Dino Museum Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• How to Play the Game
  • I. Round Preparation
  • II. Turn Phase
  • Excavations of Dinosaurs
    • Types of Dinosaurs
  • Funding Research
    • Fossil Types
    • Classification of Research Projects
  • Museum Administration
  • III. End of the Round
• End of the Game

Components

• 4 museum boards
• 4 research boards
• 1 fossil bag
• 4 excavation bags
• 40 wooden bones in 5 different colors (10 for each player, 2 of each color per person)
• 32 dinosaurs (4 copies of each of the 8 species)
• 6 round cards
• 2 final round cards
• 14 research tiles
• 32 visitor cards
• 16 fossil pieces
• 4 help cards
• 1 starting player piece
• 1 rulebook

Game Setup

1. Give each player 1 museum board, 1 research board, and 1 help card and have them place it on the table in front of them.
2. Each player then gets an excavation bag with a set of 10 bones (2 of each color) that are to be placed inside their bag. The player then leaves the bag next to their personal boards.
3. Shuffle the round cards and the final round cards separately. Then create a deck by placing 1 final round card face-down in the center of the table and 4 round cards face-down on top of it. The leftover cards are put back in the box as they will not be used in that game.
4. Mix up the 14 research tiles and put them face-down in the center of the table.
5. Shuffle the 32 visitor cards and place them face-down in a deck in the center of the table.
6. Put the 16 fossil tokens into the fossil bag and place it in the center of the table.
7. Create a reserve for the 32 dinosaurs on one side of the table, arranged into groups by type.
8. The last person who went to visit a museum is then given the starting player piece.

How to Play the Game

Each game of Dino Museum is played in 5 rounds. Each round includes the following phases, which must be carried out in this order:

I. Round Preparation II. Turn Phase III. End of the Round

Once the fifth round is completed, the players' points are added up.

I. Round Preparation

Draw the first card of the round from the deck and show it. Then, set up the market in the center of the table according to what is shown on the card. We recommend that you make a row with all the elements in the market.

In order to know which of the elements shown on the card you need to place in the market, you must take into account the number of players in that specific game. In games with 2/3/4 players, there will always be 5/7/9 elements in the market, except in the final round when there is an extra element.

If there are specific dinosaurs on the card, take the matching dinosaurs from the reserve and place them in the market.

If the fossil icon is shown, take the necessary number of fossils from the fossils bag and place them in the market.

If the research icon is shown, draw and turn over the indicated number of research tiles from the stack and put them in the market.

II. Turn Phase

Once the market is ready, the turn phase begins.

Starting with the player who has the starting player piece, and moving clockwise around the table, each person takes their turn.

In your turn, you must randomly select a bone from your personal bag. Then, you must assign it to an available space on your research board that matches the color of the bone. There are some coffee colored spaces that allow you to place any colored bone in them.

Each player starts each round with 10 bones in their bag. In addition to the normal colored bones (Pink, Yellow, White, and Light Blue), there are 2 Grey bones, which are like a wildcard in regard to color. When you assign a Grey bone to an available space on your board, it takes the color of the space where it was placed.

If you complete a column in your board with bones, you must immediately apply the research.

The different spaces that these bones can be assigned to are:

Excavations of Dinosaurs

Dinosaur: when this column is completed, you can take any dinosaur that is available in the market and put it on your museum board, placing it in any available space for dinosaurs. If there are no dinosaurs left in the market, it has no effect. Colors needed to be completed: pink, yellow, white and light blue.

Carnivorous Dinosaur: when this column is completed, you can take any carnivorous (red-colored) dinosaur that is available in the market and put it on your museum board, placing it in any available space for dinosaurs. If there are no carnivorous dinosaurs left in the market, it has no effect. Colors needed to be completed: pink, pink and yellow.

Herbivorous Dinosaur: when this column is completed, you can take any herbivorous (green-colored) dinosaur that is available in the market and put it on your museum board, placing it in any available space for dinosaurs. If there are no herbivorous dinosaurs left in the market, it has no effect. Colors needed to be completed: light blue, light blue and white.

Types of Dinosaurs

There are 4 types of dinosaurs in Dino Museum. Having these dinosaurs in your museum makes it a great success in the city and every dinosaur you have in your museum earns you 1 Victory Point at the end of the game.

Each dinosaur has 2 characteristics: type of diet (carnivore or herbivore) and size (giant or tiny).

Carnivores: are those whose diet depends on eating other dinosaurs and other species of animals. They are considered extremely aggressive. In Dino Museum they are represented by the red color and by the skull icon.

Herbivores: their diet instead is based primarily on consuming plant and flower species. While their physiques may indeed cause a great deal of fear, they only fight with other dinosaurs in order to defend themselves and survive. In Dino Museum they are represented by the green color and by the plant icon.

Giants: stand far above the rest due to their enormous size. Their footsteps cause the ground nearby to shake. In Dino Museum they are represented by larger size figures than the other dinosaurs and the large footprint icon.

