Ranch with dinosaurs. Dino Dude Ranch Review

DINO DUDE RANCH REVIEW

 In Dino Dude Ranch , each player tries to catch Triceratops, Stegosaurus and the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex by luring them out of the Jurassic hunting grounds with their favorite food and bringing them back to their own dinosaur ranch. You and your mercenaries will have to act fast to fill your ranch with dinosaurs before tar pits cover your land.

PREPARATION FOR THE GAME

 Preparing Dino Dude Ranch for a party is simple and quick. The Jurassic Hunting Lands field is located in the middle of the table and is filled with 4 dinosaurs randomly drawn from the bag. Food tokens (leaves, fish, meat) are placed within reach of all players, hired hand cards are placed in their places on the hunting grounds, and tar pit tiles are stacked nearby. Each player takes a two-sided ranch field (the 15-space "day" side is for 2-4 player games, while the "night" side is for 5-player games), one hired hand card from the deck, and a Farmer Bonus card (which is also is for reference). Keep the bonus card hidden from other players. Finally choose the first player and you are ready to play.

GAME PROCESS

 A player's turn consists of 1-4 actions. Players always roll the dice and collect the corresponding resources. Players can also discard a hired hand (take the top card from the stack) or a tar pit (add a tar pit to their ranch). Players can then capture up to 2 dinosaurs (subject to resources), purchase up to 2 hired hand cards (2 resources of any type per card), or play a single card.

 The game continues in this way until one player has filled his ranch OR all dinosaurs have been captured (both the hunting grounds and the bag are empty). Players add the total of all the dinosaurs, including the points from the sets found on their hidden bonus cards, and then subtract their tar pit cards. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

CARDS OF HIRED HANDS

 Hired Hand cards fall into a few broad categories: cards that give you resources, cards that let you take extra dinosaurs from hunting grounds or steal them from your opponents, and cards that give you points. Most cards must be played on your turn, but some cards allow you to play them during any player's turn. They usually allow you to prevent another player from taking an action or to influence another player's action.

 The cards definitely transform Dino Dude Ranch from what could be a fairly bland game into one with some strategy and planning involved. At any moment, another player can steal a dinosaur from your deck for themselves, or force you to roll a die with the resource you need. Smart use of hired hand cards will definitely affect the course of the game.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE GAME

 Dino Dude Ranch Box - Tank. It's so heavy that I joked with the designer on Twitter that I could stand on it. The visuals and illustrations are fun and colorful, but not flashy or overly bright. The Dino and Tar Pit tiles are thick and well printed, and the pouch that stores them is quite well made. Elastic and very easy to grip to pull out the tile. In fact, for any game that uses figure bags, I'd like them to use the same type of bag. Hired Hand cards have a nice linen finish and are easy to read. Food Tokens are beautiful coin-sized cardboard discs with distinct color and iconography. The cubes are excellent with deep indentations for icons, they hold well in the hand.

 The gameplay is easy to learn and quite fun. At any given turn, you never know what you might roll out. Will this be the only resource you need? An employee card that will help you? Or will it be a tar pit taking up precious space on your land? The cost of luring dinosaurs to your ranch is low enough that it usually only takes one or two turns to collect the necessary resources, and the turns take such a short amount of time that even my 5-year-old didn't lose patience or get bored.

 If you backed the Kickstarter at the Deluxe level, you were upgraded to wooden bits instead of cardboard. I stuck with the base level but decided to get the deluxe set which added Veloceraptor tiles and nice wooden components.

WHAT ARE THE CONS?

 There are only a few things that bother me about Dino Dude Ranch, and most of them are purely cosmetic. The drawing, although good, is not my personal style. Also, some of the graphic design elements could use a bit of improvement and overall improvement.

 Hand cards are the same height as poker cards, but about half the width. Because of this, it is difficult to shuffle them. The text on the Hired Hands cards is easy to read, but they could benefit from some shortening. Anytime you can remove text from something and keep it legible, it's a win for everyone.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS

 My family really likes playing this game and so do I. My 10-year-old sister even invited her friend to play the game. I could see the wheels turning in my sister's head about how she could use the Hired Hands cards to stop her friend from doing various things. My 5 year old brother really likes this game and he likes to buy dinosaurs, place them on his ranch and pull new tiles out of the bag.

 I was pleasantly surprised after playing this game. I was expecting something that my family would enjoy, but I would just put up with this game. Letimann Games have done a great job of creating a game that is truly family fun. If you get the chance to pick up Dino Dude Ranch, don't miss it.

USEFUL LINKS

Dino Dude Ranch on BGG

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/170477/dino-dude-ranch

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