Dinosaur Island DNA and the Research Phase

The Research Phase is the only phase where every player competes for the same small set of spaces, one placement at a time. It is also where most of your DNA comes from. Getting it right is less about luck with the dice and more about matching the right scientist to the right slot.

How the research center works

The first player rolls the dice pool, 2 dice per player plus 1, and sets one die in each slot. Then, in turn order, each player places one scientist at a time, three rounds around the table. Each slot takes one scientist. Your options:

• Research DNA: claim a die and gain its DNA symbols times your scientist’s level.
• Increase cold storage: take one of the six storage slots and raise your limits by your scientist’s level, split across any DNA types.
• Procure a recipe: take the face-up herbivore, small carnivore, or large carnivore. They need a scientist of at least level 1, 2, or 3.
• Pass: move one unplaced scientist into your worker pool for this round.

The multiplier is the whole game here

A die showing two basic DNA is worth 2 to your level 1 scientist, 4 to your level 2, and 6 to your level 3. The same die is worth three times as much depending on who claims it. That makes your level 3 scientist the most valuable piece you place each round.

Use it where the multiplier lands in full:

• On a die with two DNA symbols, if your storage can hold all six.
• On the large carnivore recipe, which only a level 3 scientist can take.
• On a rare face, if one appears. The extra worker and paddock upgrade need level 3 and are not multiplied, so they waste the multiplier but give something DNA cannot.

Your level 1 scientist is best used where level does not matter much: the herbivore recipe, a die with one symbol you need exactly one of, or a pass.

Storage is the hidden limit

You start with limits of 4 for each basic DNA and 2 for each advanced DNA. Anything over the limit is lost the moment you gain it.

That makes cold storage a quiet power move. A level 2 or level 3 scientist on storage gives 2 or 3 extra spaces, permanently. Later in the game, when your level 3 scientist could triple a die, a limit of 4 caps it. Raising storage early means your big claims are worth their full value.

Storage also helps with objectives like “Have 12 DNA in cold storage,” which appears in the rulebook’s recommended first game.

Advanced DNA: claim it or refine it

Green, red, and orange DNA are advanced, and many recipes need at least one. The rulebook’s own example, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, needs three. You can get advanced DNA three ways:

• Claim a die showing advanced DNA.
• Buy it in the market: $4 for 1, or $5 for 2.
• Refine it in the Worker Phase. DNA Refinement turns two specific basic DNA into one advanced DNA, once per activation. On the DNA Refinement I printed on your lab, blue and purple make green, pink and blue make red, and purple and pink make orange.

Refining costs a worker and two basic DNA for each advanced DNA. If your recipe needs three advanced DNA, refining all of it takes three refinement actions and six basic DNA. Plan which source you will use before you take an expensive recipe. DNA Refinement II, $5 in the market, upgrades your refinement action.

When passing is the strongest move

A pass turns a scientist into a worker for the Worker Phase. That extra worker can create a dinosaur, raise security, or collect money from Venture Capital. Pass when:

• The dice left would overflow your storage.
• You have DNA for two dinosaurs but only workers for one.
• Nothing left on the board helps your plan.

Research level does nothing when you pass, so pass with your level 1 scientist whenever you can.

The die you leave behind

After everyone places, the leftover die with the most threat pips goes to the holding area and adds to everyone’s threat in the Park Phase. That makes the last placements interesting. Claiming the only 3 pip die lowers the threat for the whole table, which helps you most when your security is low. Leaving it can hurt a rival who skipped security. Reading your rivals at Level 3 comes back to this.

A placement order that works

1. Level 3 scientist on the claim that matters most, before someone else takes it.
2. Level 2 scientist on storage or a second die.
3. Level 1 scientist on the herbivore recipe, a one symbol die, or a pass.

Change the order when the board demands it, but start from that habit.