Dino-Checkers Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• The Dino-Checkers Game
• Getting Ready to Play
  • Starting Position
• Playing the Game
• Capturing
• King of the Dinosaurs
• Try These Other Checkers Games
  • The Mighty King
  • Losing Checkers
  • Team Checkers

Contents

• Dino-Checkers gameboard
• 2 prehistoric landscapes
• 12 Stegosaurus dinosaurs
• 12 Apatosaurus dinosaurs
• 12 Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs (6 of each color)

The Dino-Checkers Game

To play this game, follow the same rules as for checkers. The Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus dinosaurs are played in the same way as single checkers. Make these dinosaurs "kings" by exchanging them for Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs. Store any captured pieces or the Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs on the prehistoric landscapes.

If you have never played checkers before, or if you need to refresh your memory, read the rules on the following pages. If you're already a checkers expert, try some of the new game ideas on page 4!

Getting Ready to Play

1. Each player chooses either Stegosaurus or Apatosaurus dinosaurs to use as checkers. Each player also receives 6 Tyrannosaurus rex "kings" that are the same color as his or her other dinosaurs.
2. Each player faces the checkerboard so that a dark, rocky square is in the lower left corner. The players place the Stegosaurus and Apatosaurus dinosaurs on the rocky squares only, covering the squares in the first three rows from the edge. The dinosaurs always stand or move on the rocks. They can't go onto the hot, molten lava of the red squares!
3. Place the prehistoric landscapes next to each player's side of the checkerboard. Display the Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs on the volcano until they are used as "kings" later in the game. Captured dinosaurs are thrown into each player's tar pit!

Starting Position

(Diagram on the printed sheet labelled "Starting Position", showing an Apatosaurus and a Stegosaurus on the rocky squares.)

Playing the Game

1. Players take turns moving their dinosaurs. Decide which dinosaur moves first.
2. Move the dinosaurs diagonally on the rocks, one square at a time, except when capturing. (Printed diagram labelled "This" and "Not This" shows the permitted and forbidden moves.)

Capturing

3. You capture another player's dinosaur when it is in a diagonal square ahead of you and the next square along the same line is empty. Jump over the other player's dinosaur and remove it from the board. Place this "extinct" dinosaur in the tar pit of your prehistoric landscape. (Printed diagram labelled "Not This" shows a capture that is not allowed.)
   • If you capture a dinosaur and then capture another dinosaur in the next square, you may continue moving forward and make a double capture! You may change direction, as long as you continue to move forward at a diagonal.
   • When you are able to make a capture, you must do so.
   • If you are able to make a capture in two directions, you may choose which capture you want to make.

King of the Dinosaurs

4. The row of rock squares closest to your opponent is your king row. When a Stegosaurus or Apatosaurus reaches this row, exchange it for a Tyrannosaurus rex of the same color. Tyrannosaurus rex, whose name means tyrant lizard king, is king of the dinosaurs.
   • Tyrannosaurus rex can move both forward and backward, even when making several captures in a series. Like the other dinosaurs, however, Tyrannosaurus rex can only capture a dinosaur in the next square. It cannot skip across empty squares.
   • Tyrannosaurus rex can be captured in the same way the other dinosaurs are captured.
5. A player wins the game by capturing all of the other players' dinosaurs. Occasionally, both players may agree to call the game a "draw." This happens when few playing pieces remain and neither player is able to capture the rest of the opponent's dinosaurs.

Try These Other Checkers Games

The Mighty King

This game is played by the same rules as Dino-Checkers except that the Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaurs can move any distance over empty squares along a diagonal to capture another dinosaur.

Losing Checkers

Have fun trying to lose! The object of this game is to get rid of all of your dinosaurs. The first player to have all of his or her dinosaurs captured is the winner.

Team Checkers

Form teams of two or more players, one for the Stegosaurus dinosaurs and one for the Apatosaurus dinosaurs. The team members may talk about each move before a play is made.