# Darwin's Journey: Oceania ## General Info - **Year Published**: 2026 - **BGG Rating**: 8.0 - **BGG Rank**: — - **Players**: 1-4 (Best with: 3) - **Duration**: 60-120 min - **Weight**: 4.38 / 5 - **Designers**: Nestore Mangone, Simone Luciani - **Artists**: Paolo Voto - **Publishers**: ThunderGryph Games - **Categories**: Expansion for Base-game, Exploration, Travel - **Mechanics**: Contracts, Ownership, Point to Point Movement, Set Collection, Solo / Solitaire Game, Turn Order: Stat-Based, Variable Set-up, Worker Placement, Worker Placement, Different Worker Types ## Verdict If you enjoyed the original Darwin's Journey and want more exploration with a hint of risk, this expansion is for you! Oceania brings a brand-new map and mechanics that add that extra spice.Brand new map and locationsRisk/reward mechanicMore strategic depthSetup varietyExpansion, requires base gameInitial learning curveMay increase playtimeHIGHLY RECOMMENDED ## Description Get ready for a new adventure with Darwin's Journey: Oceania! In this expansion, the renowned naturalist Charles Darwin takes us to the stunning islands of the Pacific, a paradise of wild beauty and exotic life forms waiting to be discovered. But don't be fooled, the journey won't be all wonders; prepare to face the dangers and unpredictability that the wild nature holds, testing your resilience and cunning. Oceania introduces a brand-new island map, brimming with 16 unique specimens inspired by the region's rich biodiversity. Your player boards have been reimagined, bringing exclusive bonuses to give that special touch to your strategies. The main board has also received a complete makeover, with new locations like the Post Office, University, Village Campsites (including Silver and Golden ones!), and the mysterious Map Lens Locations. The big highlight is the Hazard Track mechanic. It adds a layer of risk and reward to the game: accumulating hazards can bring penalties, but whoever is at the top of the track gains a powerful strategic bonus. This expansion promises to deepen the Darwin's Journey experience, adding more challenges, tactical decisions, and that genuine sense of exploration we all love. It's the perfect pick for those who want more of that combo of strategy and scientific discovery! ## How to Play Game Objective In Darwin's Journey: Oceania, players are explorers in a land of untamed beauty and unique life forms, the pinnacle of a lifetime's journey. Despite the dangers and inhospitable conditions, Oceania teems with incredible new specimens, discoveries that promise to reshape our understanding of life. Players must strategically plan and adapt to the challenges and opportunities of the new island environment, managing the risks of uncharted territory. The game emphasizes exploration, risk management, and interaction with the Academy and the Post Office to gain special abilities and victory points from game-changing Villages. The ultimate goal is to reveal profound insights into the origin of species. Setup To set up Darwin's Journey: Oceania, follow the steps for Main Board and Player Setup from the base game, with the following changes and additions: Shuffle the silver and gold Village tokens separately. Place 1 face-up gold Village token on the gold Village spot and 1 face-up silver Village token on the silver spot on the map. Return the remaining Village tokens to the box. Place one Spider marker of each player color next to the victory point track. Place one Danger marker of each player color on the top-left space of the Danger track. Place one Explorer of each player color at the Post Office on the Ocean track. Replace the base game's main board, personal boards, Museum tiles, Specimen markers, and scoring cubes with their corresponding Oceania components. Shuffle the new Special Action, Objective, Beagle Objective, Correspondence, and Crew Cards into the corresponding base game sets. When positioning the Oceania Specimen tiles, ensure each Specimen marker shows the Danger icon. Do not place a Specimen marker on locations marked for more players than are currently playing. When placing the Wax Seals in the Academy, draw 3 additional Wax Seals to fill the new top row of the Academy. Place the Special Wax Seals (purple) in a face-up pile next to the main board. Place one Explorer of each player color at the University, on the Ocean track. Place one Explorer of each player color at the starting position of the rightmost Island track. Place one Ship of each player color at the rightmost position of the Ocean track. Place the HMS Beagle tile at the rightmost position of the Ocean track. Place one Danger tile over each ribbon with a spider icon on the Ocean and Island tracks. Do not place a Danger tile on positions marked for more players than are currently playing. Return the remaining Danger tiles to the box. Separate the Consequence