Draftosaurus

The Family Cove

Draftosaurus (2019) Published by Ankama Games

Key Coordinates: 2-5 Players | 15 min | Ages 8+

Diving into Gameplay: Each player begins with a zoo board and 6 dinosaurs. One player takes a die and rolls it to reveal one of the following: Woodlands, Grasslands, Restrooms, Food Court, Empty Pen, or Watch Out for T-Rex. This means whenever the die rolls onto that face, the other players must abide by the die roll. For example, if it lands on the woodlands, the other players have to place a dinosaur in the Woodlands area. The perk to being the one who rolled here is that you can place your dinosaur anywhere on the board. Choose a dinosaur from your current selection, place it in the Dino Zoo (or player board), and everyone passes their dinosaurs to the next player. This continues until 6 dinosaurs have been placed for round one, and then again another six dinosaurs for round 2. The board has different strategic areas for placing your dinosaur meeples. One section includes trying to group as many of the same dinosaurs as possible, one is all different dinosaurs, another is collecting pairs of dinosaurs, etc. After all dinosaurs have found spots in the zoo, players tally up their points, and the player with the highest score has the best zoo and wins!

Splashes of Fun: This is a very light and easy game about drafting dinosaurs, with adorable dinosaur meeples to pass around the table. There’s no cards in this drafting game, just colorful dinosaurs to make their rounds. It takes minutes to teach and the game moves quickly. This makes it a perfect fit for busy families or squirmy kids. The dinosaur zoo theme captivates the imagination of children and adults, yet plays fast enough that you can get a game played in a short amount of time, or multiple games with extra time. Another added bonus is when you get tired of the “Summer Side” of the board, you can flip it over to the “Winter Side” and have a whole new twist on the placement rules. Add on the Marina and/or Aerial Expansion, and you have endless opportunities to create your perfect dino zoo.