BoardGamesBot

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs
Set-Up:
1. Take the 4 Action cards (A, B, C, D), and line them up in order with the appropriate side face-up based on player count.
2. To the left of these 4 cards, place the Round card with the round marker on space 1 at the top.
3. Each player takes a Ranch card (shows a landscape) and a Player card (has a track 1-13 around the outer side.)
On the Player card, place 3 Ranchers (smaller) and 1 Lead Rancher (larger) meeples in the top left corner.
Stack the extra Rancher meeple from each player on the “Round 4” spot on the Round card.
4. Each player takes 1 Plant, Meat, and Supply token to represent their resources during the game. These markers will
move up and down the track on the Player card to show how much of each a player has.
5. Place the big Contract card above the Action cards. Separate and shuffle the Private and Public Contract card decks.
Place the Public Contract card deck on the big Contract card, and flip over cards from the top equal to 1 more
than the number of players. Place these cards into a face-up selection row to the right of the deck.
Deal each player 2 Private Contract cards. Each player chooses and keeps 1 face-down near their Player card.
The Private Contract cards not kept are shuffled with any extras, and placed face-down next to the Public deck.
6. Place the big Research card below the Action cards. Shuffle the Research deck and place it on the big Research card.
Flip over 3 cards from the deck to form a selection row to the right of the deck.
7. Create a supply with all the Dinosaurs, Barriers, and Wrangler die. (Dinosaurs in the game are piece limited.)
8. Choose a 1
st
player and give them the marker. The 2
nd
/3
rd
/4
th
player in clockwise order takes 1 Leaf/1 Meat/1 Supply.

Game Flow:
o Tiny Epic Dinosaurs is played over 6 rounds. After 6 rounds, the player with the most Victory Points (VP) is the winner.
o Each round of the game is broken up into 7 phases – Collect Resources, Assign Ranchers, Retrieve Ranchers, Arrange
Ranch, Feed Dinosaurs, Breed Dinosaurs, and Refresh for Next Round.
All phases but “Assign Ranchers” can be done simultaneously.
o Stegosauruses, Velocirapors, Brachiosauruses, and Allosauruses are commonly called the “Regular Dinosaurs.”
o The purple dinosaurs earned from Research cards are commonly referred to as “Unique Dinosaurs.”

1. Collect Resources:
o Simultaneously all players collect Plant, Meat, and Supply resources based on icons not covered by Dinosaurs in their
Ranch. Move the associated markers up the track to show this. (For the 1
st
round, earn 5 Plants, 3 Meat, and 1 Supply.)

2. Assign Ranchers:
o Starting with the 1
st
player, going clockwise, each player on their turn must make 1 action selection (discussed in detail
in the next section) and then immediately performs the associated action. (Only phase not played simultaneous.)
If a player can’t perform at least some part of the action, they must choose a different action space.
If a player has no Rancher meeples left to place, their turn is skipped.
o On a players turn, they will place 1 or more Rancher meeples on 1 action space on the Action cards. If other meeples
are present, the active player must place at least 1 more Rancher than the player with the most Ranchers at this space.
Small Rancher meeples count as 1 Rancher. The larger Lead Rancher counts as 2.
No player may go to an action space were a Rancher meeple of their own color is already present.
o Some action spaces have a darken ring around the space with an arrow. This shows the cost (returned to the general
supply) to perform this action. Pay the cost before carrying out the given action.
o When all players have placed their Ranches, proceed to Phase 3.

Action Areas in Detail:
o Free Range Dinos
Immediately take the associated Dinosaur and place it into your Holding Area on your Player card.
Next, Roll the Wrangler die.
If a Net is rolled, nothing happens.
If a Wound is rolled, move the Dinosaur (that you just put in your Holding Area) and your Rancher(s)
used for this action to your Medial Leave color space on the Round card.
If the Egg is rolled, take another Dinosaur of the same kind and put it in your Holding Area.
o Dino Market
Pay the cost, and take 1 Dinosaur from the choices given. Don’t roll the Wrangler die!
Place the new Dinosaur into your Holding Area on your Player card.

