Board game review of In the Footsteps of Darwin: A Relaxed Expedition Around the World

After last summer’s “Darwin's Journey“ a real worker placement hit appeared, came earlier this year with “In the Path of Darwin“, a family-friendly draft and placement game about the journey of the famous species researcher on the HMS Beagle. Whether the game, written by Maud Briand and David Sitbon, has to hide behind “Darwin's Journey” or shines in its own right, you will find out in this review.

Charles Darwin was a British naturalist. During his studies he developed a strong interest in natural history. In 1831 he set off on a five-year voyage on a ship - the HMS Beagle. During his voyage Darwin systematically noted all his observations - including those of the 13 different species of mockingbird, which became an important part of his theory of evolution. Now, 20 years after his voyage, Darwin needs our help to complete his famous work "On the Origin of Species".

A research trip around the world

In "On the Trail of Darwin" we take on the role of young researchers who board the HMS Beagle to help Charles Darwin complete his book. We travel around the world, study a wide variety of animals, publish our discoveries and put forward theories. The person who has collected the most points at the end of a game has contributed the most to the book "On the Origin of Species" and is the lucky winner of the game.

The playing field is arranged in a 3x3 grid. Each field has an animal or a special character. At the edge of the field is the HMS Beagle, which has three tiles in front of it. When it is our turn, we choose one of the three tiles and place it on the corresponding field on our personal game board.

Depending on which field the piece we took was on, we then move the ship along the arrows. For example, if the piece was on the field directly in front of the HMS Beagle, it only moves one field forward - if it was on the third field, it moves three fields forward. After 12 rounds, the game ends and the winner is determined.

Collect tiles for points

Each animal has an animal class and a habitat. Both are shown once in every conceivable combination on the personal board. While we can collect as many animals of the same class and habitat as we want, the number of characters (on the left in the picture) is limited to three. All tiles have various bonuses that give us either victory points at the end of the game, compass markers or local knowledge markers.

Local markers (bottom left in the picture) allow us to move the HMS Beagle one space forward or backward to get tiles from another row that we might want. Alternatively, we can use the marker to empty the row we are standing in and fill it with new tiles.

Victory points are divided into direct victory points and cartography. While we receive direct victory points at the end of the game from the tiles on top (covered tiles do not count), in cartography we receive points from the face-up map symbols (top image, in the second row) multiplied by the compass markers collected (top image, bottom right).

We receive further victory points by publishing publications or putting forward theories. We receive publications by completing all four fields of a habitat or a class or a row or column of our personal board (such as in the third column or the bottom row in the picture above). These give us 5 victory points straight away.

We create theories when we take an animal that has the same class and habitat as an animal that is already on our board. The animal on our board is covered by the newly taken animal and we can choose one of the three theories on display. These set a kind of collection goal. The more we collect of the desired animal, the more points we get at the end of the game.

Information about On the Trail of Darwin

Conclusion

The aim of "On the Path of Darwin" is to collect tiles that match as best as possible and to make sure you get as many points as possible. Tiles that give you a lot of victory points should ideally be on top at the end of the game. This means that tiles that offer compasses or other bonuses are particularly popular at the beginning of the game. Once you have a bonus, it is safe and you can cover up the tile you used later.

But markers are not always useful. Sometimes just focusing on victory points can help you win. Depending on the situation, different decisions have to be made. This makes “On the Paths of Darwin” a versatile game. The path you have just taken is not always the most sensible one. You have to decide again and again, turn by turn, which tile is really worth it.

However, luck also plays a large role in determining the course of a game. It is not always the case that exactly what you need is on the board. Alternatively, due to various decisions made by the opposing player, the Beagle may never land on a field that has exactly the tile you need. But this is also a decision that can be made. You see that the opposing player could use exactly that tile and consciously decide to take a tile from one field so that the HMS Beagle does not travel so far that the opposing player can get the tile he needs.

“On the Path of Darwin” is by no means the tactical cracker that “Darwin's Journey” is, but it has its own special charm. After the first few test games, a game is often over in 20 - 30 minutes and is easy to play. Afterwards, we often ended up playing another game. The reason for this is that “On the Path of Darwin” is nice and uncomplicated and relaxed.

Preview	Product	Rating	Price
	Sorry we are French, In the footsteps of Darwin, family game,...*	Currently no reviews	25,99 EUR

* = Affiliate link/advertisementAs an Amazon Associate, we earn money from qualifying purchases. If you make a purchase through one of the links, we receive a portion of the purchase price as commission. This doesn't cost you anything extra, but it helps support our website. Last updated on September 7.07.2025, XNUMX / Affiliate links / Images from the Amazon Product Advertising API. Images from Amazon PA API.