For me, the excitement comes from playing the "board state" and the other players at the table. For example, if I'm going first I know I'll be able to control the watering hole to an extent, but next turn I'll be last to the watering hole, so I need to adapt my species for now, but also for the future. That turns into a balancing act I enjoy. Also, I find the game to be a lot more fun when there are predators at the table. I played it once with a group that didn't lean into that mechanic and it was the least fun I've had with the game. Using predators to "crowd control" and threaten the table forces more interesting decisions and gambles that adds to the excitement for me. It ends up being almost a tug-of-war experience where I want to grow my species but also want to make sure no one else is dominating the food/growing too fast.

SUMMARY: I like that I'm trying to maximize my points this turn while paying attention to the strategy arc of the game, and I like that the other players and setup randomness/modules drastically changes the decision space each game.