Welcome to Dino World
Welcome to Dino World Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Lite Mode vs Danger Mode
- Components
- Setup
- How to Play
- Construction Phase
- Build Dino Pen
- Lay Paths
- Construct Facility Action
- Research
- Security Actions
- Malfunction Phase
- Claim Visitors Phase
- End of the Game
- Facilities
- Research Labs
- DinoBOT Solo Rules
- Mini Expansion Pack (included with the deluxe edition)
- 10+ Players Variant
- Credits
Lite Mode vs Danger Mode
Welcome to DinoWorld can be played in two modes. If this is your first game, or if you are introducing the game to new players, we recommend you play in Lite Mode. Danger Mode is for more experienced players.
Most rules are the same in Lite Mode and Danger Mode. Other rules are highlighted in orange or grey.
- Orange: These are rules for Lite Mode that will change if you play in Danger Mode.
- Grey: These are rules that only apply in Danger Mode. Ignore these rules when playing in Lite Mode.
Components
Base Game
- 9 Pencils
- 3 Dice
- 1 Eraser
- 150 Player Sheets
- 27 Visitors
- 12 Research Labs
- 12 Facilities
Expansion Content
- 1 Extra Die
- 5 Small Aviary Cards
- 6 Large Aviary Cards
- 3 Aquatic Dinos Cards
- 16 Solo Automa Cards
Promo Cards
- 5 Public Objective Cards
Setup
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Choose whether you are playing in Lite Mode or Danger Mode. Give each player a player sheet for the chosen mode of play and a pencil.
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Place the 3 dice in the middle of the play area.
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Sort the Facilities cards into two stacks according to their type (Recreation & Welfare). Shuffle each stack separately and deal 1 Facility from each stack face up into the middle of the play area. Put any unused Facilities back in the box.
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Sort the Visitor cards into three stacks according to their value (4, 6, & 10 stars). Shuffle each stack separately and deal 1 Visitor from each stack face up between two neighboring players. Repeat this process until each player has 3 Visitors to their left (between them and their left-hand neighbour), and 3 to their right (between them and their right-hand neighbour). In a 2-player game, this means there will be 6 Visitor cards between the two players. Put any unused Visitors back in the box.
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After your first few games, if you have the Public Objective cards*, shuffle them and deal 2 at random in the middle of the play area with the 12 / 7 stars face up. If both of the shape-related objectives are dealt, or both path-related objectives are dealt, reshuffle and deal again.
* These cards were available as part of the Kickstarter edition or separately as promo cards.
It is highly recommended at this point that players discuss with their neighbours their shared Visitor cards to ensure that their requirements are understood. All players should also check that they understand the Public Objectives.
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Danger Mode only! Sort the 9 Research Lab cards into three stacks according to their type (X, Y, & Z). Shuffle each stack separately and deal 1 Research Lab from each stack face up into the middle of the play area. Put any unused Research Labs back in the box.
Note: For your first game playing Danger Mode, it is highly recommended to play with the "Docile Gene Editing" Z lab card.
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Choose a difficulty level for each player (Easy, Normal, Hard, Fiendish). Different players can play at different difficulty levels to make the game easier for new players and harder for more experienced players.
Depending on the difficulty level you are playing at, cross out boxes on your Threat and Security tracks on your Threat Tracker as per the images in the rulebook.
Note: For your first game playing Danger Mode it is highly recommended to play on "Easy" difficulty.
How to Play
The game is played over 8 rounds. Each round consists of the following phases:
- CONSTRUCTION: One player rolls the dice, and all players simultaneously use the dice values to take actions.
- MALFUNCTION: In Danger Mode, everyone must check whether they experience a Generator malfunction in their park. A malfunction can cause damage to Dino Pens and may eventually lead to a dinosaur break out!
- CLAIM VISITORS: Everyone checks whether they can claim one or more of the Visitors on their left and/or right.
At the end of the 8th round, the game ends and everyone works out their final scores.
Construction Phase
Roll the dice
One player rolls the 3 dice into the middle of the play area. It doesn't matter who rolls the dice; you may want players to take it in turns rolling the dice, or perhaps the player who does the best T. Rex impression is the dice roller for the game.
Each player writes the values of the dice into the Dice Tracker on their Player Sheet. The Dice Tracker also keeps track of the total number of rounds.
Take actions
All players now use the values rolled to take actions simultaneously.
Note: When you are learning the game, it is recommended for the first couple of rounds that players take it in turns, explaining what actions they are taking, while the other players watch to ensure that everyone understands the rules.
