FINALLY a dinosaur theme park management game! Dinosaur Island challenges its players to cook up dinosaurs from DNA, build a park, entertain guests, sell T-shirts, and make sure no one gets eaten.

With Dinosaur Island entering its final 48 hours on Kickstarter, I managed to talk to the entire crew behind the game about whether dinosaurs are the best (Spoiler: Yes), the game’s art direction, design process, and why it took so darn long for someone to make a game about this!

Hi all! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me, especially during this crucial period of the campaign. Could you tell our audience who you all are, and what your favorite dinosaur is.

Jon - HI! I’m Jonathan Gilmour! You may know me from such board games as Dead of Winter, Vault Wars, Heroes and Tricks, and Wasteland Express Delivery Service! I love long walks by the beach and bonfires. My favorite character from Dinosaurs is Earl Sneed Sinclair.

Peter – Greetings! I’m Peter Wocken and I’ve been a full-time freelance board game graphic for over five years and have worked on a bunch of games. Personally, my favorite dinosaur is the velociraptor, specifically the Jurassic Park era ones :)

Brian - Hello, I’m Brian Lewis and I’ve been playing strategy games for about 20 years now. This will be my second published design. My favorite dinosaur is probably the velociraptor, but the T Rex is a close second. :)

Nathan - Hey, I’m Nathan McNair, co-owner of Pandasaurus Games. My favorite Dino is the Triceratops because he is clearly the coolest looking dinosaur with several very jabby things and a shield on his head. He’s got defensive and potential offensive capability, but chooses to live his life as a herbivore probably out of some sort of zen like respect for other creatures. Because that guy could totally jack some dudes up.

Kwanchai - Hi, I’m Kwanchai Moriya and I did the art for the game! I’m a painter and freelance illustrator. I’ve illustrated a bunch of board games, including: Catacombs, Kodama, and Capital Lux. My favorite dinosaur is the almighty Brontosaurus.

Molly - Hello! I’m Molly Wardlaw, the other co-owner of Pandasaurus Games. We have published games like Machi Koro, The Game, Cat Tower, StarFall and Wasteland Express Delivery Service. We kind of have a weird obsession with colorful games. Best dino is clearly the Ankylosaurus. He’s both alarmingly cute and ferociously spiny. The best things in life.

I’m afraid everyone’s answers are INCORRECT.

So first of all: Dinosaurs. Great theme, or greatest theme?

Jon - Dinosaurs are dope. Way better than sharks or bears, or any other thing you can think of. I dare you to add dinosaurs to any game that currently exists and tell me it’s not an improvement! Agricola with Dinosaurs? Awesome! Carcassonne with Dinosaur meeples? Just plain better.

Peter – Great theme. Jon and Brian really missed the boat on not making the dinos time travelers with a large TARDIS. Maybe as an expansion? ;)

Brian - Great theme. I’m always amazed at the multitude of themes in board games, and how people take a theme and make something unique.

Nathan - Greatest. Everyone likes Dinos. Everyone likes Dinos eating people. Everyone likes taking customers money and not giving it back if they are eaten.

Kwanchai - Great theme. In fact, the first big contract I landed after finishing art school was for a children’s book called “Dinosaurs: From Head to Tail.” I owe them...everything.

Molly - Dinosaurs are the great unifier. What I love about this theme is that you are actually the scientists cooking the dinos. Everyone loves dinos and everyone on this team are creators of sorts. We also like being in charge. The only thing that would’ve made this theme better would be if it was a park of just Ankylosauruses. The stretch goals could’ve been different outfits of the day for your Anklyo, or #OOTD if you are an Instagram personality.

To talk about the game a little bit, could you quickly tell me what about this game made you want to work on it?

Jon - When Brian said the words “Dinosaur Island” to me on a skype call, I knew it was a game I wanted to play. From there we just started layering ideas on. We knew we wanted it to be about building an awesome dinosaur theme park.

Peter – I LOVE dinosaurs, always have. Jurassic Park was one of my favorite movies when growing up, and when Nathan approached me about working on the project, it was a super easy yes.

Brian - I’ve known Jon for years, and when the opportunity to work on a game with him came up, I jumped at the opportunity. The idea for game came when I walked by a pizza place that had a window advertisement for an attraction at a zoo for “Dinosaur Island.” I looked and that and said “Now THAT would be an awesome game.” Jon loved the idea, and so we went running with it.

Nathan - The theme and the design team were what grabbed me, but the physical manipulation of the dice and the DNA tracks works super well. So it was a few rounds of playing the game and I was in. The mechanics and decisions were amazing, and I knew we would streamline any weird bits and

Kwanchai - Nathan and Molly pitched their idea for a heavily 90’s-influenced, neon-soaked miasma of saurian glory. And I thought, “Yes.” “This is a thing I want to do.” It’s also really awesome for an artist when someone wants you to try something different or daring.

