Dinosaur Island Expansions: Totally Liquid and the Spin-offs

Dinosaur Island has grown into a small family of games. There is one expansion for the base game, Totally Liquid, and three other games set in the same world. This lesson covers what each adds and how to choose. Everything here builds on the base game, Dinosaur Island from Pandasaurus Games.

Totally Liquid at a glance

Totally Liquid was funded on Kickstarter in 2018, in the same campaign as the X-treme Edition of the base game and Duelosaur Island. It needs the base game to play. The announced contents included a park board, lab board, 9 workers, and 3 scientists for a fifth player, plus 6 facility boards, 6 dice, 52 cards, 13 tiles, and more.

Its modules, as described in Pandasaurus’s announcement and in reviews:

• A fifth player. A new park and lab, so Dinosaur Island seats five.
• Water dinosaurs. A new class of dinosaurs that live in water.
• Secret blueprints. Hidden goals that award points.
• Executive workers. Special workers with unique abilities for each company.
• New facilities. Six facility boards, each with its own special rules.
• The Mega Rex. An extra-dangerous dinosaur.
• More of everything. New cards, tiles, and dice to mix into the base game.

How to add Totally Liquid

The expansion is modular, so treat it like a set of options:

1. The fifth player first, if you need it. It is the only module that changes who can play. With five players, the shared phases get more crowded than the four player game in the player counts lesson.
2. New objectives, plot twists, and tiles next. They mix into what you already know without new rules to teach.
3. One big module at a time. Water dinosaurs, executives, blueprints, or facilities. Each adds rules and decisions, and each will make a game run longer.

Facilities and executives bring the most new rules text, so read their cards before the game, not during it.

Strategy shifts to expect

Without the full rules confirmed here, a few principles from the base game carry over:

• Anything that adds threat still needs security. A more dangerous dinosaur is only worth it if you can secure it.
• Anything that adds workers is strong early. Executive workers follow the same logic as specialists: buy engine early, points late.
• Hidden goals change reading the table. With secret blueprints, you cannot see everyone’s targets. Watch what rivals buy instead.

Duelosaur Island

Duelosaur Island is a standalone two player game from the same 2018 campaign. It uses hand management and dice drafting instead of the base game’s full worker placement, and its box includes 5 new DNA dice that also work with the original game. It is a good fit for couples or two friends who like the theme but want a shorter game.

Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write

Dinosaur Island: Rawr ‘n Write turns the game into a roll-and-write. Players draft dice and use them as workers to collect DNA, hire specialists, build attractions, and grow a park on a sheet, while keeping security high enough that visitors do not go missing. It was funded on Kickstarter alongside Dinosaur World, and retailers list it as a 2021 release.

Dinosaur World

Dinosaur World is the sequel, from the same campaign as Rawr ‘n Write. It keeps worker placement and park building, and adds tile laying and route building with jeeps. It is its own game, not an expansion.

The X-treme Edition

The 2018 campaign also offered an X-treme Edition of the base game with upgraded components. It plays the same game. If you see one used, it is a deluxe copy of the game this course teaches, not a different ruleset.

How to choose

• You love the base game and want more variety: Totally Liquid, one module at a time.
• You have five players: Totally Liquid’s fifth player.
• You mostly play with two: Duelosaur Island, or the base game at two.
• You want a shorter game with the same theme: Rawr ‘n Write.
• You want a new park-building puzzle: Dinosaur World.

Our piece on whether expansions are worth it has a broader way to decide, for this game and every other one on your shelf.