You can use each die value for that round exactly once. When you use a value to take an action, cross it off. This way, you can keep track of the values you use in each round.
There are three primary actions that you can take that use dice values. These actions may be taken in any order.
Important: In a round, you can only take each of the following actions once.
- BUILD DINO PEN: Add one new Dino Pen to your park.
- LAY PATHS: Add new pathways to your park.
- CONSTRUCT FACILITY: Add one new Facility to your park.
You don't have to use all the values, but any values not used cannot be saved for future turns.
In addition, you may take one or more Research actions. Research actions are free actions that do not use a dice value, although you are limited to how many you can take in total during the game (see Research).
Danger Mode only! There are two additional Security actions available to you: IMPROVE and BOOST. Full details of these can be found in the Security Actions section.
Combining dice values
As mentioned earlier, you can use each dice value once, but you may add values together and instead use the combined value to take an action. For example, if the three values rolled are 1, 2, and 5:
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You could use the 1, 2, and 5 separately to take three different actions.
— or —
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You could add any two of the values together. For example, you could add the 1 and 2 together to make 3, and then use the 3 to take one action and 5 to take another.
— or —
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You could even add all three numbers together to make 8 and use that value to take a single action.
Important Concepts
- ADJACENT: The word 'adjacent' means orthogonally adjacent — directly above, below, left, or right — and does not refer to diagonal adjacency unless the text of a card explicitly states that it does.
- LAKE: There is a lake in the middle of your park. You cannot build paths, Dino Pens, or Facilities on any of these 4 squares.
- CONNECTED: A feature (a Dino Pen, Facility, or the Lake) is 'connected' to a nearby path only if there is a path in an adjacent square that touches the edge of the feature. A path that runs alongside a feature but does not directly touch its edge is not connected to it.
- EMPTY: An empty square is any square in the park in which you have not yet drawn anything.
- ENTRANCE: Your park has two entrances. Each entrance has a path coming in through the perimeter wall which is connected to an adjacent crossroads.
It is strongly recommended to think about what you will do with your actions before drawing anything. This will help prevent mistakes being made (e.g. Building a Pen and then realising you are out of Generators, not having enough pips to build all the Paths you wanted to, Constructing a Facility illegally). You can erase the mistake and redo your action as long as it is within the same round. If you notice after the round the mistake was drawn, you cannot change it. Any mistakes are not eligible for claiming Visitors or end of game scoring, but they are treated as if they are correct for the purposes of dealing damage when playing in Danger Mode.
Build Dino Pen
To take this action, choose a value that matches one of the numbers beside one of the dinosaur species on your player sheet. Then draw a Dino Pen of that type anywhere in your park following these rules:
Each dinosaur entry on your player sheet shows: the Dinosaur Species; whether it is a Carnivore or Herbivore; a suggested way of drawing the dino species in the pen; a reminder that the Dino Pen must be connected to a path; the Value (possible dice values that you can use to build this Dino Pen); the Size Requirement (number of squares that the Dino Pen occupies — a velociraptor pen must be 4 squares in size); and the Power Requirement (each bolt is 1 Megawatt; a velociraptor requires 2 Megawatts of power from adjacent Generators).
- SIZE: You must draw a Dino Pen that is made up of a number of adjacent empty squares equal to the number shown in the green square beside the corresponding dinosaur.
- SHAPE: The shape of the Dino Pen is up to you. The shape can be anything you like as long as all the squares form a single contiguous area in your park.
- POWER: Each Dino Pen has a Power requirement (between 0 and 3 Megawatts) which you must satisfy by building Generators adjacent to the Dino Pen (see below).
- CONNECTION: Each Dino Pen must be directly connected to the network of paths in your park, so that a path runs directly up to at least one edge of the Pen.
- SPECIES: Always indicate the dinosaur species by either drawing a sketch of the dinosaur or writing the initial letter of the species in one of the squares of the Dino Pen.
If you cannot fit a specific Dino Pen on your map, cannot meet its power requirement or cannot immediately connect it to your path network, you cannot build the Pen.
Supplying power (Building Generators)
Each Dino Pen, except for those containing Protoceratops, requires 1, 2, or 3 Megawatts of electricity to power its electric fence. You must either build Generators adjacent to your Dino Pens to supply power, or build Dino Pens adjacent to existing Generators. You can build any number of Generators, up to the maximum number available, in a round. Building a Generator is a free action that can only be taken when you take the Dino Pen action.
When you build a Generator, draw a box around a single empty square in your park and draw an electric bolt symbol in the middle of the square. Then, cross out one of the boxes in the 'Generators' section on your player sheet. You can build a Generator in any empty square in your park adjacent to a Dino Pen; the Generator does not need to be connected to a path.
