Uh Oh, Dino! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Pieces
• The Goal
• Setup
• Start with the First Earthquake
• On Your Turn
  • 1. Draw a Turn Token
  • 2. Take Actions
  • 3. Trigger Lava or Earthquakes
• Turn Actions
  • MOVE
  • STOMP
  • ALLEY-OOP
• Bonus Actions
  • PICK-UP and DROP-OFF EGGS automatically
  • EAT or STORE fruit for dino super powers
  • Dino Super Powers
• Lava and Earthquakes
  • UH OH, LAVA!
  • UH OH, EARTHQUAKE!
  • Lost Valley Tiles
• Tips & Strategies
• Game End
• When Playing with Littles
• Do You Survive?!
• Fact or Fiction? (Is This Game Completely Accurate?)

Game Pieces

• 4 Dino Pawns and 4 Dino Cards
• 12 Eggs
• 3-Piece Home Tile
• 12 Valley Tiles
• Earthquake Track (Challenge side and Easygoing side) and Earthquake Die
• 16 Earthquake Tokens, 14 Lava Tokens, 12 Fruit Tokens
• Draw Bag and 42 Turn Tokens
• Super Fruit Card

The Goal

We are a daring dino family working together cooperatively to save our herd's precious eggs from a crumbling valley rocked by quakes and lava!

The game ends when all remaining eggs are safe, the last quake hits, or any dino is lost. Then we'll find out if our herd survives -- our fate depends on how many eggs we rescue!

Setup

1. Assemble the 3-piece home tile.
2. Shuffle then randomly place the 12 valley tiles in pairs of two below the home tile, with wider edge at the bottom as shown. (Left: footprint, fish, shell tiles; Right: fern, skull, leg bone tiles.)
3. Place an egg on each mark on the valley tiles.
4. Place all turn tokens into the draw bag and give it a shake.
5. Place the super fruit card within view of all players.
6. Place the earthquake die and earthquake track nearby with the track's Challenge side face up. For a gentler game, turn the track's Easygoing side face up.
7. Each player: Choose a dino pawn. Place it on the nest space of the home tile. Place its matching dino card in front of you.
   • In a 2-player game: Each player controls two dinosaurs. Place both your dinos' cards in front of you next to one another. This is the order you will play your dinos. On your turn, play the left dino's turn completely, then play the turn for your right dino.
8. Pick a first player. Play will pass to the right around the table, from dino card to dino card in a counter-clockwise direction.

Need help picking a first player? Gather all the dino cards in play and shuffle them together, dino-side facedown. Flip over the top card. The player for that dino goes first.

Start with the First Earthquake

During the game, earthquakes will shift valley tiles right and left. If valley tiles shift too much they can be lost, possibly triggering the end of the game! (See Lost Valley Tiles.)

Play always begins with an earthquake of strength 2, indicated by the black, left-most space on the earthquake track showing "2."

To trigger the first earthquake:

1. Roll the Earthquake Die. The top symbol tells you where the earthquake hits.
2. Slide the Valley Tiles. Find the two matching valley tiles. Shift each matching tile two spaces towards the side with that symbol.

Example: the first earthquake die rolled the fern, so the fern valley tiles are shifted two spaces to the right.

On Your Turn

1. Draw a Turn Token

Without looking, pull one turn token out of the draw bag.

Turn tokens have two sides and you will use both sides on your turn:

• Front: a footprint showing how many actions you can take.
• Back: a green super fruit, black earthquake, or red lava pit.

Turn tokens have different shapes. Spikier tokens are more likely to give more actions, but also more likely to trigger earthquakes or lava. You can feel around for different tokens but no peeking!

2. Take Actions

Spend your turn actions as any combination of MOVE, STOMP, or ALLEY-OOP in any order. They each cost one turn action.

• MOVE one space in any direction, including diagonally.
• STOMP: shift the valley tile you are on left or right one space!
• ALLEY-OOP with a neighboring dino -- jump over them OR swing them over you.

You can also do bonus actions: pick-up/drop-off eggs for free or EAT/STORE super fruit to use dino super powers. These bonus actions can happen before, after, or between your other actions. (See Actions and Bonus Actions.)

3. Trigger Lava or Earthquakes

If your turn token is red or black, uh oh! Something unlucky is happening at the end of your turn! Plan carefully!

