# 2021 Darwin Game - Desert

Our Desert is an inhospitable environment. Carrion, while nutritious, is hard to digest and there's not a lot of it. Species must be adapted to the heat too.

![](https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/www.lsusr.com/lesswrong/darwin-game-2/tundra/desert/only-tree-in-desert-small.jpg)

| Carrion | Leaves | Grass | Seeds | Detritus | Coconuts | Algae | Lichen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

The most dangerous part of the desert is the predators. Two people submitted sandworms.

| Name | Venom | Weapons | Antivenom | Armor | Speed | Creator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Carnivore | | 10 | ✓ | 0 | 10 | Antihaas |
| dp511 | ✓ | 10 | ✓ | 0 | 10 | horu |
| Sand Drake | | 6 | | 0 | 10 | Yull-Rete |
| Sandworm | | 10 | | 7 | 8 | Vanessa |
| Shai-Hulud[^1] | | 10 | ✓ | 0 | 7 | simon |

[^1]: "Shai-Hulud" is what the Fremen call sandworms.

Only 36 organisms were submitted to the Desert. 23 of them could digest Carrion. Carrion is very nutritious so all 23 were viable foragers.

# Generations 1 to 10

A few apex predators did well.

![](https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/www.lsusr.com/lesswrong/darwin-game-2/tundra/desert/desert-10-with-labels.png)

| Goes Extinct in Generation | Species |
|---|---|
| 6 | Lesser Desert Rat |
| 7 | Cordova |
| 8 | Hyena |
| 8 | Desert-Ants |
| 8 | Desert-Foxes |
| 8 | Desert-Lizard |
| 9 | Yonge_Hot |
| 10 | Josep Raich |

# Generations 11 to 50

The apex predators did so well they wiped out all the foragers without maxed out speed or defense. Having extinguished the easy prey, the apex predators proceeded to starve.

| Goes Extinct in Generation | Species |
|---|---|
| 11 | Desert-Coyotes |
| 11 | Cockatrice |
| 11 | cg-wildcat |
| 12 | Venomous Snark |
| 12 | Desert-Snakes |
| 14 | Bitey-the-scary  |
| 14 | Smok |
| 16 | Titus |
| 19 | Desertio |
| 20 | Qanon |
| 23 | Wurm |
| 26 | Sandworm |
| 33 | Shai-Hulud |
| 35 | lDha-C293 |
| 38 | Sand Drake |
| 38 | slow vulture |
| 41 | Desert Carnivore |
| 45 | Chocolattos |
| 45 | Dongles |
| 46 | dp511 |

![](https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/www.lsusr.com/lesswrong/darwin-game-2/tundra/desert/desert-10-to-50.png)

# Generations 51+

| Name | Venom | Weapons | Antivenom | Armor | Speed | Eats Carrion? | Other | Creator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Viper | ✓ | 0 | ✓ | 0 | 10 | ✓ | | aphyer |
| dsc511 | | 0 | ✓ | 10 | 0 | ✓ | Eats Leaves, Grass, Seeds, Detritus, Coconuts, Algae, Lichen | horu |
| Booyahs | | 2 | | 0 | 10 | ✓ | | CK |
| Rock Beetle | | 0 | ✓ | 10 | 0 | ✓ | | Taleuntum |
| Desert Tortoise1 | | 0 | ✓ | 10 | 0 | ✓ | | Multicore |
| Desert Tortoise2 | | 0 | ✓ | 10 | 0 | ✓ | | Yull-Rete |
| Armadillo v2 | | 0 | ✓ | 10 | 0 | ✓ | | Henny |
| Sol Invictus | | 0 | ✓ | 10 | 0 | ✓ | | simon |

Most of these speccies are identical. They're carrion foragers with maxed-out defense (including antivenom) and nothing else. Everyone who isn't a maximally-efficient invincible forager dies by generation 61.

| Goes Extinct in Generation | Species |
|---|---|
| 55 | dsc511 |
| 60 | Booyahs |
| 61 | Desert Viper |

![](https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/www.lsusr.com/lesswrong/darwin-game-2/tundra/desert/desert-50-to-64.png)

It's a random walk among equals from here.

# Winners

| Species | Player | Social Media |
|---|---|---|
| Armadillo v2 | Henny | None |
| Desert Tortoise1 | Multicore | None |
| Desert Tortoise2 | Yull-Rete | None |
| Rock Beetle | Taleuntum | None |
| Sol Invictus | simon | None |

# Eratta

Simon [notes](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/fwphWpsDiBkLx8JCr/2021-darwin-game-tundra?commentId=GrXuJmtgmYm69AFqN) that I used the wrong starting energy value of 50,000 instead of 1,000. Basically the same thing happens (except faster) when I use the correct energy value.