Each Generator that you do not use is worth 2 stars at the end of the game.
In Lite Mode, you can add a maximum of 12 Generators to your park. Each Generator you build supplies 1 Megawatt of power to each adjacent Pen.
A single Generator can be adjacent to up to four different Dino Pens and simultaneously supply 1 Megawatt to each of them. If multiple squares of a single Dino Pen are adjacent to the same Generator, that Generator still only supplies 1 Megawatt to the Pen.
In the rulebook's example, the Stegosaurus Pen is adjacent to 1 Generator and the Velociraptor Pen is adjacent to 2 Generators. The T. Rex Pen is adjacent to 3 Generators. Note that each of the 3 Generators in this part of the park supplies power to two different Pens.
In Danger Mode, you can add a maximum of 8 Generators to your park. Each Generator you build can supply up to 4 Megawatts of power to one or more adjacent Dino Pens, in any combination.
To supply 1 Megawatt to an adjacent Pen, draw a small curved 'power link' from the Generator into the Dino Pen. You may draw multiple links between a single Generator and an adjacent Pen. However, each Generator can only supply a maximum of 4 Megawatts, so you cannot add more than 4 power links to a single Generator.
You can add links to a Generator that you already built in a previous round (up to the maximum of 4 links).
In the rulebook's example, the Stegosaurus Pen requires 1 Megawatt and so has 1 link drawn to an adjacent Generator. The Velociraptor Pen requires 2 Megawatts and has 2 links, both drawn to the same Generator. The T. Rex Pen requires 3 Megawatts: 1 link drawn to one Generator, and 2 links drawn to another Generator.
Increase Threat level
In Danger Mode, every time you build a new Pen, the Threat level in your park increases.
To note the increase in Threat, cross off boxes on your Threat track, from left-to-right. If you build a Pen containing a Herbivore species, cross off 1 box. If you build a Pen containing a Carnivore species, cross off 2 boxes. If your Threat level is already at the maximum level, ignore any further increase.
For example: Your Threat Level is currently 5. You draw a new Tyrannosaurus Rex pen in your park (a Carnivore). You must therefore add 2 Threat, bringing your Threat Level up to 7.
Lay Paths
To take this action, choose a dice value and then use it to draw one or more path shapes in empty squares in your park.
Each path shape has a cost (in dice 'pips') shown by a number of dots below the picture of the shape on your Player Sheet. You can draw as many paths as you wish, up to the total number of pips on the dice value used to take this action.
- A straight or corner costs 1 pip.
- A T-junction costs 2 pips.
- A crossroads costs 3 pips.
Every new path shape you draw must be drawn in an empty square, and must connect either to one of the pre-printed crossroads at an entrance to your park, or to any path drawn earlier.
- You can draw a straight, corner, or T-junction path shape in any orientation.
- You cannot draw a path shape in any of the 4 lake squares.
- A path leading up to the edge of a Dino Pen or Facility stops at the edge of the feature. A path never passes through a feature.
In addition to drawing new paths, you can choose to convert a previously drawn path shape into a crossroads. This costs 4 pips, regardless of the path shape you are converting.
Construct Facility Action
To take this action, choose a dice value, and then draw the corresponding Facility symbol in one empty square in your park.
- Recreation facilities require a value of 1, 2 or 3.
- Welfare facilities require a value of 4, 5 or 6.
Each Facility takes up only one square. Each Facility has specific restrictions on where it can be built which are described on the Facility card. Facilities do not need to be built connected to a path unless the card indicates otherwise. Unless otherwise noted, you can have more than one of each Facility.
The Facilities section has a detailed explanation of all the Recreation and Welfare facilities.
Research
During a round, you may take any number of free Research actions.
You can take a maximum of 6 Research actions over the course of the game. Each time you do, cross out one of the 6 boxes in the 'Research' section of your player sheet. Unused Research actions are not worth any stars at the end of the game, so there is no benefit to not using all of them.
In Lite Mode, you may take a Research action to add 1 or subtract 1 from one of your dice values. There is no need to actually change the written value on your player sheet, just adjust the value up or down immediately before you use it to take an action.
You can use more than one Research action in a round, and may use multiple Research actions to change the same dice value multiple times. You can adjust a value to be greater than 6, but you cannot adjust a value to be less than 1.
In Danger Mode, there are three Research Labs available in each game: X, Y, and Z. Each Lab gives you a different action that you can take. You can use the X Lab 3 times during the game, the Y Lab 2 times, and the Z Lab only once.