• Red -- Uh oh, Lava! A bubbling pit of lava will appear, creating impassable spaces.
• Black -- Uh oh, Earthquake! An earthquake will trigger, shifting valley tiles right and left.

(See Lava and Earthquakes.)

Turn Actions

MOVE

MOVE one space in any direction. You can't move onto the same space as another dino.

The top green nest space counts as one giant space and from it you can move to any of the 6 purple spaces directly below.

STOMP

STOMP to shift your current tile left or right one space. You can only stomp on valley tiles. You can't stomp on any spaces on the home tile.

Valley tiles can push other valley tiles if stomped into them. Example: green dino can stomp to slide the footprint tile right. If they stomp twice they will push the bone tile right too!

ALLEY-OOP

ALLEY-OOP to partner jump with an adjacent dino. Alley-oops must be in a straight line over exactly one dino.

To perform these alley-oops, green dino can jump over pink on green's turn OR pink dino can swing green dino over them on pink's turn.

When in the nest you can alley-oop with any dinos on the 6 spaces on the row below the nest space.

Before moving another player's dino with an alley-oop action, it's good manners to ask their permission!

Bonus Actions

PICK-UP and DROP-OFF EGGS automatically

When your dino moves onto a space with an egg, you must pick the egg up. This does not cost an action. You can only carry one egg at a time. If you are already carrying an egg then you can't move into that space. When you reach the top nest space on the home tile you automatically drop off your egg.

EAT or STORE fruit for dino super powers

If your turn token has a green back, you've found some super fruit. Each green token is worth 1 or 2 fruit. Eat it on your turn or store it for later:

• Eat fruit tokens on your turn to activate special dino super powers by placing the tokens on an empty stomach spot on your dino card. Eat enough fruit to activate a power, but once your three spots are full, you can't eat any more.
• Store fruit on the shared super fruit card to be eaten later by any player's dino on their turn. You can combine fruit you drew on your turn with stored fruit tokens.

Dino Super Powers

Lava Slide Power -- Cost: 1. Use during your turn to move any single lava token on any valley tile one space in any direction -- left, right, up, down, or diagonal.

Mighty Stomp Power -- Cost: 2. Use during your turn to shift any single valley tile anywhere one space in either direction.

Quake Cast Power -- Cost: 3. Use on your turn right before an earthquake to choose the symbol the quake hits. There must be at least one valley tile in play with that symbol.

Lava and Earthquakes

UH OH, LAVA!

If your token back is red, then a bubbling pit of lava will appear at the end of your turn!

After your actions are complete, you must place the token -- lava side up -- on a space adjacent to your dino. Dinos can't walk on spaces with lava tokens.

The adjacency requirements for placing lava tokens are the same as moving your dino. This means that if you end your turn on the nest space, you can place a lava token on any of the bottom 6 spaces of the home tile, assuming they are empty.

You can't place lava on an already-placed lava token, on another dino, or the top nest space of the home tile. If you place lava on a space with an egg on it, that egg is lost to the lava -- remove it from the game.

Example: Green dino must place a lava token. In this situation the only available space is on the adjacent egg, which would then be removed from the game.

If you cannot place your lava token, your dino is lost to the lava and the game ends immediately!

UH OH, EARTHQUAKE!

If your token back is black with white circles, an earthquake will strike at the end of your turn! After your actions are complete:

1. Roll the Earthquake Die. The top symbol shows where the quake hits. If it's no longer available on any valley piece in play, roll again.
2. Check the Earthquake Track. Follow the dotted line from the black starting earthquake indicator. The next uncovered circle shows the next quake's intensity (how many spaces it will shift the valley tiles it hits).
3. Slide the Valley Pieces. Find the valley tiles with the rolled symbol. Shift each tile towards the direction of the symbol.
4. Advance the Earthquake Track. Place the token, black side up, over the current earthquake space, marking that it has now passed.

Example: The earthquake die came up fish, and the two fish valley tiles are moved one space to the left.

Lost Valley Tiles

After an earthquake, check if any valley tiles are disconnected completely from the home tile. If they are, they are lost -- along with any eggs, dinos, or lava tokens on them! Remove them from the game. Tiles are connected even if only touching diagonally.

