- BGG rank
- BGG #11,429
- BGG rating
- 6.5
Bug
- 2 players
- 10–30 min
- Complexity 2.1/5
- 2017
- BGG rank
- BGG #10,059
- BGG rating
- 6.7
Circle of Life
2015
Rules assistance for Circle of Life
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 20–40 min
- 10+
- Complexity 2.0/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Circle of Life
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Circle of Life is a board game released in 2015 for 2 players, 20–40 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Nick Bentley and its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Hexagon Grid, and Pattern Building.
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About the game
Circle of Life, Winner of the Mind Sports Olympiad's Game of the Year award, and winner of the Best Combinatorial Game Award, is a strategy game where players evolve species to eat each other in a growing ecosystem. Despite 1-minute rules, the game recreates key aspects of real ecosystems: It starts with simple species, which evolve to become more diverse and complex. Species get more complex as you go up the food chain. Simple species reproduce, die, and evolve at higher rates than more complex ones. When a species' population is high, another species often evolves to eat it. When a critter at the top of the food chain dies, it feeds back into the bottom, to complete the Circle of Life. For more insight into the game, visit this link.
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- (Web published)
Questions and answers
Circle of Life supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Circle of Life is 20–40 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 Circle of Life for ages 10 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.
Circle of Life has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-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.
Circle of Life belongs to these categories: Print & Play and Abstract Strategy. Its main mechanics are Area Majority / Influence, Hexagon Grid, and Pattern Building. 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 Circle of Life are: Nick Bentley. 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 Circle of Life 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.