You can use more than one Research action in a round (including using the same Lab more than once) and may use the different actions in any combination.
The Research Labs section has a detailed explanation of all the Research Labs.
Security Actions
In Danger Mode, two additional Security actions are available to you: Improve or Boost. However, you may take at most only one Security action in a round: either Improve or Boost. These actions reduce the chance of Malfunction (see below).
Note: The Boost action is only available when playing at Easy or Normal difficulty. At Hard and Fiendish difficulty, you cannot use the Boost action.
- IMPROVE: This is a free action. Cross off 1 box on your Security track.
- BOOST: This action uses a dice value (any value). Cross off 2 boxes on your Security track.
When you cross off boxes on your Security track always go left-to-right.
Malfunction Phase
Danger Mode adds an additional 'Malfunction' phase. In Lite Mode, skip this phase entirely.
Roll the Danger die!
A player rolls 1 die: this is the 'Danger die'.
All players calculate their park's Danger level as follows:
- Add the value of the Danger die to your park's Threat level (the number of boxes crossed out on your Threat track) and then subtract your park's Security level (the number of boxes crossed out on your Security track). This gives you your park's Danger level.
For example: The value of the Danger die is 5. Your park's current Threat level is 4 and the current Security level is 2. Your park's Danger level is therefore: 5 + 4 - 2 = 7.
Generator malfunction!
Check your park's Danger level against the Malfunction chart on your player sheet. The chart shows which Generators will malfunction. If the Danger level is 5 or less, no Generators malfunction.
For example: If your Danger level is 7, all Generators in your park that have either 3 or 4 live power links will malfunction.
Note: Count the total number of links going from a Generator. For example: A Generator that has 2 power links to one Pen and two links to another has 4 total links, and will malfunction on a Danger level of 6 or more.
When a Generator malfunctions, it damages all Dino Pens to which it is has power links. Each link between a malfunctioning Generator and an adjacent Pen does 1 damage to the Pen.
Record any damage taken by a Pen by crossing out one of the squares inside it. When all of the squares in a Pen have been crossed-out, any excess damage is ignored.
For example: This Velociraptor pen is being supplied with 2 Megawatts of power via 2 links to a single adjacent Generator. Your park's Danger level this round is 8. According to the Malfunction chart, at Danger level 8, Generators with 2, 3, and 4 power links malfunction. Therefore, the Velociraptor Pen takes 2 damage, 1 for each link from the malfunctioning Generator.
Breakout!
If all squares in a Dino Pen become damaged, the electric fence around the Pen fails and the dinosaur breaks out, destroying the Pen and escaping the park! A destroyed Dino Pen is worth 0 stars at the end of the game.
Also, when a Pen suffers a breakout, the escaping dinosaurs cause 1 damage to each Pen adjacent to the destroyed Pen. A breakout could therefore cause additional breakouts in adjacent Pens.
- If a Pen has already been destroyed by a breakout, there is no additional damage or further penalty if a linked Generator malfunctions in a later round.
- You cannot change or 're-route' power links, even if the linked Pen is destroyed. However, a link from a Generator to a destroyed Pen is no longer 'live' and does not count towards future malfunctions.
For example: This generator is providing 4 power links in total. However, 2 of those links are not live, as they are linked to a destroyed Pen. For future malfunctions, this Generator counts as providing 2 power, but no new links can be added.
Claim Visitors Phase
After everyone has completed all of their actions, all players check to see if they can claim 1 or more of the Visitors immediately to their left and/or right. To claim a Visitor, your park must meet the requirements on the card. Each Visitor sits between two adjacent players and can only be claimed by these players.
If your park satisfies the requirements of a Visitor card, take it and keep it in front of you; it will be worth stars at the end of the game. If two neighbouring players meet the Visitor requirements in the same round, turn the card by 90 degrees and leave it between the players; it will be worth stars for both players at the end of the game.
It is highly recommended that you get a neighbour to check your park to confirm your claim is valid.
Clarifications
Some Visitors include the following requirements:
"A path that traverses [X] squares": To meet this requirement you must be able to trace a route of paths through at least the stated number of squares, without ever doubling back and/or revisiting a square. The pre-printed crossroads by the entrance counts as one path on the route.
For example: Here, you can trace a single route starting at the entrance (numbered '1') that goes through 10 different squares.
"A [Dino species] within [X] paths of an entrance": To meet this requirement you must be able to trace a route, starting at and including one of the crossroads by an entrance, through (at most) the stated number of squares, that leads directly up to the edge of a Dino Pen containing the stated dinosaur species.
