Dinosaur Island is a light-medium economic Eurogame where players operate a theme p- er, I mean: IT HAS FREAKING DINOSAURS!

They do move in herds.

Dinosaur Island is a joyously fun game of park management, racing to complete the most objectives using your team of scientists, workers, specialists, and rapidly dwindling finances. Grow dinosaurs, construct restaurants and roller coasters, and sell tickets to the greatest park of (and I mean this literally) all time.

There's no unauthorized breeding in Jura- Dinosaur Island.

In choosing the first word to describe the game’s aesthetic and production value I struggle between Lavish and Ostentatious. The Deluxe edition is so ludicrously heavy (and the game itself a Twilight Imperium-level table hog) that there’s a very real sense that Pandasaurus Games were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.

While the components are luxurious to a fault, the art is a riot of creative economy by the incredibly talented Kwanchai Moriya, who here is experimenting with photo realism but mostly diving back into cutesy ridiculousness.

To play Dinosaur Island is to bounce between humming the Jurassic Park theme song and the cold calculations of balancing your balance sheet. Grow the park to accommodate the people and dinosaurs who come to it, develop your workforce and infrastructure needs, and making sure reptilian attractions attract customers without breaking loose and killing them. (Too much)

Clever girl.

There are a lot of clever twists to the gameplay - do you pursue ruthless expansionism over the protests of your security department or slow, compassionate careful parkbuilding? A T. Rex heavy park or one overflowing with herbivores?

Employing randomized objectives, attractions, and even mixing up the core game rules - Dinosaur Island will be a destination you visit again and again as you dream up new and better ways to meddle with evolution and balance your bottom line.

The game’s light competitive elements never descends into cruelty (no blocking the Grow Dinosaur space) Dinosaur Island is an almost perfect game in its genre. Much thought and deliberation has been given to balancing and streamlining. It's a very elegant piece of design… almost too elegant.

Every time I play I find myself craving more park management. Surely Raptor Nuggets need to be next to their eponymous exhibit, and the herbivores kept away from the carnivores. While I understand why such nitty gritty was streamlined out - fortunately these elements will be present in the Totally Liquid expansion, available RIGHT NOW on Kickstarter - giving me a greater sense of ownership over my park and its day to day operations.

In any case, tie your seatbelt together for this trip to Dinosaur Island. Guests are strongly encouraged not to pet, feed, or provoke the exhibits. Whether or not you buy a commemorative T-Shirt, you'll remember your trip to the park for a long time to come. Highly recommended.

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Related articles: My interview with the entire Dinosaur Island crew, and interview with artist Kwanchai Moriya

http://www.dinganddentcast.com/archives/dinosaur-island-interview

http://www.dinganddentcast.com/archives/spotlight-kwanchai-moriya

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