Designers:  Brian Lewis (Dinsoaur Island, Titans of Industry), David McGregor, Marissa Misura

Artists: Kwanchai Moriya (Catacombs Third Edition, Cryptid, Dinosaur Island, Duelosaur Island, The Game, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Prêt-à-Porter, Sidereal Confluence: Remastered Edition), Joe Shawcross (Halfling Feast, Plunderbund, Warband: Against the Darkness), Stevo Torres (Godspeed, Machi Koro Legacy, Tammany Hall), Andrew Thompson (Unmatched: Cobble & Fogg)

Publisher:  Pandasaurus Games (Dinosaur Island, Duelosaur Island, Fire & Axe: A Viking Saga, The Game, Machi Koro, The Mind, Silver & Gold, Tammany Hall, Wasteland Express Delivery Service, Yedo)

Genre/Mechanisms: dice rolling, grid coverage, paper-and-pencil, roll-and-write (Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write); dice rolling, movement points, tile placement, worker placement (Dinosaur World)

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Dinosaur World and Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write is already fully-funded. Pledges currently total more than 26x the initial funding goal with 5 days left to go on the campaign.

Player Count: 2-4

Solo Mode: no

Complexity: medium-light

Risk: medium-low

What It’s About: “Two new games in the Dinosaur Island universe, Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write is a roll-and-write, and Dinosaur World a tile placement and worker placement game.”

How It Works: “Now that the scientific triumph of Dinosaur cloning is public knowledge, competition is hot, and new parks spring up regularly. Though many of these amateurs are opening their gates before everything has been safety-tested, there’s no shortage of patrons eager to be entertained by extinct behemoths! As with any form of entertainment, triumph is often accompanied by tragedy – which is why your investors demand that you take every precaution (and ensure every visitor signs the safety waiver) before you show them the wonders of Dinosaur World.”

“In Dinosaur World, your goal is to build the most exciting, innovative, and lucrative park you can (oh, and also the safest). Each round, you’ll draft a group of Workers from the Worker Database to run your park for a full season. Then you’ll divide up those Workers to take on the various tasks of building and running your Park – gathering ancient DNA, cloning new Dinos, buying new attractions, and keeping your patrons safe from a toothy demise. The better you run your Park, the more Victory Points you’ll score. You might face some visitor deaths along the way, but don’t worry – as long as your park is ‘safer’ than your competitors, it won’t hurt your score.”

“The game is played over 5 Rounds. When the Round marker reaches the end of the Round track, the game ends immediately. Each Round is made up of 5 phases: 1) Hire Workers – in Turn Order, players draft Worker Database cards and take the Workers shown on them; 2) Public Actions – in Turn Order, players spend Workers to draft DNA dice and purchase Park tiles from the Central Islands; 3) Private Actions – all players simultaneously place Workers on their Park boards to take private actions; 4) Jeep Tour – all players simultaneously move their Jeep to activate tiles in their Park; and 5) Income & Cleanup – players check their Threat level, gain income, adjust Turn Order, and advance the Round marker to start a new Round.

Public Actions include Gather DNA, Build a Dino Paddock, Build an Attraction, and Build a Special Building. Private Actions include DNA Refinement, VC Funding, Security, Jeep Garage, and Make Dinosaurs.

“At the end of the final Round, players determine their final scores. Players earn 1 vp per 5 Coins they have left. Determine which player has the fewest Death tokens. This player discards all of their Death tokens. All other players discard an equal number of Death tokens. Next, each player who still has Death tokens loses VP based on how many Deaths they have remaining. The player with the highest final score is the winner. If there is a tie for victory, the tied player who has more total leftover DNA wins. If there is still a tie, the tied player who is last in Turn Order wins.”

Comparisons: Several other well-rated dinosaur-themed games include DinoGenics, Dinosaur Island, Draftosaurus, Duelosaur Island, Evo, and Raptor.

What Should I Pledge?:
$30 Dino Island Rawr ‘n Write Savage Edition: includes a copy of the Dinosaur Island: Rawr n’ Write board game and all unlocked Dinosaur Island: Rawr n’ Write stretch goals.
$70 Dinosaur World Savage Edition: includes includes a copy of the Dinosaur World board game and all unlocked Dinosaur World stretch goals.
$95 Dinosaur Double Feature Savage Edition: combines the rewards from both previous pledge levels.
$105 Dinosaur World All-In: includes everything in the Dinosaur World Savage Edition, plus the Hybrid Pack, Ice Age Pack, and Water Pack.
$125 Dino Double Feature: The Works: includes everything in the Dino Island Rawr ‘n Write Savage Edition and everything in the Dinosaur World All-In.

Add-Ons:
$15 Hybrid Pack, for use with Dinosaur World
$15 Ice Age Pack, for use with Dinosaur World
$15 Water Pack, for use with Dinosaur World

KS Exclusives
In Dinosaur World, 2 of the 4 Custom Jeeples, the 1st Player Marker, and the Metal Coins and Embroidered Bag are all Kickstarter Exclusives. In Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write, the Custom Erasers (Erasasauruses), Builder Specialist Card, and Embroidered Bag are all Kickstarter Exclusives.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $125 for Dino Double Feature: The Works plus $20 in shipping for a total of $145.

Dinosaur World and Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write completes its Kickstarter on Friday, October 16th and tentatively ships in July 2021.