For example: This Velociraptor Pen is 1 path from the entrance.
Note: The requirements of a Visitor card only need to be met at the time it is claimed. If a player subsequently changes their park so that the requirement is no longer met, they do not lose the card.
Public Objectives
If playing with these, during this Phase, each player checks to see if they meet the requirements as depicted on the Public Objective cards. The first player or players to meet the requirements of a Public Objective in the same round score 12 stars (write 12 in the MISCELLANEOUS section on your player sheet). Then, flip over the Public Objective to the other side. Any player who meets the requirements in a later round will score 7 stars (again, write it in the MISCELLANEOUS section). A player can only score each Public Objective once.
It is highly recommended that you get another player to check your park to confirm your claim is valid.
End of the Game
The game ends at the end of the 8th round. Use the section on the right-hand side of your player sheet to work out your final score:
- DINOSAURS: Each Dino Pen is worth the number of stars indicated on the player sheet. In Danger Mode, a destroyed Dino Pen is worth 0 stars.
- FACILITIES: Add the stars you have earned from all the Facilities in your park, based on the Facility cards in play. Note that a destroyed Dino Pen does not contribute to the scoring of any Facility.
- VISITORS: Each Visitor that you claimed is worth the number of stars printed on it. Remember: If you and your neighbour claimed a Visitor in the same round, both of you score the full stars for that Visitor.
- GENERATORS: Each unused Generator is worth 2 stars.
- MISCELLANEOUS: This includes points from Public Objectives if you are playing with them.
- SECURITY: In Danger Mode, each box in your Security track that you have not crossed out is worth the stars indicated in the box.
For example: If your Security track is like the one shown at the end of the game, you score 12 stars.
NOTE: If you made any mistakes: If this is a player's first game, they score half the stars for illegal pens and facilities (round down), otherwise the player scores nothing for these illegal features. Either way, if you incorrectly claimed a Visitor, that Visitor scores nothing for you; if your neighbor could have claimed that Visitor, they may take it and score it. If you incorrectly claimed a Public Objective, you score nothing for it. Other players score the 7 stars as normal if they achieved it.
The player who built the DinoWorld worth the most stars wins.
If two or more players are tied, the tied player who built the most Dino Pens wins. If players are still tied, the tied player with the most claimed Visitors wins. If these tie-breaks are not sufficient to divide the players, throw all of the tied players into a pen with a hungry T. Rex, and award the victory to whoever survives the longest!
Facilities
Recreation Facilities
Gift Shop
- RESTRICTION: Must connect to a path.
- ABILITY: How many paths from an entrance: 1 square away = 3 stars; 2 square away = 2 stars; 3 or more square away = 1 star.
Hotel
- RESTRICTION: Must be built adjacent to existing hotel (1st placed must connect to a path).
- ABILITY: 1 star per hotel per visitor card a player has.
Roller Coaster
- RESTRICTION: Must be built connected to a path, or adjacent to an existing Roller Coaster.
- Ability: Each group of 1, 2, or 3 adjacent Roller Coasters are worth the following: 1 Roller Coaster = 1 star; 2 Roller Coasters = 3 stars; 3 or more Roller Coasters = 6 stars.
Picnic Area
- RESTRICTION: Must be built directly connected to a path.
- ABILITY: Each Picnic Area adjacent to the lake is worth 3 stars. Any other Picnic Area is worth 1 star.
Viewing Platform
- RESTRICTION: Must be built directly connected to a path.
- ABILITY: Each Viewing Platform is worth a number of stars equal to the number of squares in the largest adjacent undestroyed Dino Pen.
Zipwire
- RESTRICTION: Must connect to a path.
- ABILITY: Two zipwires in straight-line view of each other are considered connected. 2 stars per pen a zipwire pair traverses.
Welfare Facilities
Containment Unit
- RESTRICTION: USE IN DANGER MODE ONLY. Max 1 Unit per pen.
- ABILITY: If adjacent to a pen when pen is destroyed, it captures a dino from that pen (mark building with a tick). 5 stars if a Carnivore is captured; 3 stars if a Herbivore is captured; 1 star if nothing captured.
Danger Zone
- RESTRICTION: Must be built next to a path.
- ABILITY: Stars = half threat level (rounded down).
Hatchery
- RESTRICTION: Must be built adjacent to a Dino Pen.
- ABILITY: Each Hatchery is worth 2 stars for every adjacent Dino Pen containing a herbivore species, and 1 star for every adjacent Dino Pen containing a carnivore species.
