Tiny Epic Dinosaurs Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Game Play
  • Phase 1: Collect Resources
  • Phase 2: Assign Ranchers
  • Phase 3: Return Ranchers
  • Phase 4: Arrange the Ranch
  • Enclosures
  • Escaped Dinosaurs
  • Phase 5: Feed Dinosaurs
  • Phase 6: Breed Dinosaurs
  • Phase 7: End of Round
• End of Game / Scoring
• Central Board Action Spaces
  • Dinosaur Hunt Space and Hunt Die
  • Other Dinosaur Spaces
  • Resource and Fence Spaces
  • Research Card Spaces
  • Research Cards
  • Contract Card Spaces
  • Contract Cards

Components

• 4 double-sided central boards
• 1 round tracker board
• 4 player boards
• 4 player ranch boards
• 16 ranchers (small meeples, 4 in each of 4 colors)
• 4 ranch owners (large meeples, 1 in each of 4 colors)
• 15 Allosauruses (red)
• 15 Brachiosauruses (blue)
• 15 Raptors (green)
• 15 Stegosauruses (yellow)
• 11 unique dinosaurs (purple)
• 4 leaf markers
• 4 meat markers
• 4 supply markers
• 26 fence tokens
• 1 round counter
• 1 first player marker
• 20 contract cards
• 22 research cards
• 1 die (3 net / 2 injury / 1 egg)

Setup

1. Place the central boards in the middle of the table in alphabetical order from A to D. Each of these boards is double-sided; choose the side matching the number of players in the game (the player count is printed at the top of the board).
2. Shuffle the contract cards. Deal each player one contract card face down. They may look at their card, but must keep it secret from the other players. This is their private contract.
3. Lay out contract cards face up above the central boards, equal to the number of players plus one. These are the public contracts.
4. Shuffle the research cards. Lay out 3 cards face up below the central boards.
5. Place the round tracker board in the center of the table so all players can see it. Place the round counter on space "1."
6. Give each player the following: a. A player board, showing the resource tracker and reference information about the flow of play. b. A ranch board. c. 4 ranchers and 1 ranch owner of the chosen color. Place 3 ranchers and the ranch owner on their ranch board. d. Place 1 rancher next to round 4 on the round tracker board. e. 1 leaf marker, 1 meat marker, and 1 supply marker. Place them to the left of the resource tracker on the player board. When a marker is off the board, it is treated as zero.
7. Sort the dinosaurs by color. Lay them out so every player can easily reach them.
8. Give the first player marker to the most recent visitor to a dinosaur museum, or determine the first player by your own method. a. The 2nd player receives 1 leaf. b. The 3rd player receives 1 meat. c. The 4th player receives 1 supply resource. (If there are fewer players, only give bonuses up to the number of players present.)

Game Play

The game lasts 6 rounds. Each round proceeds through the following phases, many of which players carry out simultaneously.

1. Collect Resources (simultaneous)
2. Assign Ranchers (in turn order)
3. Return Ranchers (simultaneous)
4. Arrange the Ranch (simultaneous)
5. Feed Dinosaurs (simultaneous)
6. Breed Dinosaurs (simultaneous)
7. Refresh Research and Contract Cards

Rounds are tracked on the round tracker board using the round counter. The various phases of a round are also displayed there.

Phase 1: Collect Resources

For each resource symbol on your ranch that is not covered by a dinosaur, collect one resource of that type. All players do this simultaneously.

Resources are tracked by moving the resource markers up and down the track on the player board. A player may never have more than 13 of each resource type. If a resource marker sits at the far left of the track, that resource is at "0." Players can never go below 0 resources.

On the very first turn, every player collects 5 leaves, 3 meat, and 1 supply resource, since there are no dinosaurs on their ranch yet. This will change in future turns as their ranch fills with dinosaurs. Some research cards may also grant additional ways to collect resources.

Phase 2: Assign Ranchers

Starting with the player who holds the first player marker, players now send their ranchers to various action spaces on the central boards to perform actions. Each player places one rancher, or their ranch owner (which counts as two ranchers), onto one action space, and then the next player clockwise does the same, and so on. This continues until all players have placed all of their ranchers. If it becomes a player's turn but they have no ranchers left and no abilities available to use, they are skipped, and the next player clockwise gets a chance to place a rancher / use abilities.

When it becomes a player's turn to place, they must choose which action they want to take. Each action has a space on the board where a rancher can be placed (a circle with a small figure in the middle). If the chosen action space is empty, the player may place a rancher or their ranch owner there. If there is already a rancher in that space, the player must place 1 more rancher than the player with the most ranchers currently in that space. Only in this way may a player place more than one rancher.

Example A: If Tom has 1 rancher in a space, for Stacy to also place there, she must place 2 ranchers there, or her ranch owner (which counts as 2 ranchers).

Example B: If Julie has 1 rancher in a space, and Ben has 2 ranchers in that same space, then for John to place there, he must place three ranchers, or his ranch owner plus one ordinary rancher.

