Genotype

Gregor Mendel is the 19th century Augustinian friar credited with the discovery of modern genetics. In Genotype, you play his assistants, who compete to collect experimental data on pea plants trying to control how the plants inherit key traits from their parents: seed shape, flower color, stem color, and plant height. The observable traits of a pea plant (its phenotype) are determined by its genetic makeup (its genotype). The relationship between genotype and phenotype and the nature of genetic inheritance are at the core of Genotype: A Mendelian Genetics Game.


During the game, players obtain Pea Plant Cards that display a set of Phenotype Traits that they hope to produce and collect (such as pink flowers and height) to score points. In each round, Dice are rolled to represent the reproduction of the Plant, which can result in the Traits the players seek. After the Dice Roll, players take turns choosing Dice to complete their Pea Plant Cards or advance their Research. The Traits produced during the Dice Roll come through the science of Punnett Squares, which show how parental genes combine, one from each parent plant. By changing the genes of these parent plants, players can influence the probability of obtaining the Traits they need. Completing Pea Plant Cards through Draft Dice is the main way for players to earn points.


Each round consists of 3 phases: Worker Placement, Dice and Upgrades.
1) During Worker Placement, players take actions to get more Plant Cards, change a parent plant's genes, Cultivate, Research, claim Phenotypes, gather new Tools, or even position themselves ahead of other players for the Worker Phase. Dice a couple of ways.

2) Dice Drafting presents a couple of interesting steps, including the possibility of getting the first choice of dice, but only for one type of Trait (like plant height), or the possibility of getting a choice of any given, but only after those first choices have occurred. De Novo Mutation Dice allow players to change the Trait of other Dice or gain additional Research.

3) The Upgrades phase allows players to spend their Research to earn Upgrades that allow them to work with more Plant Cards, choose more Dice each round, or earn additional Workers to use during the Worker Placement Phase of each round.


Players work to match their Pea Plant Cards with the result of the Dice Draft and complete the cards to score points. If they have placed a Phenotype marker, they will earn extra points for each completed card that matches their claim. At the end of 5 rounds, the player with the most points wins.



Content:
• 1 game board
• 20 personalized offspring dice
• 8 parental gene tiles
• 50 pea plant cards
• 25 tool cards
• 5 player boards
• 25 shovel-shaped action tokens
• 15 phenotype research sheets
• 34 trait tokens
• 20 coins
• 4 price beads for the abacus
• 5 extra plot improvement tiles
• 8 dice slot upgrade tiles
• 10 helper cards
• 1 token for round registration
• 1 starting player token
• 12 cards for solo play
• 1 regulation
• 1 booklet of “The science behind Genotype”