Tiny: these beasts scurry and hide in the environment thanks to their small size. They are so quick that they can pop up in front of you in a fraction of a second. In Dino Museum they are represented by smaller figures than the other dinosaurs and the small footprints icon.

Funding Research

Fossil analysis: upon completing this column, you can take any available fossil piece from the market and place it in an available fossil space on your museum board. If there are no available fossils left in the market, it has no effect. Colors needed to be completed: 2 bones of the same color.

Fossil Types

There are 4 types of fossils in Dino Museum, and each of them is related to the 4 different types of dinosaurs: Carnivores, Herbivores, Giants, Tiny.

The discovered fossil will allow scientists to better understand the genetic code of these specimens. The analysis is considered as successful if at the end of the game, the fossil piece in your museum is located between 2 dinosaurs belonging to the type indicated by the fossil. That will give you 2 Victory Points at the end of the game.

Example: in Crichton's museum, a fossil piece belonging to a giant dinosaur has been placed in the center. It is surrounded by 2 giant specimens. The analysis of the fossil is completed correctly and 2 Victory points are granted to the player at the end of the game.

Publication of Research: upon completing this column, you can take any available research tile from the market and place it in an available research space on your museum board. If there are no available research tiles left in the market, it has no effect. Colors needed to be completed: white and yellow.

Classification of Research Projects

A museum is incomplete if it doesn't offer new knowledge to its visitors. Scientific evidence is crucial for getting your research published.

Research is worthy for publication if, at the end of the game, the research tile is surrounded by the necessary evidence. The required evidence may be specific specimens, specimens of one type, or specific fossil pieces (either fulfilled for score or not). Each specimen can only contribute a single type of evidence to complete the research, and one can never be used for 2 requirements. Publishing research work will earn the player 3 Victory Points at the end of the game.

Example: in Huxley's museum, a research tile has been placed on the left side of the museum. It requires the presence of a Triceratops, of a giant dinosaur, and a tiny dinosaur. Since it only has a Triceratops and a tiny dinosaur adjacent to it, it still needs a giant dinosaur specimen before it can be published.

Museum Administration

Visitor Engagement: upon completing this column, you must draw the first visitor card from the deck and place it face-up in any available visitor space. Colors needed to be completed: one bone of any color.

Every visitor has their own favorite dinosaur. If at the end of the game, the visitor's favorite dinosaur is within their field of view, that is, in the first or second space in a straight line in front of them, then they will be a happy museum-goer certain to return frequently to your museum. That earns you 1 Victory Point at the end of the game, regardless of whether you achieve it more than once.

Example: Paulina has come to Conan Doyle's museum eager to see the grand Tyrannosaurus Rex. In front of her she can see a Brontosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, both are in her field of vision. Since she is able to see the Tyrannosaurus Rex, she is overjoyed. The player gets 1 Victory Point.

Speed up Research: upon completing this column, you can immediately draw a new bone from your bag and place it normally in an available space. Colors needed to be completed: one bone of any color.

Request Reinforcements: upon completing this column, you can recover all the bones from columns completed for Dinosaur Excavations and Fund Research (coffee colored actions to the left of the arrow) and put them back in your personal bag. Then, you can immediately draw a new bone from your bag and place it normally in an available space. Colors needed to be completed: one bone of any color.

III. End of the Round

If there are only 2 elements in the market when a player finishes their turn, the round immediately comes to an end, and the following steps are performed:

1. The two remaining elements in the market are discarded and put back in the box.
2. Each player gets back all the bone pieces from their research boards, and puts them back in their personal bag.
3. The starting player piece is handed to the next player to the left of whoever had it in the round that just ended, and that person will be the first player in the new round.
4. A new round begins.

If it is the fifth round that has come to a conclusion, then ignore these steps and instead bring the game to an end and count up the final number of points for each player.

End of the Game

Once the fifth round has come to a close, the game immediately ends and the final score of each player is counted.

Each player checks and sums each of the following elements in their museum to their score:

1. Each dinosaur in the museum is worth 1 Victory Point.
2. Each visitor card who is happy provides 1 Victory Point (see Visitor Engagement).
3. Each successful fossil analysis grants the player 2 Victory Points (see Fossil Types).
4. Each published Research Project gives the player 3 Victory Points (see Classification of Research Projects).

Whoever has the museum that has earned the most Victory Points at the end of the score counting is declared the winner of the game. If there is a tie, the museum that has the most dinosaurs in its exhibition will be the winner. If there is still a tie after that, both museums deserve to win and shall share the victory.

Example: Anning's Museum was able to display 6 dinosaur exhibits (6 Victory Points). 3 out of the 4 visitors are happy to have been able to see their favorite dinosaurs (3 Victory Points). The analysis of the first 2 fossil pieces were completed, while the one on the right is missing the required carnivore specimen (4 Victory Points). On the other hand, the first two Research projects were completed by fulfilling their requirements (6 Victory Points). Anning's Museum achieved a total of 19 Victory Points.