tokens into three piles by the letters (A-B-C) on their backs. Shuffle each pile separately. Place one token from each pile face-up on the spider web positions at the bottom of the main board, as shown. Return the remaining Consequence tokens to the box. Take the rightmost Consequence token and place it above the Danger track. This will be the current Consequence token for the first round of the game. Draw 2 unused Special Action tokens from the box and place them face-up on each of the two Special Action spaces on the map. Place the -2 Discount tile next to the Special Action token on the first Island track. Place the -3 Discount token next to the Special Action token on the Ocean track. Place both Discount tokens with the unlock action face-up. Randomly select 5 unused Correspondence tokens, shuffle them face-down, and place them in a face-up pile on the new Correspondence space on the main board. Each player selects one Objective bonus and one empty Seals pile bonus on their personal board to be replaced by Antidotes in this game. Cover the chosen bonuses for each player with an Antidote tile. Players do not need to select the same bonuses. The Special Tents, Special Seals, Special Workers, Special Coins, and Special Placement Tiles are used with a specific silver Village token. For your first game, it is suggested to cover the 2 bonuses. After the Crew cards are drafted, take the Crew cards that were discarded by each player and place them face-up next to the main board. If playing with the First Play Setup, after dealing the Crew cards to each player, reveal Crew cards equal to the number of players and place them face-up next to the main board. Shuffle the Distinction tokens face-down. Place the Distinction tokens face-up over each of the printed distinctions above the Main Journals and the Special Action Journal on the main board. The Finch tiles can be used to cover the victory points gained the first time an Explorer crosses a ribbon on the Island tracks. The Amber Research tiles can be used to track researched Specimens that have not yet been delivered to the Museum. Return the base game's Correspondence tokens to the box. Remove the Fragmented Card tokens with Antidote and Danger icons if not playing with the Oceania expansion. Shuffle the Fragmented Card tokens with the 1st and 2nd denominations separately. Randomly place one 1st token and one 2nd token face-up on each of the three Envelopes on the main board. If playing with the Oceania expansion, place five 1st tokens face-up in a pile on the top half of the new Envelope and five 2nd tokens face-up on the bottom half. Place the Special Actions Board next to the main board. Shuffle all Special Actions tokens face-down and place them in a pile on the designated space in the top-left corner of the Special Actions Board. Draw 2 Special Actions tokens from this pile and place them face-up on the top-right and top-left spaces of the Special Actions Journal on the main board. Place neutral Lens tiles on each tile as normal. If playing with the Oceania expansion, draw 2 more Special Actions tokens and place them on the map as normal. Draw 6 more Special Actions tokens from the pile and place them on the 6 designated spaces on the Special Actions Board. Game Flow Refer to the manual for details on this section. Actions and How to Play Darwin's Journey: Oceania introduces new mechanics and interactions: University Each player has an Explorer located at the University on the Ocean track. Once unlocked, these Explorers become Professors who grant access to a new row of Scrolls at the top of the Academy. When a player's Ship passes the silver ribbon connecting to the University, move their Explorer from the University to the bell icon next to the top row of Scrolls in the Academy. Players with their Professor in the Academy have access to this top row and may choose exactly one Wax Seal from the top row when performing Academy actions. Players may only take one Wax Seal from the top row per turn, even when performing multiple Academy actions in the same turn. A Professor in the Academy does not give players the option to gain an extra Wax Seal. There is no Coin penalty for taking a Wax Seal from the top row or for placing a Wax Seal from the top row on a player's personal board. The top row of Scrolls in the Academy is only available to players who have unlocked their Professor. Post Office Each player has an Explorer located at the Post Office on the Ocean track. Once unlocked, these Explorers become Officials who grant access to a new Envelope location. The Correspondence token in the new Envelope changes at the end of each round. When a player's Ship passes the silver ribbon connecting to the Post Office, move their Explorer from the Post Office to the horn icon next to the new Envelope. When performing a Correspondence action, players