When you place a rancher, you immediately carry out the action associated with that space.

When placing a rancher, the ranch owner counts as two instead of one. The ranch owner is important for helping players gain access to actions already taken, or for making it harder for other players to access certain actions.

You cannot place a rancher on a space that already has one of your own ranchers on it.

When placing a rancher on a space, you must carry out the action of that space. If it offers several actions, you must carry out at least one of the actions offered by that space.

Example A: If you place a rancher on a contract space, you must give up the corresponding dinosaurs and take a contract card. Otherwise you cannot place your rancher there.

Example B: You cannot place your rancher on a space that requires a payment you cannot make.

Here are some general rules for collecting:

• When you collect resources, immediately adjust the resource marker on your player board.
• When collecting dinosaurs or fence tokens, place them on your player board in the "Holding" area for dinosaurs and fences. They are placed onto your ranch during Phase 4. They are not yet considered to be on your ranch, and therefore cannot be used to fulfill contracts or for spaces where you must pay dinosaurs to take an action.
• When collecting a public contract card, if a player meets the requirements to fulfill their private contract, they may do so immediately. Fulfilling a private contract requires no additional actions. If a player fulfills their private contract, they draw a new private contract card from the top of the contract deck.
• Upon receiving a public contract card, do not immediately replace it. Public contract cards are replenished at the end of the round.

A detailed description of each action space can be found at the back of the rulebook.

Phase 3: Return Ranchers

Players return all ranchers from the central boards to their corresponding rancher area, including any that are in the hospital.

Phase 4: Arrange the Ranch

Fences and dinosaurs collected in the previous phase are now placed onto their owners' ranches. Players carry out this phase simultaneously. When placing new dinosaurs and fences, players must follow these rules:

• A fence that was placed on a previous turn cannot be moved.
• All dinosaurs on the ranch can be moved as needed, even if they were placed on a previous turn.
• All dinosaurs must be placed in an enclosure, except for unique dinosaurs with research cards.

Enclosures

An enclosure is any area of grass that is fully surrounded on all sides by some combination of fences, mountains, and water. On each player's starting ranch there is one permanent enclosure, surrounded by a pre-printed fence. Each ranch has natural mountains and bodies of water that can be used to help create additional enclosures. An enclosure may consist of just a single space, or of several spaces, as long as they are fully surrounded on all sides by fence, mountains, or water.

Each space on a ranch may contain only 1 dinosaur. Each enclosure may only contain dinosaurs of one type.

Example: A Stegosaurus cannot share an enclosure with a Raptor.

If you cannot place a dinosaur into an enclosure, it escapes. Unique dinosaurs (obtained via research cards) do not need to be placed in an enclosure.

If you are able to place a dinosaur, you must do so.

Escaped Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs can escape during the game if there is no free enclosure for them, or if there is nothing to feed them.

When an herbivorous dinosaur escapes, its figure is removed and returned to the general supply. If at least one of your herbivores escapes, you must remove one fence of your choice from your ranch. A rampaging dinosaur breaks through a barrier as it flees! If several herbivores escape, you lose only one fence. If the loss of that fence causes other dinosaurs to no longer be properly enclosed, they do not escape right now, but they cannot breed during Phase 6.

Escaping carnivorous dinosaurs also have their figures removed and returned to the general supply. When at least one of your carnivorous dinosaurs escapes, you must remove another dinosaur of your choice from your ranch. Even if several carnivores escape, you lose only one dinosaur.

If an escaping dinosaur is an omnivore, you may treat it as either an herbivore or a carnivore, and choose to remove either a fence or a dinosaur.

If a unique dinosaur escapes, not only is its figure removed and returned to the supply, but its corresponding research card is also discarded. The card is discarded face down onto the research discard pile.

Phase 5: Feed Dinosaurs

Now players must feed each dinosaur on their ranch. You may feed your dinosaurs in any order, but all dinosaurs must eat, or they will escape. Players do this simultaneously.

If a dinosaur can be fed, then it must be fed! A player cannot decline to feed a dinosaur.

On your player board, each dinosaur will indicate what it eats and how much. For example, a Stegosaurus eats 1 leaf. An Allosaurus eats 2 units of meat. Unique dinosaurs list what they eat on their own cards.

You pay the penalty for escaped dinosaurs only once per round for each type (herbivore / carnivore).

Phase 6: Breed Dinosaurs

After feeding, the dinosaurs breed. Every two dinosaurs of the same type in the same enclosure produce 1 dinosaur of that type. Dinosaurs that are not properly enclosed do not breed.

Example: A player with 3 Stegosauruses in one enclosure gets 1 Stegosaurus. Example: A player with 4 Stegosauruses (either all 4 in one enclosure, or 2 in each of 2 different enclosures) gets 2 Stegosauruses.