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o Contracts
Discard (to the supply) 1 of each Dinosaur shown on 1 of the face-up Public Contract cards.
Dinosaurs used to fulfill Contract cards can only come from inside your Ranch, not your Holding Area!
Place the fulfilled Contract card next to your Player card. It is worth the shown VP at the end of the game.
If, and only if, you complete a Public contract card at this time can you fulfill a Private Contract card from your
hand. Fulfilling Private Contract cards work the same as Public Contract cards.
No matter how many Contracts you fulfill, don’t draw any new ones. Each player will receive 1 new Private
Contract card when starting Round 4 (see Phase 7 below.)
o Barriers
Immediately gain the shown number of Barriers and place them into your Holding Area.
If taking the 1
st
player maker, take it immediately. If you have it already, keep it!
The icon that allows a Dinosaur to be moved from your Holding Area into your Ranch is immediate. At this time,
Dinosaurs don’t have to abide by normal rules regarding Enclosures or being mixed together!
The icon that allows a player to move Barriers from their Ranch back to their Holding Area is immediate. At this
time, it doesn’t matter if Dinosaurs are outside Enclosures or mixed together.
If an action space has 2 actions, they can be taken in either order, but 1 must be carried out.
o Research
Take 1 Research card either from the face-up cards or by drawing 3 from the top of the deck and keeping 1.
If drawing cards from the deck, the 2 cards not taken are placed face-up next to the deck and can be taken by
anyone using a future Research action.
Keep in mind face-up Research cards will be discarded at the end of the round and replaced with 3 new ones.
o Resources
Immediately gain the shown resources by moving up your markers on the track.

3. Retrieve Ranchers:
o All players simultaneously retrieve their Ranchers from the Action cards and their Medical Leave space back to their
Player card. Any Dinosaurs in the Medical Leave space are placed in the player’s Holding Area now.

When Dinosaurs Escape:
o During Phases 4, 5, and 6, there are chances that Dinosaurs can “escape” from your Ranch. If a Dinosaur were to
escape, follow these rules no matter when it occurs.
o First, there are 2 different penalties based on if the escaping Dinosaur is a Herbivore or Carnivore.
If the Dinosaur escaping is an Omnivore, the player chooses which penalty it will trigger.
o Second, each penalty can only occur 1 time per player per round, even if multiple Dinosaurs of the same type escape.
o Herbivore Penalty – Remove 1 Barrier from your Ranch. It is ok if this would cause Regular Dinosaur to no longer be
Enclosed (they don’t escape), but keep in mind that only Regular Dinosaurs in an Enclosure will breed during Phase 6.
o Carnivore Penalty – Discard any 1 other Dinosaur in your Ranch. The “eaten” Dinosaur can be one that is escaping too.
If an escaping Carnivore eats an escaping Herbivore first, then the escaping Herbivore’s penalty doesn’t trigger.
o No matter what penalties trigger, if any, all escaping Dinosaurs are removed back to the general supply.

4. Arrange Ranch:
o Simultaneously all players move Dinosaurs and Barriers from their Holding Area into their Ranch.
o Spaces surrounded on all sides by a combination of Barriers, Water and/or Mountains is called an Enclosure.
o Barriers can only be placed on dotted lines, and previously placed Barriers can’t be moved.
o All Dinosaurs can be moved freely, however, you want the 4 Regular types to be in Enclosures so they don’t “Escape.”
Only 1 type of Dinosaur can be in an Enclosure, and each square space can only hold 1 dinosaur.
Unique Dinosaurs don’t have to be in an Enclosure. They can roam free without fear of Escape.
Unique Dinosaurs can’t be in an Enclosure with Regular Dinosaurs, but they can with other Unique Dinosaurs.
o If a player can’t place a Dinosaur into their Ranch, it will Escape at this time.

