Bios: Origins (Second Edition): setup guide

Setup 01

Choose the matching scenario

Select the four-player advanced landfolk game on the classic map. Sapiens, Denisovan, Neanderthal and Hobbit have separate Brain and Species placards. First dispersal, merfolk and custom maps are outside this walkthrough; their starts should not be mixed into this one.

Setup 02

Prepare each species area

Lay out a Brain placard and Species placard with the Culture, Politics and Industry columns visible. Each species uses seven pawns, twelve Migrants, ten Cities and seven track cubes. Keep these types distinct so a pawn in the Brain cannot be mistaken for a population piece on the map.

Setup 03

Set the Brain and starting tracks

The standard second-dispersal Brain starts with four pawns in Emotions, two in Vocabulary and one in Free Will. The tutorial then resolves the individual starting tracks, Crown positions and fourth-player encephalize adjustment. Follow those species-specific steps before comparing starting abilities.

Setup 04

Prepare the shared market and climate

The setup separates twelve Idea piles, the Challenge decks and four crosswise Comets. It also prepares eighteen Victory chits and thirty-two climate chits, including the sixteen four-star placements. These are different component groups; inspect the market, track and map placements separately.

Setup 05

Inspect the population before beginning

Find each starting population and its nearby resource Spots. A printed population Hex and a travel Spot do different jobs. Advance through the exact dispersal placements in the table, then begin the first Challenge and market decisions with all four Brain areas visible.

Before your first move

A turn connects the Challenge and Idea market with activities and upkeep. Pawns move between the Brain, Elders and Emissaries; Ideas can produce an immediate Eureka and, when requirements are met, become part of a tableau. Migration, cities, inventions and transactions change what later actions can achieve.

This is a setup companion for the scenarios below, not a replacement for the publisher’s complete setup diagrams. Open the guided table to inspect the exact locations and the recorded deal.