Any dinosaurs produced by breeding must immediately be placed on that player's ranch, following the normal rules for placing dinosaurs.

If the player has no room for these new dinosaurs, they escape! The usual rules and penalties for escaped dinosaurs apply.

Phase 7: End of Round

Refill the public contract cards so that there are once again 1 plus the number of players on display. Discard all face-up research cards, face down, and reveal 3 new cards from the deck. If this was round 6, the game ends, and players proceed to "End of Game / Scoring." If this was not round 6, players play another round.

The first player marker does not pass! It stays with the player who currently holds it.

If this is the end of round 3 and you are about to begin round 4, each player receives their additional rancher.

End of Game / Scoring

The game ends at the end of round 6. At this point, players tally their score. Players earn points in the following ways:

• Points for each contract, as indicated on the card.
• Points for each dinosaur on their ranch (not in Holding).
• Points for the four standard dinosaur types are shown on the central board.
• Points for unique dinosaurs are shown on their corresponding research card.
• Points for each research (science) card, as shown on the card.

The player with the most points becomes the winner! In the event of a tie, whichever tied player is earlier in turn order wins.

Central Board Action Spaces

Dinosaur Hunt Space and Hunt Die

Icon: rancher + dinosaur silhouette — "Roll the hunt die to catch the pictured dinosaur."

When a player places a rancher on one of these spaces, the player rolls the hunt die. The player must then apply the result:

• Net: Take the 1st pictured dinosaur.
• Injury: Take the 1st pictured dinosaur, but move the rancher to the hospital zone on the central board.
• Egg: Take 2 of the pictured dinosaurs. (Note: you must take 2 dinosaurs, even if you don't want them!)

Warning: Be careful with the dinosaurs you collect, because they will need to be fed later in the round!

Other Dinosaur Spaces

• Spend 1 supply resource to get one of the four basic dinosaur types. You do not need to roll the hunt die.
• Spend 1 meat to get a Raptor or an Allosaurus. You do not need to roll the hunt die.
• Spend 1 leaf to get a Stegosaurus or a Brachiosaurus. You do not need to roll the hunt die.
• Spend 1 supply resource to instantly place a dinosaur on your ranch. In addition, you may rearrange the fences on your ranch however you like. It does not matter at this time whether your dinosaurs end up outside of enclosures — that will be checked at the end of Phase 4.

Resource and Fence Spaces

• Get 1 fence.
• Get 1 fence and 1 supply resource.
• Spend 1 supply resource to get two fences.
• Get the first player marker. Next round, placement onto ranches will start with you. In addition, you may rearrange the fences on your ranch however you like. It does not matter at this time whether your dinosaurs end up outside of enclosures — that will be checked at the end of Phase 4.
• Spend two supply resources to get three fences.
• Get the indicated resources. (In this example, you collect two supply resources.)

Research Card Spaces

• Spend 1 leaf and 1 meat to get a research card.
• Spend two supply resources to get a research card.
• Remove any dinosaur from your ranch to take a research card. You may not remove a dinosaur from your Holding zone.

Research Cards

When taking a research card, you have the option to choose one of the face-up cards, or draw 3 cards from the top of the deck. If you draw 3 from the deck, you must choose one of the 3 you drew. Then place the remaining two cards face up alongside the other research cards. If there are no face-up cards available when you try to take a research card, you must draw 3 from the deck.

There are two types of research cards: Science and Dinosaurs. Both types of cards are placed face up in front of you when acquired. Research cards grant special benefits throughout the game and/or extra victory points at the end of the game.

Each research card is unique, and its ability is described in the card's text.

Dinosaur cards give the player access to a unique dinosaur. Each dinosaur card has an associated dinosaur that you receive when you take the card. Unique dinosaurs must also be fed, as written on the card. However, there are two notable differences between these dinosaurs and the others normally collected from the central board:

• Unique dinosaurs do not breed.
• Unique dinosaurs have a special ability, described on the card. These special abilities may interact with the space where the dinosaur sits on the player's ranch.
• They do not need to be placed in an enclosure (and cannot share an enclosure with other dinosaurs).

Contract Card Spaces

• Take one of the face-up contract cards. You must give up the dinosaurs indicated on the card to take the contract. Remember, the dinosaurs must be on your ranch!
• Spend a supply resource to take a contract. As above, you must give up the dinosaurs indicated on the contract card.
• Spend 1 leaf and 1 meat to take a contract. As above, you must give up the dinosaurs indicated on the contract card.

Contract Cards

Contract cards allow players to exchange dinosaurs for additional points. Collecting contracts is a good way to prevent your ranch from overflowing and to maximize your point total.

When you take a public contract card, you may always complete your private contract as well, if you meet its requirements.

Dinosaurs used to complete a public contract cannot also be used to fulfill your private contract. A player would need to give up 6 dinosaurs total to both take a public contract and fulfill a private contract.

When a public contract card is taken, a new card is not laid out to replace it until the end of the round.