Example: The fern tiles in this example have moved 2 spaces right and so both are lost. The bottom fern tile also takes the bottom bone tile with it since it's also no longer connected to the home tile. Note that the lower footprint tile on the left is still connected because its spaces are still diagonally adjacent to its neighbors.

Tips & Strategies

If your dino team is having trouble rescuing all 12 eggs, here are some tips to help you succeed:

• Tend the Valley. Gathering eggs is key but so is keeping the valley in one piece. Remember to use stomp actions to repair the valley and give your team more time. If you drew an earthquake token, you'll want to look at how big that quake will be and decide if you need to spend your turn trying to limit the potential damage of the earthquake.
• Strategize Your Stopping Place. Sometimes it's best to choose your end-of-turn location to set up an alley-oop or clear the way for other dinos. If you drew a lava token, you'll want to make sure you end your turn at a good location to place the lava pit.
• Don't Forget Those Super Fruit. Eating fruit at the right moment can help manage the lava and shifting valley tiles. Be sure to keep an eye on whose dino tummy is getting full!
• Feel It Out. The turn tokens have different shapes. The spikier the token, the more likely it is to be an earthquake or lava but also to have more actions! Try to draw smoother tokens at moments when a particular dino or egg would be at risk and spikier tokens when you feel a little safer.
• Take It Easygoing. If you're finding the Challenge side of the earthquake track too tough, try the Easygoing side.

Game End

The game ends if any of the following are true:

• All remaining eggs are on the home tile, either in the nest or carried by a dino on the bottom six spaces.
• You survive the final quake on the earthquake track.
• A dino is lost to lava or a valley collapse.

The end of the game isn't the end of your story: Your herd's survival depends on the success of your next generation -- and that depends on how many eggs you saved and a little bit of luck. Turn to the back of this rulebook to find out your fate!

When Playing with Littles

Younger players tend to focus on picking up eggs. Older players can support them by taking on more strategic roles like stomping to keep the valley from collapsing and setting up alley-oop moves for younger players' dinos!

Do You Survive?!

Once the game ends, it's time to check the fossil record to see if your herd survived:

1. Count all the eggs safely on the home tile.
2. Check the guide below to see which fossils will signal your survival.
3. Roll the earthquake die. If you roll one of those fossils, congratulations, your herd has survived! (for now...)

Eggs Saved	What you must roll to survive
12	Great job! You've guaranteed your dino family's survival no matter your roll.
11	Shell, fern, fish, footprint, or bone. Two rerolls.
10	Shell, fern, fish, or footprint. Two rerolls.
9	Shell, fern, fish, or footprint. One reroll.
8	Shell, fern, or fish. One reroll.
7	Shell or fern. One reroll.
6	Shell, fern, or fish.
4-5	Shell or fern.
1-3	Shell.
0	No chance of survival. Farewell, dinos!

The more eggs you rescue, the greater your odds of survival!

End-Game Example: Your group saved 7 eggs, so rolling either a shell or fern means your dino family survives. If you fail to roll either, you do have one reroll to try again. If you still don't roll a shell or a fern then, uh oh!, your herd has not survived!

Fact or Fiction? (Is This Game Completely Accurate?)

Note: this optional trivia section of the printed rulebook is condensed here; it contains no rules.

• Did the Stegosaurus really carry eggs with their tails? Probably not true. There is no evidence to support this; it was a fun use of the thagomizer, the name for the cluster of spikes on the end of the Stegosaurus tail.
• Could Stegosauruses jump over one another? Probably not true. Adults were over 4 meters tall and likely weighed over 2700 kilograms.
• How realistic are these dino and egg colors? Probably not that realistic; there is no conclusive information about Stegosaurus colors, though some dinosaur eggs have been shown to have spots.
• Could the Stegosaurus lay 12 eggs at once? Possibly. There are no known Stegosaurus nest or egg fossils; other dinosaur species are thought to have laid 5-20 eggs at once.
• Did the Stegosaurus really eat super fruit? Partially true. It was an herbivore; the super fruit is based on ginkgo tree berries, which existed at that time, but they don't bestow super powers.
• Were there fossils underground during the time of the Stegosaurus? Yes, although the T. rex skull fossil is out of place, as T. rex appeared 60+ million years after the Stegosaurus.
• Why did the Stegosaurus really go extinct? Still a mystery. The family disappears from the fossil record about 145 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic, about 79 million years before the asteroid that wiped out most remaining dinosaurs.