for example turning an animal with no skills into one that can take food from the supply after another animal eats (Scavenger). Instead, a card could be discarded in order to add either size or population to a creature, making it either harder to hunt (size) or more populous and therefore more able to eat (population). 

This system is both as simple as sounds and as powerful as you might expect from a card game that has been iterated for more than ten years, but perhaps the cleverest feature (which does return from the other versions) is that of the ability to save a card to then convert into food during a later phase. That’s right — sometimes you’ll want to grow and expand, but within a couple of rounds, the watering hole won’t generate enough food for all, so knowing when to stall your own species growth in order to feed (and potentially share some with your opponents) is a key decision.

What sets Nature apart is its modularity. The base game includes a core set of traits and mechanics, but expansions can be added seamlessly either in full or in part, or all mixed together in any way you wish. This design philosophy allows for balance tweaks and thematic variety without bloating the ruleset. The game plays in under an hour, supports 1-4 players, and includes solo and team modes, but it will take you hundreds of games to see every possible combination of cards.

The digital version, developed by North Star Digital Games, mirrors the tabletop experience while adding automation, online multiplayer, and AI opponents. It was used extensively during development to test balance and iterate on trait interactions, and this is something North Star are very proud to call out. The interface is clean and intuitive, with animated species, dynamic environments, and helpful tooltips. Players can compete in ranked matches, play solo challenges, or explore custom scenarios. Whilst I believe the only format is Steam at the moment, I hope that the digital version will support cross-platform play in the future. I know when I played Evolution back in the day, I played it on both Nintendo Switch and iOS, and I am hoping for a similar implementation of Nature. 

Whilst there are four modular expansions available in physical form (either as standalone expansions or via the Big Box, only two are currently available on Steam. Firstly, Nature: Jurassic introduces prehistoric traits and species. Traits like Clever Predator and Apex Predator shift the balance toward aggression and survival, whilst survival skills like Elusive flip this idea on its head. Jurassic increases tactical depth and introduces more direct interaction, making it ideal for competitive groups and those who love massive, ridiculous creatures.

Nature: Flight adds aerial species and traits like Nesting and Seed Dispersal. These traits introduce new ideas for feeding, survival and breeding. It’s a more subtle expansion than Jurassic, emphasizing the more fragile nature of birds and the highly unique ways in which they have adapted, but there’s little I could say that would highlight the power of Nature’s systems than the juxtaposition between Nature: Jurassic and Nature: Flight. 

Both expansions are fully compatible with the base game and each other — as well as the other expansions (Natural Disasters and Arctic Tundra.) Players can mix and match modules to create custom ecosystems, adjusting complexity and theme to suit their group, whilst Natural Disasters evolves the ideas brought in by Evolution: Climate which brings different challenges and new mechanics to the game. The modular system ensures that no expansion overwhelms the core mechanics — each adds depth without dilution, and there’s a configuration for any experience level or interest group.

Nature is a thoughtful, flexible evolution of the ecosystem genre that may well be considered the absolute pinnacle of what is possible in this space. Its modular design, strategic clarity, and thematic richness make it a standout in both physical and digital formats. With expansions like Jurassic and Flight, it offers endless replayability and a compelling sandbox for evolutionary storytelling.

Nature is available now from Zatu Games.