Ranger Lookout
- RESTRICTION: None. May be built anywhere in your park.
- ABILITY: Each Ranger Lookout is worth a number of stars equal to the number of different Dino Pens that are 'overlooked' by the Ranger Lookout. Consider the horizontal and vertical lines of squares that extend from the Ranger Lookout to the edges of your park, and count the number of different Dino Pens that intersect with these two lines of squares.
Petting Zoo
- RESTRICTION: Must be built next to a pen and a path.
- ABILITY: Stars minus number of squares* in ONE adjacent pen (* in danger mode: includes damaged squares, but worth 0 stars if pen is destroyed).
Woodland
- RESTRICTION: Your first Woodland may be built anywhere in your park. Every subsequent Woodland must be built adjacent to an existing Woodland.
- ABILITY: Provided your final Woodland area is at least 3 squares in size, your Woodland is worth a number of stars equal to the combined star value of all undestroyed herbivore Dino Pens adjacent to your Woodland, up to a maximum of 15 stars.
Research Labs
A detailed description of the different Research Labs is shown below. Remember that using a Lab is a free Research action and you can take any number of these in a round (including using the same Lab more than once). Mark off each use on your player sheet.
X Labs
You can use the action of the X Lab three times during a game.
- CALCULATED RISK: Use this action when you draw a Dino Pen containing a Carnivore species. Increase your park's Threat level by 1 instead of 2, but also immediately add 1 damage to the Dino Pen.
- RELAXED BUILDING REGULATIONS: Use this action when you build any Dino Pen. Draw the Dino Pen so that it is either 1 square smaller or 1 square larger than required for the species.
- RE-PAVING WORK: Convert any existing path in your park into a crossroads.
- SIDE ENTRANCE: Add a new entrance to your park.
Y Labs
You can use the action of the Y Lab two times during a game.
When you change a dice value, there is no need to actually change the written value on your player sheet, just adjust the value up or down immediately before you use it to take an action. You can increase a value to greater than 6 but dice values do NOT wrap around from 1 to 6.
- ALTERNATE FUNDING: Change one of your dice values to any value from 1 to 6.
- GENETIC MODIFICATION: Add or subtract exactly 2 from one of your dice values, or add or subtract 1 from up to two of your dice values (you can add 1 to one and subtract 1 from another).
- QUESTIONABLE ACCOUNTING: Add exactly 3 to one of your dice values.
- URBANISATION: Build two special buildings this round.
Z Labs
You can use the action of the Z Lab only once during a game.
- DOCILE GENE EDITING: Use this action when you build a Dino Pen. Do not increase your park's Threat level.
- INTENSE DEVELOPMENT: Use this action in any round in which you have already built a Dino Pen. Use another of your dice values to take the Build a Dino Pen action a second time.
- MAD SCIENTIST: Immediately score points equal to double the difference between your threat and your security tracks.
- POWER REGULATOR: Ignore any damage to your park from the Malfunction Phase this round. This must be activated during the Construction Phase (i.e. before the Malfunction Phase).
DinoBOT Solo Rules
A rival development company, the Dinosaur Biotech Offshore Trade company, or "DinoBOT", is building a Dino park to compete with yours, but they are cutting corners to do so at incredible speed. You must build your park to be the best you can, as quick as you can, before DinoBOT beats you to it. Unfortunately for you, DinoBOT has some sneaky tricks up its sleeve to avoid certain rules & regulations when it comes to attracting visitors!
Components
- 12 DinoBOT cards for base-game play; 4 DinoBOT cards for use with Aquatic & Aviary dinos.
- 1 additional die
Setup Changes
Shuffle DinoBOT's 12 base-game cards into a face-down draw pile.
- If playing with the expansion, randomly remove 4 of the shuffled cards back to the box, then shuffle the 4 expansion DinoBOT cards in with the remaining 8 base-game cards.
Visitors Setup
- Remove all of the 4-star visitors, and also the 10-star visitor relating to surrounding the lake with features.
- Deal out 3 random 6-star and 3 random 10-star Visitors face up nearby. These are the visitors you and DinoBOT will be competing over.
- Choose a difficulty setting as normal, but also choose a secondary difficulty level: Tame, Beastly, or Savage. This only affects the final scoring.
Gameplay Changes
- At the start of the Construction phase, flip the top DinoBOT card from the draw pile face up and place it next to the draw pile.
- Roll 4 dice: you choose 3 of them, writing their values onto your player sheet and then performing your actions with them. DinoBOT gets whichever die you did not choose. (Note: Labs affecting dice pip values cannot be used to alter DinoBOT's die value)
- The value of the die DinoBOT uses determines which half of the DinoBOT card is used: 1-3 = top-half, 4-6 = bottom-half.
