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Dinosaur Island was a massive hit. Why it took this long to make Jurassic Park a board game is beyond me, but life finds a way. The game has now made it's way back to Kickstarter with a new X-treme Edition, expansion and a standalone two-player game. All this makes me regret using all my Jurassic Park quotes in my Raptor review...
Back to the Island
I didn't back Dinosaur Island the first time around so I am super excited to jump on the moveable feast this time around. Over 6000 backers helped fund the game first time around and the response to the game has been very positive. I think I was worried that nostalgic fog would prevent me from seeing the game's flaws, but in this case it appears the my fog radar let me down.
In Dinosaur Island you will run your dino-based theme park, extracting DNA and using it to create your attractions. Of course the most exciting attractions are the ones that are likely to turn your intestines into their breakfast. So you could go the safer route of growing herbivores and upping the excitement with more traditional rides. Of course then hardly anyone could accuse you of being John Hammond...
The main mechanic is worker placement, but elements of set collection, resource management and efficiency come into play. You will have to choose where to focus your efforts as upgrading the park now might not pay off in the long run...
Brilliantly the X-treme Edition comes with a lot of the stretch goals from the first Kickstarter.
That is one big pile of... Game
To be honest when our very own Broken Meeple has little bad to say about a game you sit up and listen. Had this launch just been a chance to get the core game I would have been in, but they have also added a new expansion and a standalone two-player game!
The expansion includes all the bits needed for the first player but as the 'Totally Liquid' title suggests, also aquatic dinosaurs! There are also further modules you can add to the base game for more variety. These include blueprints, and a board extension.
Duelosaur Island aims to bring the same feeling to a tight two-player game. The first thing that happens is dice are rolled and the first player adds modifiers to them and the second player chooses the dice first. I love I split, you choose mechanisms and the addition of modifiers is genius. A good old multi-use card feature with a clever tableau management system seeing you add the cards as dinos, attractions or discarding them for other uses. The dice in the game can be used in the main game and vice versa, adding more options and variety.
Dinosaur Island
I'm stoked to be getting the chance to jump on the Dinosaur Island train, if you missed out first time you might want to risk venturing into the long grass this time round. The new Kickstarter has already raised just under $600,000 thanks to nearly 6000 backers. There are still 36 days remaining so there is plenty of time to get your pledge in!