Molly - My first thought was: “How in the heck has this not been done before??” And, “Well, this is just pure awesome in its awesomest form.” I loved the theme so much I half expected that the game would not hold up. So, when I started with the lab cooking dinos and moved on to creating an entire flipping amusement park, I was beside myself. So many unique decisions and heavy strategy. Yes, please.

Dinosaur Island at GAMA.

What led to the choice of which dinosaurs to include in the game? For example, my girlfriend is incensed* that the brachiosaurus is not represented, nor the diplodocus.

*not really

Jon - A few hours of wikipedia/google searching for awesome looking dinosaurs. I’m sorry the Diplodocus is so boring looking.

Peter – I requested no micropachycephalosaurus in the game, just based on the fact that the type would be miniscule on the components. Other than that, the list of dinos that were included in the prototype seemed like a good list for me.

Brian - Choice was partially dictated by the three types of dinosaurs that we decided to have in the game: Herbivores, Small Carnivores, and Large Carnivores. Another factor was recognizability - we wanted people to know some of the dinos, and possibly learn about lesser known dinos.

Nathan - Brian and Jon did most of them. And basically all of my faves were in it already, so I kind of nodded in approval at the work of others.

Molly - As noted above, I wanted all Ankylosauruses. Thus anything less, or more in this case, was a serious let down.

The game’s final stretch goal: Amber dice.

One of the most common reactions to the campaign has been how divisive the art has been. I’m firmly in the ‘I don’t love it but massive kudos for doing something new!’ camp. Apart from helping DI stand out from the crowd, could you talk a little about the art direction and visual design of the game?

Peter – When talking with Nathan and Molly fairly early on, the conversation strayed into the late 80s - early 90s visual style. I loved the idea of bold crazy colors and patterns, since you don’t really see that in a lot of games out there right now with that color palette. I’m not going to lie, even after working on this game, I still have no idea why graphic designers made the color and pattern choices that they did.

Brian - I’m not a graphic designer or artist, so I won’t comment on that aspect. What I will say is that I applaud Pandasaurus for not being afraid to take it in a different direction. I mean, it does take place in a theme park with lots of rides and attractions. Take a look at any theme park and you will see bright and bold colors.

Nathan - I read a ton of comics. Like, more than I should. And there has been a couple of really great books over the last few years that are not afraid to be bright and splashy. Paper Girls was a huge inspiration for the style of this game for sure from me. But there is another book called Wicked + Divine which has some really fun pop sensibilities to the art direction there. I also like Sunset Overdrive and what the dudes at Insomniac did with the visual style for that game.

We’re not afraid of color or standing out on a shelf. If some people don’t follow us or don’t like it, that’s ok. Not every game can be for everyone. My opinion is there are a lot of games that look pretty samey. Even games that look super good. I wanted to make a game that went bold, stood out and played real homage to all the awesome dinosaur stuff from the early 90s. Denver the last Dinosaur, Trapper Keepers, etc. We had a lot of fun with Peter looking at terrible print patterns from the 90s and came up with a really good mix of stuff.

Kwanchai - The folks at Pandasaurus have been very driven and passionate about a distinct atmosphere and look for the game. I really like that they started with bold ideas and encouraged me to do the same in the art. Sure, one could say that some of the color choices are a crime, by today’s standards. But I think a boring cover is a far worse offense.

Some of Kwanchai’s art (and humor) on the game’s specialist cards.

Molly - I’m really proud of the color palette and general look of this game. Peter and Kwanchai just hit it right out of the park. Typically board games are a sea of muted yellows and browns. This has confounded me for years. While those colors can work for certain games, I find them drab and boring. When Nathan and I were first talking about the ‘90s look, I really wanted it to be inclusive of what many girls remembered from that era as well. When I was growing up I remember there was a bit of a “dinosaurs are for boys” thing going on. That’s crazy! The first name I think of when I look at Peter’s boards and Kwanchai’s dinos is “Lisa Frank”—queen of animal print, technicolor animals and Trapper Keeper daydreams. This makes Molly a very happy girl.

If I could invite you to speculate; why do you think it took 24 years for a Dinosaur Theme Park Management game to be made?

Jon - We lacked the proper DNA extraction technology.

The previous board game outing was… less exciting.

Peter – I agree with Jon. It’s one of those themes that just makes sense, so I’m not sure why it hasn’t been done before.

Brian - To be honest, I wondered the same thing. Jon and I were excited by the theme, and once we started putting it together, it just made sense.

Nathan - I think as a publisher I often walk into pitch meetings with designers and leave going “why has this not been done already”. This was definitely one of those, and the mechanics were perfect for it. I think really really good ideas are often immediately obvious when you see them. So, for everyone on the outside (myself included) can look back and go “well duh, of course this should be a theme”. But then no one had done it, which means everyone else is way dumber than Jon and Brian.

Molly - I wondered the same thing about “Wasteland Express Delivery Service” (another Jon co-design) when we signed it. Maybe there is some hesitation as to whether or not it will be something that resonates? I’m not sure.

