Pandasaurus Games Dinosaur World - Strategy Board Game - Game for Adults, Family-Friendly Board Games - 60 Mins, 2-4 Players, Ages 10+

Product Information

I was torn between this one or Dinosaur Island Rawr ‘n’ Write, but as I’ve already mentioned the big version of that, I figured I’d pop this underappreciated gem on the list instead. This is a great little roll and write that has you building up a dinosaur park. That is definitely a popular theme here, Jurassic Park has a lot to answer for! Anyways, with Dino World you’re building up a dino park with some randomised facilities to give you different scoring conditions each time you play. You’ve also got a different set of research cards which give you access to those sort of ‘re-roll a die’ powers you get in roll and write games. The triumph of science that led to dinosaurs returning to the world once more has become public knowledge. New parks spring up regularly, often beginning operations even before everything has been finalized. There is no shortage of patrons eager to be entertained by these returned species in new and exciting ways. However, as with any form of entertainment, elements of triumph are often accompanied by elements of tragedy. This means it is of the utmost importance that you take every precaution by ensuring each visitor signs the safety waiver before enjoying the wonders of Dinosaur World! Dinosaur World simplifies many steps that I thought were a bit of a stumble in Dinosaur Island. In Dinosaur World, round steps are easy to teach but thinky, especially as you plan out how to run your “Jeeple” (the game’s term for your wooden Jeep playing piece) on a tour of your personal theme park. Before that, you’ll take steps that are quite easy.

Dinosaur World is a lot of fun, but it is much more likely that I pull down Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write to play because it’s so much easier to set up and play right away.In addition to these awesome components, this expansion adds some alternate rules to play with. At the beginning of the game, players will draft these aquatic dinos instead of the standard set of dinos. These tiles have special end-game scoring rules on them, steering your strategy in different directions. This creates a number of problems. You need to be in a well-lit room. You need to not be 47 years old and suffering from near-blindness. (Maybe that’s just my problem.) You need to NOT play this at a bar or game cafe that doesn’t have large tables. This is a tight game on a 6-foot long, 3-foot wide table, as noted previously. At one friend’s house, Dinosaur World required a small poker table on the side to hold all the stuff. Excitement scores players cash to spend the next round. Five rounds later, the game is over. Tally up those scores, subtract points for any dead guests (yes, this will happen), and declare one player the winner! I mean, look at all of this! The Big Negative? The Bigness Guests are always looking for something new and more exciting, and it's not like nature was gonna make new Dinosaur types. Each round, you’ll draft a group of Workers from the Worker Database to run your park for a full season. Then you’ll divide up those Workers to take on the various tasks of building and running your Park - gathering ancient DNA, cloning new Dinos, buying new attractions, and keeping your patrons safe from a toothy demise. The better you run your park, the more Victory Points you’ll score!

These new dinos grant higher victory point levels, but it comes with increased threat as well. However, their dual types are quite versatile, as they can satisfy the various objectives and tiles seen in the game! This expansion comes with 6 new dinosaurs species (18 meeples and 6 tiles total!) that add some aquatic variety to your games! All dinos will have heat transfer artwork on both sides of the blue translucent plastic meeple. Which of the dinos is your favorite: Dunkleosteus, Elasmosaurus, Kronosaurus, Mosasaurus, Plesiosasurus, or Plotosaurus? This expansion comes with 3 new dinosaurs that are a hybrid of different types: Galliraptor (herbivore Gallimimus & small carnivore Raptor), Tyrannaceratops (herbivore Triceratops & large carnivore T-Rex), and Velocidon (small carnivore Velociraptor & large canivore Pteranodon). At a high level though, you play as a bunch of kids who are going to a school near an experimental particle accelerator called The Loop. Strange things keep happening and the kids all get curious and decide to investigate. You have a story to play through, but you also need to do all those kid things like homework and taking the dog for a walk. If you neglect this stuff you may get grounded. That means you can’t go out and investigate and things start slipping by. There are definitely a few rough edges with Tales from the Loop. There were a few moments when it felt like a rule was missing. But if you can see past that and really get into the exploration of the fantastic setting, you’re going to have a good time. Now with dinosaurs! These are the questions I ask, but I get that for some people, roll-and-write games are not for them. Some players can also hurdle the challenge of getting a big game to a big table with ease; in that case, I think Dinosaur World is going to fit best.

If you are wondering, Dinogenics is my favorite dinosaur game. While Dinosaur World’s park building is more thematic, I prefer Dinogenics’ gameplay and game length. If you were NOT wondering… well, I guess it is too late. Sorry. 😊 ) Thanks to advances in science and technology, resurrecting dinosaurs is now a piece of cake, and crowds of tourists are enjoying the wonders of dino amusements around the world. As ambitious park developers, players in the upcoming board game Dinosaur World dream of building and running their own prehistoric attractions, as long as the visitors stay undigested long enough for the park to remain open. The aesthetics of Dinosaur World and the quality of the components are both incredible. The artwork, fromKwanchaiMoriya, JoeShawcross,andAndrew Thompson,isstunning. Every tilepops, andthe gamebrings your table to life (especiallyas it will take up pretty much all of it).

That’s too long for a solo game. As a parent, I approach the gaming experience more and more from an accessibility mindset: what game is the easiest one to get to the table? Which game offers nice, crunchy decisions with a setup, play and teardown time in under an hour? What gives me chances at near infinite replayability? Which one will my wife play with me more consistently?

The Verdict

Now that the scientific triumph of Dinosaur cloning is public knowledge, competition is hot and new parks spring up regularly. Though many of these amateurs are opening their gates before everything has been safety-tested, there’s no shortage of patrons eager to be entertained by extinct behemoths!