- Place DinoBOT's card, with the half being used oriented to the top, to the side of the play area, along with any DinoBOT cards from previous rounds. You may look at these cards at any time.
Malfunction Phase
DinoBOT is not affected by malfunctions (they still affect your park as normal).
Claim Visitors Phase
DinoBOT claims any visitors it can, just as a player would. When checking if it meets the requirements, only numerical value and type requirements apply; DinoBOT automatically complies with any position- or placement-related conditions (i.e. assume all its features are touching each other, are within and also away from the required number of squares of an entrance, and are all touching the park's perimeter).
For example:
- For the visitor wanting a looping path traversing 8+ squares, DinoBOT simply requires 8 paths.
- For the visitor wanting a path that traverses 6+ perimeter squares and 1+ lake squares, DinoBOT simply requires 7 paths.
- For the visitor wanting 2 Protoceratops pens 4+ paths away from all entrances, the DinoBOT simply requires 2 Protoceratops pens. These Protoceratops can also be used towards complying with the visitor wanting 1+ Protoceratops pen, 1+ Compsognathus pen, and 1+ Stegosaurus pen, within 3 paths of any entrances.
DinoBOT shares visitors with you if you both claim them in the same round, as in a normal game.
Final Scoring
DinoBOT will end with 8 cards (1 gained per round). It scores as follows, based on the top-halves of the cards it collected:
Tame Difficulty
- DinoBOT's Dino Pens score as normal.
- For Facilities, it gets bonus points for how many of each type it has:
- scores 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 18 stars for 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5+ Welfare facilities;
- scores 4 / 9 / 15 / 20 / 25 stars for 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5+ Recreation facilities;
- Add stars from any visitors it claimed or shared with you.
Beastly Difficulty
In addition to the above, DinoBOT also scores:
-
3 / 5 / 8 / 12 stars for 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Dino Pens of the same type*. Count each type separately (e.g. a set of 4 Stegosaurus pens and 2 Protoceratops pens scores 12 stars + 5 stars = 17 stars).
-
3 stars for every path icon it has.
(* Aviaries and Aquatic Dinos each count as one type for this scoring, regardless of size / shape / sub-type. So, e.g. 3 different sub-types of aquatic dinos count as "3 of a type", thus scoring 8 stars).
Savage Difficulty
In addition to the above, DinoBOT also scores:
- 2 stars for each Power Generator icon it has.
- 3 stars for every Security icon it has.
If you beat DinoBOT's score, you win! If you tie, or DinoBOT scores more than you, you lose.
Mini Expansion Pack (included with the deluxe edition)
Designer's note: The Aquatic and Aviary mini expansions are intended to played separately. However, you may choose to play with both at the same time, if they so wish.
Aquatic Dinosaurs
If playing with these, randomly choose 1 of the Aquatic cards during setup and place it face up in the middle of the table. When taking the Build Dino Pen action, you may choose to build an Aquatic Dino Pen instead of a regular Dino Pen.
Aquatic Dino Pens are built on lake squares. Each "Pen" takes up 1 square. They are not really Pens, as the Dinos swim all around the lake, but for game purposes, each is marked on one square.
Aquatic Dinos need no power connections (water and electricity are a bad combination!).
Aquatic Dinos are always carnivores. However, when adding Threat for adding a new Aquatic Dino, do not add the normal 2 Threat for a carnivore. Instead, add 1 Threat when you add the first and second Aquatic Dinos and then 2 Threat for each Dino you add after that.
There are three different types of Aquatic Dinos: Plesiosaurus (marked P), Ichthyosaurs (marked I), and Mosasaurs (marked M), requiring die values based on the specific requirements on the cards.
Additional Construction Action: Expand Lake
When playing with Aquatic Dinosaurs, a new action is available to you. The Expand Lake action is a free action (requires no die), that can be taken once per round. It allows you to draw an additional lake square adjacent to an existing lake square. The square where you are extending the lake must be empty. You do not need to place an Aquatic Dino in the square on the same round (or ever), but that square now cannot be used to build any other structure on.
Scoring
Aquatic Dinos score in a different way than normal. Consult the card you are using to determine how they score.
The card shown in the rulebook means you score as follows:
- 1 / 3 / 7 / 12 stars for 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 Aquatic Dinos of the same type.
- 10 stars for each set of 3 unique types.
