- BGG rank
- BGG #2,153
- BGG rating
- 7.6
Bios: Megafauna (Second Edition)
- 1–4 players
- 90–180 min
- Complexity 4.5/5
- 2017
- BGG rank
- BGG #1,951
- BGG rating
- 7.7
Bios: Origins (Second Edition)
2019
Rules assistance for Bios: Origins (Second Edition)
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 1–4 players
- 120–240 min
- 14+
- Complexity 4.2/5
For 1 player
Rules assistant for Bios: Origins (Second Edition)
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Bios: Origins (Second Edition) is a board game released in 2019 for 1–4 players, 120–240 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by Phil Eklund and Jon Manker and its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Modular Board, and Cooperative Game.
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About the game
Bios:Origins is the 3rd part of the Bios Trilogy. The action starts much earlier than most Civilization games: 200,000 years ago or even earlier. One to four players represent the human subspecies extant at that time: Sapiens, Neanderthal, Denisovans, & Hobbits. Take them on an adventure to enlarge your brain, acquire language, discover new worlds, domesticate strange beasts (such as riding war kangaroos or mammoths), discover the wonders and terrors of religion, dive for pearls, challenge the gods, enslave rival hominins, and perhaps enter the Enlightenment. Although wars of conquest and religion are possible, most of the fighting will be internal. You have only limited control of over your ruling class, and if your priests are in control and do a poor job, they will get killed and usurped by merchants or warlords. Win by specializing as cultural, political, or industrial civilization. This means, unlike most civilization games, that a cult figure on a mountaintop in New Zealand can win over an Emperor that has swept the globe with his armies. The game integrates with Bios:Genesis and Bios:Megafauna, so that you can start as a variety of intelligent but not-quite lingual marine or terrestrial creatures. Two maps and 26 hex chits are included, to accommodate variable landforms and cratons on habitable Earth, Mars, or Venus. Solitaire and cooperative variants are included.
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Ediciones MasQueOca
- Sierra Madre Games
- Ion Game Design
- Fox in the Box
Questions and answers
Bios: Origins (Second Edition) supports 1–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Bios: Origins (Second Edition) is 120–240 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Bios: Origins (Second Edition) for ages 14 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Bios: Origins (Second Edition) has a complexity rating of 4.2 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a heavy game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Bios: Origins (Second Edition) belongs to these categories: Territory Building, Exploration, and Prehistoric. Its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Modular Board, and Cooperative Game. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Bios: Origins (Second Edition) are: Phil Eklund and Jon Manker. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Bios: Origins (Second Edition) as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.