Nature (Digital Version) Review

Nature is the spiritual successor to North Star Games’ award-winning Evolution. A deceivingly simple game focused on survival of the fittest, Nature is interesting in that North Star Digital Games (the digital branch of board game maker North Star Games) developed Nature in tandem with the physical board game, realizing that the best way to playtest and balance the game would be to create a digital version. Letting the computer play itself as fast as possible quickly revealed which cards and playstyles needed changes to better align with their vision. This evolution mirrors the gauntlet the player will have to endure to survive all challengers at the watering hole. With linear challenges, multiplayer, and even competitive online options, players have a choice how challenging survival will be.

Publisher: North Star Games, North Star Digital Games

Developer: North Star Digital Games

Platform: Played on PC

Availability: Released November 5, 2025 on Windows PC (Steam), Android, and iOS.

---

The basic flow of the game is simple enough. Players (1-4) crowd around the watering hole and create a strategy by taking control of a species to ensure their survival. Each player must decide how to distribute attribute cards, such as making species stronger, faster, more efficient, or more opportunistic. After assessing dealt cards, the real depth comes into play. Cards can be used to increase a species’ population number or size. Raising a species' population increases how much food they eat from the dwindling center pile, with food tokens tallied for points at the end of each round. Although this is the fastest way to win, going after points alone will leave a species weak and easily preyed upon. Leaving cards for the next phase is also an option. 

Next players take turns eating resources, and any remaining or unused cards can be traded for an amount of food indicated by a number in the corner of each card, which is then added into the shared pile. If competition is fierce, this could be a viable strategy to ensure some food is available for something to eat later in the rotation. Any species with un-fed numbers will have those members starve and be subtracted from the total. Only fed members of a species will count for points at the end of the round, making survival of your population your top priority in all aspects.

However, there is one more option, one more source of food — another species. If opposing species eat all the food or are too weak to fight off an attack, becoming a predator could be an easy way to deny points while increasing your own. As long as there are viable prey, becoming a predator is an enticing strategy. When predators find themselves hungry without prey to feed upon, cannibalism is always an option. The player that survives this delicate dance and reaches the end with the most food eaten, wins.

It's almost shocking how much the artwork clashes stylistically.

---

Each individual challenge (level) is arranged linearly in a route for each island representing the main game and each expansion. Repetition is surprisingly rare as each challenge has either a different number of players, a unique AI, or an additional set of unusual rules. By having a simple, easy to understand spot for each species, the UI is clear, helping the player digest the large amount of information the game displays while understanding what options are available each turn. With a potential of 20 individual species between four players, this is great for lowering turn times and helping players pick up on what is happening with each species each turn.

Art and graphics look great for the cards and play areas, utilizing a blend of realism and stylization to create a striking image. Unfortunately, this strongly clashes with the simplistic characters, menus, and maps. This is relatively minor, however, and has little to no negative effect on individual match gameplay. Nature strikes a great balance between a low skill floor and a high skill ceiling, offering room for flexible strategy when needed as cards introduce RNG, forcing players to adapt their strategy with whatever hand they are dealt each turn. With many challenges to conquer, players have plenty of content to experience before having to resort to attempting to 3 star challenges. Grab a shady hat and a walking stick and get ready to venture out into Nature. Will you survive?

Verdict

Nature is a solid card game focused on strategy and resource management. Each card having 4 different options of play makes this game stand out for its simple complexity. Varying challenges in single-player mode keep the game fresh by forcing new strategies. Cards are well drawn and add to the overall natural theme. The positives stop, for better or worse, when clicking through the less appealing menus and single-player map. I do hope these are redone in the future to strengthen the overall theme and continue the passion that shines through in every other aspect of this game.

Image Credits: North Star Digital Games

Disclosure: We received a free review copy of this product from the publisher.