Dinosaur Island is an exhilarating board game that brings players into a world of prehistoric wonders. In this game, players compete to build and manage their own dinosaur theme park. The rules involve various aspects, such as acquiring DNA, hatching dinosaur eggs, constructing attractions, and ensuring the safety of visitors. Players must carefully allocate resources, manage their park’s security level, and satisfy the demands of visitors.
Getting Started with Dinosaur Island
Dinosaur Island is a board game that allows players to build and manage their own dinosaur theme park. With a playing time ranging from 60 to 150 minutes, it can entertain 1 to 4 players aged 10 and up. The game was first launched on Kickstarter, and due to its success, it quickly sold out of its first print run. The game comes with a variety of modes, including short, medium, and long ones, allowing players to adjust the length of the game independently of player counts.
The game consists of numerous components ranging from a research center board, track board, marketplace board, and four park boards to 50 dinosaurs, 29 paddock tiles, 12 modifier tokens, and much more. Players also have the option to add their custom lab upgrades, dinosaur recipes, and attractions to make their park unique. Dinosaur Island also comes with plot twist cards, specialist cards, and objective cards, adding to the complexity and intrigue of the game. The aesthetic of the game is a tribute to the 90s, with bright colors and garish designs.
Setting Up the Game Board of Dinosaur Island
- Dinosaur Island is a board game about building a dinosaur-themed amusement park. To set up the game board, players need to position the marketplace board, research center board, and track board centrally within reach of all players. They should then pile all the income tokens off to the side, separate the dinosaur tiles, paddock tiles, and modifier tokens in the supply, and put the visitors into a cloth bag placed in the supply as well.
- Players need to shuffle specialist cards, attraction tiles, and lab upgrade tiles, placing them in their corresponding slots. They should remove tiles according to the player count. Then stack dino recipe tiles and shuffle them face down, placing them in their corresponding slots in the research center, with the top tile in each stack flipped face-up. After separating the objective cards into three stacks, players need to choose one stack and reveal as many cards as the number of players plus one.
- Players need to shuffle plot twist cards, draw two at random, and place them face-up. The rules on these cards are valid for the remainder of the game. Each player takes lab board, park board, workers, scientist tokens, corporation tokens, and marker cubes of their own color, along with six limit cubes. Lastly, they determine the first player.
- To accommodate the game’s numerous components, the game’s cardboard box’s insert may need to be dismantled, and everything will need to be carefully arranged to fit inside. The components, including the dual-layered lab boards, chunky amber-colored dice, and bright and vivid plastic meeples, create a true ’90s style aesthetic, paying tribute to the original release of the Jurassic Park movie.
Gameplay Mechanics of Dinosaur Island
- Dinosaur Island is a board game for 1 to 4 players that revolves around creating and managing a dinosaur theme park. The game is designed for players aged 10 and above and can last for 60 to 150 minutes depending on the mode. The game has three modes: short, medium, and long, which allow players to adjust the length of play independently of player count.
- Players take on the role of a park manager, with the objective of creating the most exciting dinosaur theme park. Players must hire personnel, beat competitors in perfecting dinosaur recipes, and gamble on which attractions will draw the most visitors.
- There are several game elements in the box, including a Marketplace board, Research Center board, and Track board. Players also receive Lab boards, Park boards, 22 Specialist cards, 39 Objective cards, and 11 Plot Twist cards, among other components.
- The game involves rolling dice to extract DNA and create dinosaurs. Players must also collect income and visitors, as well as keep their unruly dinosaur population under control. The game has a bright, vivid aesthetic with a ’90s theme paying tribute to the original release of Jurassic Park.
- Dinosaur Island is back on Kickstarter with a Totally Liquid expansion and a 2-player-only Duelosaur Island. The base game is priced at $85, while Totally Liquid is $45, and Duelosaur Island is $35. Players can also make their lab upgrades and dinosaur recipes using blank tiles included in the game.
