Dominant Species / Similar games
18 games like Dominant Species
The best games like Dominant Species are Bios Megafauna, Myrmes and Reef Encounter — the closest of 18 ranked alternatives, scored by shared mechanics and category. Bios Megafauna shares animals, environmental, prehistoric with Dominant Species.
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Every alternative below links to its own Dominant Species-style fact page, drawn from MeeplePick’s animals / environmental shelf.
Ranked by shared category (3 pts) and mechanics (2 pts), bonus within 0.7 of Dominant Species’s 4.0 weight, then BoardGameGeek’s Bayesian rating — one entry per series, 18 shown.
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1. Bios Megafauna (2011)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Environmental, Prehistoric, Area Majority / Influence, Card Drafting · 5 shared tags · 2 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (33%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · plays solo · ~90 min shorter · 0.4 lighter
2. Myrmes (2012)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Environmental, Grid Movement, Hexagon Grid · 4 shared tags · 2 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (33%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · ~90 min shorter · 0.6 lighter
3. Reef Encounter (2004)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Environmental, Area Majority / Influence, Card Drafting · 4 shared tags · 2 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (33%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · ~90 min shorter · 0.4 lighter
4. Root (2018)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Action Queue, Area Majority / Influence · 3 shared tags · 2 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (33%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · ~105 min shorter · 0.4 lighter
5. Bios Megafauna (Second Edition) (2017)Shares with Dominant Species: Environmental, Prehistoric, Area Majority / Influence, Card Drafting · 4 shared tags · 2 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (33%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · plays solo · ~45 min shorter · +0.5 heavier
6. Takenoko (2011)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Environmental, End Game Bonuses, Grid Movement, Hexagon Grid · 5 shared tags · 3 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (50%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · ~135 min shorter · 2.1 lighter
7. Bios Origins (Second Edition) (2019)Shares with Dominant Species: Environmental, Prehistoric, Area Majority / Influence, Card Drafting · 4 shared tags · 2 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (33%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · plays solo · about the same length · same complexity
8. Spirit Island (2017)Shares with Dominant Species: Environmental, Area Majority / Influence · 2 shared tags · 1 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (17%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · plays solo · ~75 min shorter · same complexity
9. Oceans (2020)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Environmental, Prehistoric, Card Drafting · 4 shared tags · 1 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (17%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · ~105 min shorter · 1.2 lighter
10. Terraforming Mars (2016)Shares with Dominant Species: Environmental, End Game Bonuses, Hexagon Grid · 3 shared tags · 2 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (33%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–5 players · plays solo · ~60 min shorter · 0.8 lighter
11. Barrage (2019)Shares with Dominant Species: Environmental, End Game Bonuses · 2 shared tags · 1 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (17%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · plays solo · ~90 min shorter · same complexity
12. Bios Genesis (2016)Shares with Dominant Species: Environmental, Prehistoric, Card Drafting · 3 shared tags · 1 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (17%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · plays solo · ~90 min shorter · +0.3 heavier
13. Wingspan (2019)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Card Drafting, End Game Bonuses · 3 shared tags · 2 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (33%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–5 players · plays solo · ~125 min shorter · 1.6 lighter
14. PARKS (2019)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Environmental, Card Drafting · 3 shared tags · 1 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (17%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–5 players · plays solo · ~135 min shorter · 1.9 lighter
15. Living Planet (2019)Shares with Dominant Species: Environmental, Area Majority / Influence, Grid Movement, Hexagon Grid · 4 shared tags · 3 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (50%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · plays solo · ~105 min shorter · 0.4 lighter
16. Everdell (2018)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Card Drafting, End Game Bonuses · 3 shared tags · 2 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (33%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · plays solo · ~120 min shorter · 1.2 lighter
17. Bunny Kingdom (2017)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Area Majority / Influence, Card Drafting, End Game Bonuses · 4 shared tags · 3 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (50%)vs Dominant Species: overlaps at 2–4 players · ~130 min shorter · 1.8 lighter
18. Sylvion (2015)Shares with Dominant Species: Animals, Environmental, Card Drafting, Grid Movement · 4 shared tags · 2 of Dominant Species’s 6 mechanics (33%)vs Dominant Species: both play at 2 · plays solo · ~150 min shorter · 2 lighter
Frequently asked
- What game is most like Dominant Species?
- Bios Megafauna (2011) is the closest match to Dominant Species, sharing animals, environmental, prehistoric. It rates 6.9/10 on BoardGameGeek.
- What should I play if I like Dominant Species?
- Bios Megafauna, Myrmes, Reef Encounter are the top-ranked alternatives to Dominant Species in the MeeplePick database, matched on medium-heavy complexity as well as mechanics. All 18 are ranked on this page with the shared mechanics shown for each.
- Is Bios Megafauna harder than Dominant Species?
- Compared with Dominant Species, Bios Megafauna is 0.4 lighter and ~90 min shorter (3.7 vs 4.0 complexity on BoardGameGeek's 1–5 scale).
Narrow it down
best 2-player board games · best 3-player board games · best 4-player board games · best 5-player board games · best 6-player board games · action queue games · area majority / influence games · card drafting games · end game bonuses games
Looking for the original? See the full Dominant Species fact page — players, play time, age and complexity.