5. Feed Dinosaurs:
o Simultaneously all players feed the Dinosaurs in their Ranch by moving their Planet and Meat markers down.
o Each Dinosaur has its own requirement for food as shown on the Player card (or Research card for Unique Dinosaurs.)
o Omnivores have a choice between Plants or Meat.
o Feed your Dinosaurs in any order you wish, however, any Dinosaur that isn’t fed will Escape at this time.

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6. Breed Dinosaurs:
o Regular Dinosaurs that were fed during Phase 5 now Breed as long as they are in an Enclosure.
o Regular Dinosaurs that are not in an Enclosure will not Breed, and Unique Dinosaurs don’t Breed (unless stated on their
Research card.)
o To Breed, every 2 Dinosaurs in the same Enclosure adds 1 Dinosaur of matching type to your Ranch.
The newborn Dinosaur must adhere to the Enclosure rules, but it doesn’t have to be with its “parents.”
If a newborn Dinosaur can’t fit in your ranch, it Escapes at this time.
Newborn Dinosaurs can be placed in any order, and obviously, they don’t Breed the round they are born.
o If this is round 6, when this phase is over, proceed to End Game scoring. Otherwise, perform Phase 7.

7. Refresh for Next Round:
o Flip over Public Contract cards to bring the total back up to the number of players + 1. Don’t discard any from the row.
o Discard all remaining Research cards and flip out 3 new ones.
If the Research draw deck ever runs out, reshuffle the discard pile to form a new Research draw deck.
o Advance the round marker by 1.
When you reach Round 4, each player takes their extra Rancher meeple and adds it with their others, and each
player also draws 1 new Private Contract card. (If any Private contract cards are left, put in the box.)

Research Cards in Detail:
o There are 2 types of Research cards – Science and Genetic – and each will grant the player an ability and VP.
o Genetic cards grant the player a Unique Dinosaur along with their ability.
Unique Dinosaurs must be fed during Phase 5.
Unique Dinosaurs don’t Breed nor do they need to be placed in an Enclosure (unless stated otherwise.)
Unique Dinosaurs can’t be in an Enclosure with the 4 Regular Dinosaur types. They can, however, be in an
Enclosure or area of your Ranch with other Unique Dinosaurs.
The abilities of Unique Dinosaurs only are in effect when they are in your Ranch, not when they are Escaping.

End Game:
o After the 6
th
round is over, flip over the round mat. Use Rancher meeples to keep score.
Earn VP from completed Contract cards – Public and Private.
Earn VP from Research cards – Omnivores can be counted as either Herbivores or Carnivores.
Earn VP for each Dinosaur left in your Ranch based on their values shown on the Player card.
o Most VP is the winner. Ties broken by who was earliest in turn order for the last round.

Laboratory Mini Expansion:
o Give each player a Lab card and Microscope of their color. Place the Microscope in the center space.
o Place the 9 Beaker tokens (3 blue, 3 green, 3 red) into the box lid.
o At the beginning of each round, randomly draw 1 Beaker token from the box lid for each Action card as followed:
As Beaker tokens are drawn, place them above the Action card they are drawn for.
With 2 players, draw 1 Beaker token for each of the Action cards A, B, C, D.
With 3 players, draw 1 Beaker token for Action card A and D, and 2 tokens for B and C.
With 4 players, draw 2 Beaker tokens for each of the Action cards A, B, C, D.
o Each time a player is the 1
st
to play a Rancher on an Action card, they must take 1 of the Beaker tokens above the card to
move their Microscope on their Lab card.
Move the Microscope along the path that matches the Beaker token taken, and then discard the Beaker token
back to the box lid.
o When the Microscope enters a space with an icon, immediately gain the shown reward, and then reset the Microscope
back to the start space on the Lab card.
o At the end of the round, return all Breaker tokens back to the box lid, ready for the next round’s draw.

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