Essential Rules and Actions of Dinosaur Island
- Dinosaur Island is a board game that requires players to build their own dino theme park. In the game, each player has their own park board and must hire personnel, perfect dino recipes, and attract visitors. The overall goal is to make a better park than your competitors and keep your dinosaurs under control.
- The game is for 1-4 players and takes a minimum of 60 minutes to play. Players must position the marketplace board centrally and leave room for each player’s individual area. The bank is made up of 81 income tokens, while the supply includes 50 dinosaurs, 29 paddock tiles, and 12 modifier tokens. Players are assigned scientists, workers, and corporation tokens, and can select different lab upgrade and attraction tiles.
- Players use DNA dice to clone dinosaurs and create paddocks. They can also use objective cards to score more points and plot twist cards to change gameplay. However, players must be careful to balance the excitement of their park with security measures. The first player to extract DNA from a mosquito trapped in amber goes first.
- Overall, the game offers a fun and fast-paced experience for all dino fans. The base game retails for $85, with expansions and a 2-player-only version available on Kickstarter.
Scoring and Endgame Conditions
- The ultimate goal of Dinosaur Island is to build the best dino theme park with the most visitors and income, all while keeping the park secure from escaped dinosaurs.
- During gameplay, players must hire staff, create dino recipes, and build attractions to increase park rating and bring in more visitors.
- At the end of each round, players receive income from their park’s visitor count. The player with the highest visitor count gets an additional bonus income.
- The game ends when one player reaches the maximum park rating of 20 or when the objective cards are completed, depending on the game mode chosen.
- In order to determine the winner, players add up their total victory points, which are earned throughout the game through various actions.
- Victory points can be earned by completing dino recipes, building certain attractions, or having security measures in place to prevent escapes.
- The player with the most victory points at the end of the game wins.
Variant Rules and Expansions
- Dinosaur Island is a popular board game that has captured the hearts of many gamers worldwide. In this article, we will discuss some of the variant rules and expansions of this game that have added an extra layer of fun to the already exciting gameplay.
- One of the most popular house rules for Dinosaur Island is to fix the number of rounds based on the desired game length, drawing a specific number of random plot twist cards equal to the number of rounds. In this way, players can enjoy a more predictable game length and focus on their strategies. Additionally, drawing a fixed number of objective cards equal to the number of rounds can also make the game less cut-throat and more fun.
- Another variant rule that players can use is the use of variable player powers, which give each player a unique ability that sets them apart from other players. This adds an extra layer of strategy and can make the game more exciting and challenging.
- Moreover, the Totally Liquid expansion for Dinosaur Island introduces new mechanics, such as water-based dinosaurs, aquatic parks, and new types of visitors. This expansion allows players to explore new dimensions of the game and adds fresh challenges to the existing gameplay.
- Lastly, the Duelosaur Island game is a two-player version of Dinosaur Island that maintains the same exciting gameplay and strategic choices. In this game, players compete to create the best dinosaur park, making it a perfect choice for couples or smaller groups of friends.
Overall, Dinosaur Island is an exceptional board game that provides hours of entertainment with its exciting gameplay and fascinating theme. The variant rules and expansions mentioned above can add more layers of fun to the experience and make it even more addictively enjoyable. [11][12]
Conclusion
In conclusion, Dinosaur Island is a popular board game that offers an exciting experience for players. The game’s premise revolves around managing a dinosaur theme park, and players must strive to make their parks bigger and better than their competitors’ parks. The game involves various mechanics, such as worker placement, DNA dice-rolling, market management, and visitor management. The game’s objective is to gain the highest number of victory points, which are accumulated at the end of each of the seven rounds. The game’s components are of high quality, and the game’s mechanics are easy to learn. Overall, Dinosaur Island is an entertaining board game that offers plenty of replayability thanks to the multiple paths players can take to victory.
References:
https://www.fgbradleys.com/rules/rules5/Dinosaur%20Island%20-%20rules.pdf
https://www.ultraboardgames.com/dinosaur-island/game-rules.php