Stats:
No. of players: 2-6
Amount of time to play: 45-60 min
Age requirements: 8+
Set-up time: minimal

Time to Fly is the first expansion for Evolution. Does this expansion evolve the game play or make things worse?

Evolution Time to Fly Description:

I’m mostly going to write about the new elements that Time to Fly adds to Evolution. If you have not played Evolution, you can read my Evolution review here.

Time to Fly introduces 10 traits to the game. Most help to defend your creatures or attack other players’ creatures. The biggest game changer is the Anglerfish. It is played as a creature. If it has no traits it allows you to attack a carnivore that is attacking a creature with no traits. It even gets to ignore one of the attacking creature’s traits.

Another trait I want to highlight is Intellect. This trait allows your creature to ignore one trait on a creature they are attacking. This can be helpful for dealing with Swimming and other powerful trait combinations.

The Specialization trait gets you food if your creature is the only one in play with that Specialization. There are two types of Specialization, A and B.

Viviparous is a trait that lets you birth another creature from the top of the deck. Shell allows you to hide from an attacker but then you may not receive food. Trematode is like parasite but it attaches to two creatures. While Flight helps you avoid attacks by creatures with the same number or more traits than your creature.

When you play with this expansion the game may play up to six players. If you are playing with less than five it is recommended you remove some cards. You also get another die and more food chits.

Quick Review of Evolution Time to Fly:

Time to Fly is a nice addition to Evolution. It is nice that it can be played with the original game without adding any new rules. The Anglerfish can even add some bluffing to the game. And Intellect can add some balance to the base game.

The components are pretty much the exact same as the original and they’re of decent quality. The art is the same style that I really enjoyed and the rules are easy to read and follow.

All the new cards do add to the playing time so you might want to adjust your deck to speed the game back up. The original was fun and quick and it’s nice if this expansion doesn’t change that. I also wish the scoring had been changed. You will still win or lose this game based on how you finish and that can be annoying.

If you own and like the original adding Time to Fly make sense. It will not change the game experience too much but will let you play with more friends and try out some new trait combinations.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 2 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 2 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6