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Dinosaur Island: Rapid Review

Dinosaur Island: Rapid Review

Information:

Mechanics: Set Collection, Tile Placement, Action Points, Worker Placement
Player Age: 8+ 
Player Count: 1 - 4 Players 
Time to Play: 90 - 120 Minutes 
Game Designer:Jonathan Gilmour, Brian Lewis
Game Artist: Kwanchai Moriya, Peter Wocken, Anthony Wocken
Publisher: Asmodee, Pandasaurus Games
Year Published: 2017
BGG Weight: 3.04
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

Rundown:

Dinosaur Island is the original dinosaur theme park game and the bigger brother to Duelosaur Island. As Dinosaur Island has been reprinted as a second edition and is now readily available it is the perfect time to review this awesome worker placement game.

Alteration:

There are so many differences in each play of Dinosaur Island that no two games will ever be the same. Each game has different game-ending goals based on the length of the game you play. Additional to this, a different plot twist will give new active rules for all players for the whole game.

Besides that, there is a randomness in the setup when it comes to the dice that will be used in the game as well as the randomness that comes from the attractions, worker placement spots and specialists that will be drafted throughout the game. These alterations allow for the game to constantly feel fresh and engaging. 

Production:

The production is hands-down fantastic! From the big chunky dice to the phase reminders on each board for players to keep track of. Arguably the greatest production here is the dinosaur meeples. These are purely cosmetic and there are different meeples for the herbivore, small carnivore and large carnivore types. 

Interaction:

There are some phases of the game where you will directly interact with your opponents such as; the drafting of DNA and dinosaurs during phase one, and the drafting of attractions, worker locations and specialists in phase two. 

The main interaction is personal as you are trying to solve the puzzle of the worker placement that occurs in the third phase. In this phase you are sending workers to gain money, increase security, create dinosaurs, increase dinosaur paddocks, and gain DNA. The challenge that players face is that there are only six places available for the worker locations that are drafted in phase two. This creates a challenge for each player to best gain money, points, security and DNA. 

The other challenge that players will constantly face is trying to create a thriving park. If your park doesn't have enough attractions but plenty of dinosaurs there will be a large amount of excitement bringing in guests every round. But, there won't be enough locations for those visitors to go. If these visitors aren't getting you points or money, they are simply a waste as a large number of excitement just raises your chance of getting hooligans. Hooligans get into your park first and don't gain points or money when they take up the spots normally available for the paying patrons.

Determination:

Pros:

- Once you have learnt the game, the game play is easy and intuitive.

- Interesting combination of drafting, worker placement and engine building.

- Challenging decisions, when players are trying to optimise their park.

Cons:

- Can feel daunting to play for your first time.

Dinosaur Island is a great combination of worker placement, drafting and engine building that helps bring to life the concept of building a dinosaur park. Players have to decide on the best dinosaurs and attractions to build in their park while creating the necessary DNA to produce these dinosaurs. Additionally, players must gain and efficiently use the most effective worker spots. If that wasn't enough, players also have to make sure their park effectively manages the visitors. If you have more excitement than visitor places available then you are wasting opportunities to score points and will increase the likelihood of hooligans. This is the kind of game that has an abundance of replayability when trying to find the best way to optimise each game. The variability of game play is doubled by the different end game conditions, plot twists and randomisation that can be encountered. This is a great dinosaur experience and will be a staple in my collection. It has undoubtedly earned a Go-to Golden Seal.

Click...feed the addiction: 

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