Darwin's Finches

On September 15 1835, HMS Beagle on its second surveying voyage arrived at the Galapagos Islands. On board was a young geologist by the name of Charles Darwin. Over the next five weeks, the ship visited four of the islands of the archipelago. During these visits, Darwin collected 37 bird specimens he thought unique. While traveling home, Darwin pondered the variations in beak size of the mockingbirds and finches he had collected. These slight variations in beak structure, along with other small differences observed in both plants and animals he collected, were the beginnings of a radical new thought in how species came to exist. Over the next fourteen years, Darwin expanded upon these ideas ultimately publishing his controversial treatise The Origin of Species in 1859.

In this game, players help four species of finch evolve and spread throughout the Galapagos archipelago from one common ancestor. Species evolve and migrate as they try to dominate the habitable population centers on the islands. Each species of finch has a preferred habitat, ground or tree, and preferred food source, insects or seeds. Players can affect the dominate species by increasing the food source or habitat type of a particular species. At the game end, the player who has the most valuable finch collection is declared the winner.