For example: This scores 12 stars for the four Plesiosaurus, 3 stars for the two Ichthyosaurus, 1 star for the one Mosasaurus, and an extra 10 stars for one complete set of all three.
Aviary Dinosaurs
You can now add Pterosaurs to your park by constructing Aviaries. There are two types of Aviary available: Small and Large. If playing with Aviaries, during setup, shuffle the Aviary cards and deal 3 Small Aviaries and 2 Large Aviaries face up in the middle of the table. These are the Aviaries that can be built in this game, return the rest to the box.
When taking the Build Dino Pen action, you may choose to build an Aviary Pen instead of a regular Dino Pen.
Aviary Pens are restricted to very specific shapes, as shown on the information cards. You may only use each of the available shapes once in your park. However you may put these shapes in your park in any orientation or even flip the shape horizontally or vertically.
For example: The rulebook shows legal placements for a Geosternbergia Pen.
SMALL AVIARY PENS:
- Take up 4 squares per pen.
- Require 2 dice of equal value to build.
- Require 1 Megawatt of power.
- Are home to herbivores.
Designer's note: Almost all Pterosaurs were carnivorous, but the smaller ones would often eat insects or fish, and some supplemented their diet with plants and fruit. They are therefore not very threatening, and we have classified them here as 'herbivores' for simplicity of calculating threat.
LARGE AVIARY PENS:
- Take up 9 squares per pen.
- Require 3 dice of equal value, or 3 consecutively numbered dice, to build.
- Require 3 Megawatts of power.
- Are home to carnivores.
When adding a new Aviary Pen, you gain 2 Pterosaurs (a breeding pair). To mark this, inside the Aviary, add either a bird picture or the marker 'A' inside two of the squares.
At the start of each round, all Aviaries that are not full gain 1 new Pterosaur automatically (thanks to the breeding pair you started with). Add a new bird picture/'A' inside one of the empty squares inside the Aviary.
When an Aviary is first built, no Threat is added. However, when the Pen is full (when you add the final Pterosaur into the Pen), you gain 1 Threat for a Small Aviary and 2 Threat for a Large Aviary.
Scoring
At the end of the game, each Aviary scores 2 stars per undamaged square with a Pterosaur inside.
10+ Players Variant
If you wish to play with 10 or more players, make the following changes to the Visitors:
When setting up the Visitor cards, deal 2 Visitors from each stack face up into the middle of the play area. Do not deal Visitors between the players.
In each round, there is no Claim Visitors phase. Instead, at the end of the game, look at each of the 6 Visitor cards in turn. Every player whose park meets the requirements of a Visitor scores the full stars for that Visitor.
Credits
- Original concept and design: James O'Connor
- Re-design and development: Nick Shaw and David Turczi
- Solo mode: Nick Shaw and David Turczi
- Lead developer: Caezar Al-Jassar
- Co-developers: Bez Shahriari and Brett Gilbert
- Illustrations: Sabrina Miramon (Front Cover) and Beth Sobel (Player sheets)
- Graphic Designers: Sebastian Koziner and Zak Eidsvoog
- Rulebook Editors: Paul Grogan (Gaming Rules!) and Brett Gilbert
With thanks to Gold ranking playtesters: Pete and Karen Waite, Adam J Martin, Lynette Talbot and Alex Guttenplan, Clain McBain, and Fabled_Alpaca/Simon Roadhouse
And thanks to our other playtesters: The Cambridge Playtest UK group, Anthony Howgego, Wai-yee Phuah, Neil HK, Bijan Mehdinejad, Jennifer Symington, Charlie and Alan Paull, Jason Heimbach, Brad Taylor, Mary Petrie, JT Niekamp, JMPickering, Matt Thomasson, Overboardgames, Jeannette, Hayden & Logan Beresford, Cory Cray, Brett Petersen, Andy Grant, Jeannette Beresford, Hayden Beresford, Logan Beresford, Kevin Abbotts, Kamran Zaffar, Vooshvazool, Timea HT, Betsy Munro Jeffrey, Clinton Jeffrey, Scott Hill, Sean Swift, Sal, Notbrained, pcgamerpirate, Mark and Kelly Palframan, Joseph and Alexandra Amante, Mjoe, Jeroen and Marjolein Driehuis, Rene Hess and Margarete Muhle, Amanda Myers, Corry Damey, CalandSal, Rosey and Dave Walter and Anomander64
Rulebook proofreaders: David Digby, Simon Milburn, Matthew Thomasson, and Pete Waite
Manufactured in the Netherlands by NSF. Published and imported by Alley Cat Games Ltd, 20-22 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU.