Cardline: Dinosaurs Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
  • The geological timescale
  • The diets
• Object of the game
• Setup
• Game overview
• End of game and victory
• Special case

Contents

110 cards, with the name of an animal and its illustration on the front of each, and, on the back, this same information plus the animal's characteristics.

1. Common name.
2. Scientific name.
3. Illustration.
4. Diet (if nothing is indicated, it's because there isn't enough data to determine it).
5. Geological timescale.
6. Characteristics (the weight of five animals is missing. This is because there isn't enough data to determine it. If you're playing with weight, don't use these cards).

Front side: the illustration, common name, and scientific name.

"Characteristics" side: the same illustration and names, plus the diet, geological timescale, and characteristics.

The geological timescale

The geological timescale is a chronological classification system that makes it possible to date every event since the creation of the Earth. It thus begins more than 4.6 billion years ago.

This timescale is divided into eras (today we are in the Quaternary era), which are themselves divided into periods (one per color) for greater precision. On the back of the cards, we've indicated with small white arrows the single period (one arrow) or the periods (between two arrows) during which these animals lived. This makes it easy to see that dinosaurs did not live at the same time as humans, or even mammoths. We deliberately began the timescale at the Cambrian, which saw the appearance of the first animals with rigid shells, 542 million years ago.

The periods, from most recent to oldest:

• Quaternary
• Neogene
• Paleogene
• Cretaceous
• Jurassic
• Triassic
• Permian
• Carboniferous
• Devonian
• Silurian
• Ordovician
• Cambrian

The diets

The carnivores. These animals consume exclusively animal flesh or tissue. This group contains the piscivores (which eat fish), the insectivores (which eat insects), the scavengers (which eat dead animals), and the carnivores proper (which eat meat).

The herbivores. These animals consume exclusively living plants. This group also contains the frugivores (which eat only fruit), the folivores (which eat only leaves), the granivores (which eat only seeds), the nectarivores (which eat only flower nectar), and the lignivores (which eat only wood).

The omnivores. These animals consume food of both animal and plant origin.

Object of the game

To be the only player who no longer has any cards.

Setup

1. Players sit around the table.

2. Together, they choose who will be the first player, and which characteristic the game will be played with (size or weight).

3. The cards are shuffled.

4. Each player is dealt four cards, "characteristics" side hidden. Under no circumstances should a player look at the back (the "characteristics" side) of their cards. However, players are free to agree among themselves on the number of cards to deal, depending on their experience with the game.

5. The deck of cards is left on the table, "characteristics" side hidden.

6. The first card of the deck (referred to from here on as the initial card) is placed in the center of the table, flipped so its "characteristics" side is showing. This is the card from which the line will be built, in which players will place the cards they have in front of them.

7. You can begin to play!

Setup diagram key:

1. First player
2. Play area
3. Initial card
4. Card deck
5. Cards dealt to players

Game overview

Players take turns clockwise. The first player must place one of their cards next to the initial card:

• If they believe the characteristic of the animal on their card is lower than that of the animal on the initial card, they place their card to its left.
• If they believe the characteristic of the animal on their card is higher than that of the animal on the initial card, they place their card to its right.

Once placed, the player flips their card so its "characteristics" side is showing, in order to check that the value of its characteristic really does match the position it occupies in the line:

• If the card is correctly placed, it is left where it is, "characteristics" side up.
• If the card is incorrectly placed, it is put back in the box. The player must then draw the top card of the deck and place it in front of themselves, "characteristics" side hidden, with their other cards.

First player's turn.

It is then the second player's turn (the player directly to the left of the first player) to play.

• If the first player placed their card correctly, the second player then has a choice of three spots to place one of their cards: to the left of the two cards already placed, to their right, or between the two.
• If the first player placed their card incorrectly, the second player then only has a choice between two spots (to the right or the left of the initial card).
• If the second player places their card correctly, it stays where it is, "characteristics" side up. The line is then simply rearranged so that a space remains between each card.

Second player's turn.

Third player's turn.

Now it's the third player's turn to play.

• If the two players before them placed their cards correctly, they now have a choice of four spots.
• And so on...

End of game and victory

If a player is the only one to correctly place their last card during a round, they are immediately declared the winner. If several players correctly place their last card during the same round, they remain in the game and the others are eliminated. The remaining players each receive a card from the deck, with which they continue playing until only one player places their card correctly.

Special case

During the game, a player may have to place a card with the same characteristic value as one already placed. In that case, the two cards must be placed side by side, without concern for order.