
- BGG rating
- 6.7
BIOTIX: Microbes Mini Expansion
- 2–5 players
- 30–40 min
- 2017

Rules assistance for BIOTIX
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
BIOTIX is a board game released in 2017 for 2–5 players, 30–40 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by Zachary Huff and its main mechanics are Take That, Push Your Luck, and Worker Placement.
Description from the publisher: Play Dirty – and get a Reaction! You can pack a lot of fun into a small box, especially when you pack it full of microbe meeples. I’ll say it again. Meeple Microbes (squeeee!) In this nasty little 2-5 player game, your boss, Dr. Lillian Johannae has made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of microbiology. She has discovered a new breed of extremely unstable, highly volatile microorganisms, BIOTIX™ (patent pending and pronounced ‘biotics’) that can uneasily coexist within a small system. Now she needs supporting data. But science can be a brutally competitive field. What began as an innocent pursuit of discovery has quickly devolved into self-centered posturing and ruthless backstabbing among her lab personnel, all vying to have their name attached to the research paper, thereby rocketing them you into scientific superstardom. Your mission, carefully grow the largest culture of BIOTIX you can in your petri dish – and sabotage the work of others by pushing their microbe populations above their limit, causing them to explode and bio-react in all sorts of fun ways. Game play is simple: on your turn, draw two BIOTIX from the specimen bag and place them, one at a time, either into your own dish for points or into an opponent’s dish to try and force a bio-reaction to destroy their work. Each of the five BIOTIX species has a different trigger number and a unique bio-reaction when they ‘go off’. It may force you to trash the microbes, force microbes from your dish into the petri dishes of others, steal microbes or wipe out a species across the whole table. The BIOTIX are in a constant state of flux throughout the game, as is your score, because at the end of the day you gain points for the BIOTIX remaining in your dish, with the most volatile BIOTIX being worth the most points. The best score over 3 days of research determines the winner! Then try the advanced game, with Aggressive BIOTIX, a cancer-like organism that mimics the properties of the BIOTIX they replace in your dish – except they are worth negative points instead of their usual values.
BIOTIX supports 2–5 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 BIOTIX is 30–40 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 BIOTIX 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.
BIOTIX has a complexity rating of 1.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light 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.
BIOTIX belongs to these categories: Animals and Medical. Its main mechanics are Take That, Push Your Luck, and Worker Placement. 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 BIOTIX are: Zachary Huff. 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 BIOTIX 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.