Nature
Grow species, adapt traits and keep populations fed in a changing ecosystem.
Nature is NorthStar’s 2025 redesign of its Evolution system. In the core game, players develop species with size, population and traits, then compete to feed them from a shared watering hole or through hunting. You score the food that sustained population each round, plus a bonus for species still alive at the end.
The core box is a complete 1–4 player game with a solo opponent. Its modules change the ecosystem, but each separate module requires the core game. That distinction matters when comparing the smaller box, a module and the Big Box.
Why It Stands Out
A species that grows quickly is only useful if it can eat and survive the other players’ hunters. Cards have competing uses—population, size, traits or emergency plants—so the strongest adaptation depends on the food supply and the species around the table. The modular design changes that pressure without requiring every module for a first game.
What you actually need to play
The Nature core box includes Nature cards, separate Hunter cards, size dials, population and food tokens, a watering hole, player screens, and solo materials. It is playable by itself. The Nature Big Box includes the core game and the first five major modules—Flight, Jurassic, Natural Disasters, Arctic Tundra and Amazon Rainforest—plus more components for up to six players. The publisher lists Climate separately as Module 6; do not assume it is inside the first Big Box.
NorthStar lists the core at 1–4 players and around 45 minutes. The Big Box lists 1–6 players and 60+ minutes. Individual modules specify longer sessions; module play uses five rounds instead of the core game’s four.
How Nature works
Before the first round, a Nature card sets the number of plants added to the watering hole each round: its food value multiplied by the player count. For a first game the rulebook recommends a card with food value 3. The core game runs for four rounds. Each round has preparation, one adapting turn per player, repeated feeding turns and a scoring cleanup.
In preparation, add plants, give each player a new size-1 species with one population, carry the previous round’s lost population and extinct species’ size into that new species, and draw five Nature cards. On your adapting turn, discard a card to add one population, discard one to increase a species’ size, or play one face down as a trait. You may use as many cards as you like in that turn and keep others. A species can have no more than three traits, including a Hunter trait. After everyone adapts, reveal traits.
Feeding takes several turns around the table. A forager takes plants from the common watering hole based on size and traits. A hunter cannot forage; it must pursue legal prey when hungry and able. A card retained in hand may be discarded before a feeding action to add its printed food value in plants to the hole. Population that cannot be fed or is killed does not contribute food points that round, but lost population is carried into the next new species. See the full rules walkthrough for timing and examples.
What scores points?
At the end of each round, move plant and meat tokens from fed population behind your screen. Each is worth one point at game end. After the fourth core round, add two points for each surviving species. For example, 23 food tokens plus three surviving species is 29 points. The most points wins; if tied, compare traits on surviving species. The scoring guide explains starvation, hunting and common counting mistakes.
Three decisions that matter
Population versus food: an extra population is future scoring potential only if you can sustain it. Compare the plants in the watering hole with all players’ hungry mouths. Size versus timing: a large forager can take more plants on one feeding turn, but it may take food a smaller species needed. Hunter versus forager: a free Hunter trait can reach meat when plants are scarce, yet a hunter can no longer forage and may be forced to attack a legal target, including one of your own species. The strategy guide develops these choices without presenting a rigid “best build.”
Modules and editions
Flight adds faraway migration and bird traits; Jurassic brings larger size dials and formidable predators; Natural Disasters introduces event pressure; Arctic Tundra and Amazon Rainforest each change the location and food pressures; Climate adds a climate track and weather-related traits. The first five are in the standard Big Box. Core Nature is required for every separate module. Only one location module can be used at a time, so do not combine Tundra with Rainforest; the other modules can be mixed. When adding one or more modules, play five rounds, not one extra round per module.
For a first purchase, the core box is enough to learn the system, including solo. A player seeking a particular twist can select its individual module. The Big Box is most relevant to someone who knows they want the first five, its storage and the 5–6 player components. See the module-by-module guide for what changes and what each box contains. Check a retailer’s current stock and exact edition before purchase.
Who is Nature for?
It suits groups that enjoy interactive card decisions, watching others’ engines and changing plans as the food supply shifts. The core’s four-round arc is compact. Hunters can eat a player’s population, so interaction is direct even though losses feed into a fresh species next round. Someone seeking a peaceful, multiplayer solitaire tableau may prefer a different ecosystem game. You can also play the core solo against Rani using the included solo rules.
Explore Nature in depth
Publisher sources and scope
- NorthStar Nature core product and English core rulebook
- NorthStar Nature Big Box contents
- NorthStar rules and module resources
Rules and editions checked October 3, 2026. Strategy advice is editorial analysis of published rules, not a claim of hands-on playtesting. Module availability can change.