Roar-a-Saurus
Roar-a-Saurus Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 5 Dinos
- 20 Battle Dice
- 25 Damage Markers
- 50 Development Markers
- 10 Victory Markers
- 30 Knock-Out Markers
Object of the Game
The players take on the roles of fighting dinosaurs and roll constantly, using their attacks to inflict damage on the opposing dinos. When a dino is knocked out, the attacker receives 1 victory point. The last remaining dino of a game round receives a Victory Marker worth 3 victory points. The first player to collect at least 10 victory points wins the game.
Simple game - To learn Roar-a-Saurus, and when playing with children, you can leave out the Development Markers and all rules on page 2 at first.
Setup
Each player receives a dino of their choice and 3 Battle Dice. The Damage, Victory and Knock-Out Markers are placed in the middle of the play area so that all players can reach them easily. The remaining dinos, Battle Dice and the Development Markers are put back in the game box. They are not needed for this game.
The players should sit so that it is clear which player is to their right and which is to their left, since in Roar-a-Saurus you can attack these players specifically. For fast dice rolling each player needs enough room, so the players must not sit too close together. The game itself is not exactly quiet ... so you should perhaps not play in a public library.
Game Play
First, all players take their Battle Dice in hand. Then the youngest player calls "Roar-a-Saurus" and the game begins.
Everyone tries to roll their dice as fast as possible in order to trigger an action by getting three identical symbols. For each symbol there is a corresponding illustration on the dino on which a die can be placed. Players may place a die on their dino at any time, or take a die off the dino to roll it again.
Each Battle Dino can attack in three different ways:
- "Roaar" - Deals 1 damage to the player on your right.
- "Grrrr" - Deals 1 damage to the player on your left.
- "Kaboom" - Deals 1 damage to all other players.
To attack, three dice with the matching symbol must be placed on its illustration on the dino. Then the attacker must call out the name of the attack and place a Damage Marker on the attacked dino. Afterwards you continue rolling with all of your dice.
Note: You can be attacked while you are attacking someone else yourself. Everything happens at the same time!
If only two players are left, they are both to the right and to the left of each other!
Attacking
- Place 3 identical dice symbols on your dino in order to attack.
- Call out the name of the attack.
- Place a Damage Marker on the attacked dino.
- Continue rolling with all your dice.
(Illustrated example: "Grrrr!")
Kaboom
Almost everything in Roar-a-Saurus happens simultaneously and incredibly fast, but as soon as someone calls "Kaboom!", the game pauses. The attacking player places one damage on each other dino and all players take all of their dice back into their hands. As soon as the attacker calls "Roar-a-Saurus", the game continues.
Note: If a player has three identical dice symbols when another player calls "Kaboom", but has not yet called out their attack, they may no longer attack. It is therefore important to shout out your action immediately as soon as you have placed three identical symbols on your dino.
Ahh
"Ahh" - The Battle Dino heals itself. If you place three dice with the + symbol on the corresponding illustrations on your own dino and call "Ahh!", you may remove 1 Damage Marker from it. Afterwards you continue rolling with all your dice.
Knock Out
A dino that has 4 Damage Markers is knocked out, and its player may no longer roll for the rest of the battle round. Attacks skip the knocked-out dino. The player who knocked out the dino immediately receives a Knock-Out Marker worth 1 victory point (the game is not paused for this).
Knocked-Out Players
Attacks skip knocked-out players.
(Illustrated: "Knocked out" marker.)
Victory Marker
When only one dino is left, its player has won the current battle round and receives a Victory Marker worth 3 victory points. All Damage Markers and Knock-Out Markers are removed from the dinos. Then everyone takes their dice in hand again, the winner of the previous round calls "Roar-a-Saurus" and the next battle round begins.
Winning the Game
As soon as a player has 10 or more victory points at the end of a battle round, the game ends and the player with the most victory points wins. In case of a tie, the players involved play one last battle round.
The Game with Developments!
Ready for the Development Markers? Developments make the dinos stronger in attack and defense. All rules of the simple game still apply, but new rules for the developments are added.
Setup: For each player, one additional die and one set of Development Markers are placed within easy reach.
Receiving Developments: As soon as someone heals with "Ahh!" (even if they have no damage that could be healed), they may take any Development Marker. Then they call out the name of the development and place the marker on the corresponding area on their dino.
Note: Only one Development Marker may lie on each area (the only exception = "Oo Ah").
Receiving Developments
- Place the corresponding dice on your dino and call "Ahh!".
- Call out the name of the development you want to have.
- Place the Development Marker on your dino.
- Take all your dice and continue rolling.
Placing Development Markers
The areas on the dino where Development Markers are placed: Klonk, Oo Ah (in the dino's mouth), Klink (L), Klink (R), Zinngg (L), Zinngg (R), Wusch, Oh Yeah, Mhmm.
Abilities of the Developments
- "Mhhm!" - Your dino can now heal up to 2 damage instead of 1. To do so, call "Ahh-Mhhm!".
- "Wusch" - Your dino becomes faster, take a fourth die.
- "Oh Yeah" - Your dino is not knocked out until the 5th damage.
- "Oo Ah" - Your Kaboom attacks cause 1 additional damage. To do so, call "Kaboom-Oo Ah". Note: Your dino can have 2 "Oo Ah" Development Markers - Kaboom attacks then cause 3 damage to all other dinos.
- "Klonk" - Prevents 1 damage from Kaboom attacks. When a player calls "Kaboom", normally all players receive 1 damage. But a player whose dino has the Klonk development simply says "Klonk" and thus receives no damage.
- "Zinngg" - Your Grrrr or Roaar attacks cause 1 additional damage if you have 4 matching symbols. To use "Zinngg" you must therefore first have a fourth die through "Wusch". A Zinngg development applies only to the area in which it lies. Call "Grrrr-Zinngg" when you attack the dino to your left, or "Roaar-Zinngg" when you attack the dino to your right.
- "Klink" - Prevents 1 damage from Grrrr or Roaar attacks if you say "Klink". A Klink development applies only to the area in which it lies. A Klink on the right side of the dino, for example, only prevents damage from Grrrr attacks by the player to your right.
Attacking with Developments
Thomas has a Klink on the right of his dino, Sven has a Zinngg on the left of his dino. Sven rolls 4 Grrrr symbols, places them on his dino and calls "Grrrr Zinngg" - which would normally cause 2 damage to Thomas's dino. But since Thomas now says "Klink", Sven's attack causes only 1 damage.
Victory Markers and Winning the Game
Handled as before. Exception: The round winner must discard all developments; the other dinos may keep their developments.
Balancing the Game
This makes the game more fun for everyone: it is fun when the "best" player wins, but sometimes it is better if younger or slower players also have a chance to win. With the following adjustments this is easy:
- Slower players begin the game with developments already in place. With "Wusch" and "Oh Yeah" you can give younger players a good head start.
- Fast players may not use all developments. You can even determine that some players may not use any developments at all.
- Fast players must roll and place their dice with one hand, or even use their weaker hand for it.
Tip: Design your own developments! Reward creativity and have fun with your very own game.