I know that this is a little inside baseball, but were you expecting the game to do as well as it has? Dinosaur Island has beaten out Tammany Hall which was by no means a small game from Pandasaurus.

Dinosaur Island’s stats at time of writing

Nathan - No, no we were not. I mean, I always dream of toppling CMON and buying like a jet and an island and whatever else I assume they all own. But in real world terms I was hoping to do a fraction of what Tammany did, I wanted to fund, but was hoping for at most 4x funding which would be around 60k or so. Just enough to get it out there and get some buzz going.

But, I think it’s a testament to a great design, a great theme and fantastic artwork. Everyone from Peter to Kwanchai to Jon and Brian killed it here, and we’re just the lucky people who get to sell something that is clearly selling itself. I think when you have been in the weeds on a project for as long as we have (nearly 2 years of development and art) you lose the ability to be wowed by a project, even the coolest thing ever. And I think the launch of this game was one of those “oh right, everything that the whole team did here is amazing” and this sort of support is shocking and humbling and a testament to super talented team we were blessed to work with.

Kwanchai - I’m amazed and honored to be part of this project’s success.

Molly - 100% what Nathan said. The first day we just kept looking at each other like, “WHAT IS HAPPENING???” And when we started reading feedback about the game play, the theme and the art it all made so much sense. I still can’t believe how much we lucked out with this team. Seriously, y’all are just the very best. It was a dream.

What was the hardest part of getting the game/project ready to launch?

Nathan - On top of normal game stuff, probably stretch goals and the KS video. I have a friend who is an amazing director of indie horror films, Ben Moody. He is super great and willing to work with us a lot. You should check out his movie Last Girl Standing. It’s available on VOD and DVD I think. It’s pretty new. I hate myself on video.

Molly - Creating the general look and feeling of the campaign was fairly easy because the artwork almost did our job for us. And again, B Moody is just the best. The hardest part is always being in front of the camera. It takes me 50 takes per line because I freeze and generally have the memory of a goldfish.

Ben’s work unfortunately does not feature any sauropods, theropods, or titanosaurs.

What has working on Dinosaur Island taught you that you will carry forward to your next creative endeavour?

Jon - DI changed the way I design games. Brian and I had designed it as a monster game. At one point we cut over 200 tokens/chits/components from the game. It was a great experience that taught me to design minimally at first, and then layer things on.

Peter – I’m inspired to try out more new visual styles for games.

Brian - Watch how people respond when you playtest a game. Learn from their reactions. Take feedback, but don’t take it personally.

Nathan - I think for me this is a game where we measured 10 times and cut once. We knew the project scope from day 1 and stuck to it. I have a habit of adding stuff to games or letting project creep delay a game or run the bill of goods up. This is an example of a game that was purpose built as is from day 1.

Kwanchai - Same as Peter, I really hope to have the opportunity to try new things in board game art.

Molly - The biggest take homes for me were: 1. If you wait for a game you really believe and put your all into it, people will notice. 2. Taking risks can have big rewards, so think outside of the box.

REX MEX. JURASSIC PORK.

Thank you all so much for your time. Do you have anything to say to our readers as the project comes to a close?

Jon - Thank you so much to everyone for your support and faith in our project! I am very proud of it, and I can’t wait to get it into backers hands, and see how they like it!!!

Peter – Thanks SO much for backing. This has been an amazing game to work on. If you want more games like this, consider backing DI on KickStarter. If you want to check out some of the other games I’ve worked on, please visit www.BoardGame.design.

Brian - Thank you everyone for your support. It’s been great interacting with our excited and vocal backers. If you see me at a con, let’s play Dinosaur Island!

Nathan - I can’t thank you for your support enough. If you backed this game and you see me anywhere. GenCon, Origins, BGG Con, the mall, an airport I owe you a handshake, a high five or a hug, whichever you choose. But only one. I have a lot of ya’ll to thank.

Kwanchai - My dad took me to see Jurassic Park in the theaters when I was 9. It was amazing. Even more amazing was how high my dad jumped in that scene when T-rex drops a dismembered goat leg on the jeep. He like...shrieked, and mostly the theater was quiet. It’s not really a scary part at all. Hilarious. For many, I think dinosaurs are special because they are a wrapped up in the memory of childhood: afternoons spent reading about prehistoric lands teeming with strange beasts. Dads leaping out of seats. This one goes out to you, Pops! Thank you to everyone for your support and faith in this game.

Molly - Endless thanks to all of y’all for believing in this game. Your positive energy and word of mouth has given Dinosaur Island an audience far beyond what we initially could have imagined. Thanks for appreciating good design and good art. They are so important. This game marks a big step for our company as this is one of our first games as a solo publisher and we could not be more proud. We love you guys and gals!

Dinosaur Island is on Kickstarter for its final hours.

Dinosaur Island Interview

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