How do you make an ecosystem flourish with just enough of every life form in the chain to supply you with dinosaurs to dominate the lands? Resources are scarce, animals can go extinct in an area, and everyone must eat to survive — so moves must be cunning. Life hangs in the balance...
In Gods Love Dinosaurs, a cheeky, wild, and timeless take on the scientific tale as old as life itself, you are a god who has been tasked with designing an ecosystem with a sustainable food chain of predator and prey animals. But you just love dinosaurs, so all you really want to do is to make as many of them as possible!
Each turn, you'll add one tile to your ecosystem, which will add new animals and give them room to grow. Every so often, your dinosaurs will tromp around your ecosystem eating all the animals. The more they eat, the more eggs they lay — and the more points you score! Just be careful not to overeat, or there won't be enough food to keep your dinosaurs alive the next time.
—description from the publisher
- dinosaurs theme, family-friendly
- new IP may be less known
- dinosaurs survival through feeding relationships
- dinosaurs in a primitive world
- ecosystem-driven tile placement
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- resource/food chain management — feed dinosaurs and predators
- tile placement — place tiles to form habitats
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "we're going to go through all the games that we bought"
- "we acquired them"
- "we made it"
References (from this video)
- Underrated, elegant design
- Good balance of depth and accessibility
- Not as widely known as top-tier euros
- dinosaurs as part of a broader ecosystem
- ecology and food chain in a playful pantheon
- accessible and thematic
- Dominant Species
- Dinosaur World
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- set collection — collect tiles to unlock scoring combos
- tile drafting — draft ecosystem tiles to shape the board
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's an insanely huge sprawling game that takes up a table
- I love Gods Love Dinosaurs, it's a game I still am shocked that more people don't talk about
- I freaking love Jurassic Park
- Draftosaurus is simple and quick; it's a great starter
References (from this video)
- Shows food chain
- Shows circle of life
- Dinosaurs
- Food chain
- Nature
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- moments during board games that formulate memories that you'll never forget
- there's just something for everyone
- it's all about the people
- the board gaming space has allowed me to just have so many incredible fun moments that i'll never forget
- it chose us via christy
- we're gonna have it at jeff's parents basement everybody's coming
- agricola sucks and everybody else seems to love it
- arnak is severely overrated
- i don't think gloomhaven should be number one on the list anymore
- humans are not good at rating things
- my nine is different than your nine