who have their Official next to the new Envelope may place Seals on both the new Envelope and a regular Envelope. The new Envelope is only available to players who have unlocked their Official. Oceania Map The Oceania map has several new locations and four different island tracks. All island tracks, except the first, must be accessed in the same way as in the base game. Explorers can never move from one island track to another. Once an Explorer reaches the end of an island track, they can no longer proceed. The Oceania map is explored from right to left. Map Lens Locations There are two locked Lens locations on the map that can only be unlocked when a player's Ship or Explorer stops on them. These two locations cannot be unlocked by any other means. When a player's Ship or Explorer stops on one of these two Lens locations, they may use the unlock action (shown on the Discount token) to immediately unlock the adjacent location. The player cannot use this action to unlock other locked Lens locations. The Coin penalty is reduced by the value shown on the Discount token. After performing the normal steps to unlock the Lens location, flip the Discount token and place it face-down over the Wax Seal requirements on the Special Action token. In future turns, any player whose respective Ship or Explorer has reached or passed this Lens location may place a Worker on this Lens without Wax Seal requirements. In all other aspects, unlocked Lenses on the map are treated the same as any other unlocked Lens. There is no immediate effect if a player's Ship or Explorer stops on one of these two Lenses after they have been unlocked. Villages There are two Villages on the map where players can perform the Establish Camp action. Each player can place 1 Tent in each Village. Villages are not the same as Camps, and players can only place a Tent in a Village when their Explorer stops at that location. Tents in Villages can never be reactivated. There are two types of Villages: Silver Villages: These are resolved immediately. New Camp location: When this Village is activated, immediately perform all Crew actions on one of the face-up Crew cards next to the main board, without fulfilling its requirements. Flip the Crew card to indicate it has been used. These Crew cards can only be activated by placing a Tent in this Village. Gain the Special Worker in your player color. The Special Worker can be used once per game at any location without paying a placement penalty or having to fulfill seal requirements. The Special Worker has both silver and gold distinctions. All other placement rules still apply. Gain 1 Special Coin and place it next to your player board. When performing any action, you may discard this Special Coin to ignore a Coin cost or penalty associated with that action. Gain the 2 Special Seals in your player color. When performing a Correspondence action, you may use your Special Seals in place of your regular Seals. Each Special Seal counts as 1 regular Seal when placed and 2 regular Seals when resolving Correspondence majorities. Double any rewards you gain from Envelopes with your Special Seals. Placing both Special Seals on the same Envelope does not double the reward twice. When discarding Seals, you must discard your Special Seals before discarding your regular Seals. Each Special Seal counts as 1 normal Seal when discarding Seals. Remove any discarded Special Seals from the game. Gain the Special Tent in your player color and place it next to your personal board. During a future Establish Camp action, you may place your Special Tent instead of a normal Tent in any Camp that is not a Village and gain the Camp benefit. ## FAQ ### Does this expansion work on its own, or do I need the base Darwin's Journey game? You need the base Darwin's Journey game to play with the Oceania expansion, as it adds new elements to the main game. ### How much extra time does this expansion add to the game? The expansion can increase playtime by about 30-60 minutes, depending on the players' familiarity with the new mechanics and the player count. ### Is it much harder than the base game? The expansion introduces the Hazard Track, which adds a risk element and can increase difficulty. However, the overall complexity is manageable for those already familiar with the base game. ### How many players can play with this expansion? Just like the base game, the Oceania expansion supports 1 to 4 players. ### What are the main new components included in the box? The expansion includes a new island board, new specimen cards, components for the Hazard Track, and elements for new locations like the Post Office and University. ### Is this a good expansion for someone just starting with Darwin's Journey? We recommend playing the base game a few times before introducing the Oceania expansion to get familiar with the core rules.