Reading Your Rivals in Dinosaur Island

The Worker Phase is private and simultaneous. Nothing you do there touches anyone else. But two phases are shared: the research center, where players place scientists one at a time, and the market, where they take actions one at a time. Those two phases are where you can read the table and act on it. This lesson covers what to look at and what to do with it.

Everything is public

A rival’s whole plan sits in front of them:

• Recipes in their park tell you the DNA they need.
• Their cold storage chart tells you how much they have and how much room is left.
• Threat and security on their lab tell you how exposed they are to the holding die.
• Specialists and lab upgrades tell you their worker count and what slots they can use.
• Excitement and capacity tell you whether they need attractions.
• Their money tells you what they can afford.

You do not need to track all of it. Each round, focus on the player closest to you in score and the player closest to claiming an objective.

Contesting the research center

Each slot takes one scientist, and placements go around the table one at a time. That makes the research center a draft.

• Their key die. If a rival needs exactly one advanced DNA to finish a carnivore, the die that gives it is worth more to them than it may be to you. Taking it with your level 1 scientist costs you little and can cost them a dinosaur.
• The recipe they can use. The large carnivore needs a level 3 scientist. If a rival has saved their level 3 scientist and has the DNA for the face-up large carnivore, they are probably about to take it.
• Storage slots. There are six. In a 4 player game with 12 scientists, they can run short.

Denial only makes sense when it costs you less than it costs them. Using your level 3 scientist to deny is rarely worth it.

Steering the holding die

After all scientists are placed, the leftover die with the most threat pips goes to the holding area and adds its pips to everyone’s threat. Since the remaining dice are visible as placements go, the last few placements decide which die that will be.

Read the table’s security:

• If your security comfortably covers your threat plus 3, a high holding die cannot hurt you. Leaving the 3 pip die unclaimed hurts every rival whose security is short.
• If you are short on security, claiming the 3 pip die protects you, and it may still give useful DNA.
• If every die gets claimed, nothing goes to the holding area at all. In 4 player games, with 9 dice and 12 scientists, that can happen.

This is one of the few ways to affect another player’s Park Phase directly.

Market denial

Buying DNA from a row lets you discard one item from that row, except the special upgrades. The rulebook’s example uses it to remove a specialist a rival wanted. The best targets:

• A specialist that would give a rival their extra worker.
• An attraction a rival needs for capacity.
• A lab upgrade a rival needs for an objective such as “Buy 3 lab upgrades.”

It works best when you needed DNA anyway, so the denial is free.

Also watch what slides. A strong item ignored this round arrives a row cheaper next round. If you go before a rival in turn order next round, you may get it then.

Turn order as a resource

Turn order is set by score, lowest first, with ties keeping last round’s order. Players near the bottom of the score track pick first at the research center and the market. A player who skips scoring a few points, for example by taking money at a food attraction instead of VPs, may move earlier in turn order. Know who will pick first next round before you decide how greedy to be this round.

Reading the end

Watch rivals’ progress on the open objectives. When a rival is one dinosaur or one upgrade away from a claim that would trigger the end, that changes your round. The objectives lesson covers whether to race them into the same phase or prepare for the last round.

A reading checklist

1. Who is closest to me in score, and what die or item do they need?
2. Who is short on security, and which die will end up in the holding area?
3. Who picks first next round?