How to Play Darwin’s Journey: Workers, Seals & Galápagos Exploration
Darwin’s Journey is a five-round worker-placement game in which workers improve their disciplines over time, unlocking stronger action spaces across exploration, research and correspondence.
Scope: Thundergryph base game only.
Place one worker on an unlocked action space
Action spaces can require specific discipline seals. Your worker must have the required training and you pay any placement cost shown by the space or occupied row.
Train workers with discipline seals
Training actions add seals to individual workers. A better-trained worker can access more powerful or specialized spaces later in the game.
Explore the Galápagos
Move explorers across islands to collect specimens, reach objectives and trigger map rewards. Exploration position can also contribute to final scoring.
Move the ship
The Beagle/ship track progresses around the islands and affects round flow, bonuses and timing. Keep ship progress aligned with your worker-placement plan.
Collect and deliver specimens
Specimens gathered during exploration become valuable when delivered to the museum. Museum progression creates points and can unlock further benefits.
Correspondence and objectives
Send stamps/letters and complete round or personal objectives to gain resources, points and end-game advantages.
Five rounds
After each round, resolve the round-end structure and prepare the next. After round 5, add final scoring from exploration, museum, correspondence, objectives and other base-game sources.