Game Objective

In Tiny Epic Dinosaurs, you take on the role of a dinosaur rancher in a prehistoric era. Your goal is to manage your ranch, breed and care for various dinosaur species, fulfill contracts, and conduct research to accumulate the most Victory Points (VP). The player with the most VP at the end of six rounds will be declared the winner.

Setup

1. Take the 4 Action cards (A, B, C, D) and lay them out in the correct order, with the appropriate side facing up depending on the player count.
2. To the left of these 4 cards, place the Round card with the round marker on space 1, on top.
3. Each player takes a Ranch card (which shows a landscape) and a Player card (which has a track from 1 to 13 on its outer edge).
4. On the Player card, place 3 (smaller) Ranch meeples and 1 (larger) Leader Ranch meeple in the top-left corner.
5. Stack each player’s extra Ranch meeple on the “Round 4” space of the Round card.
6. Each player takes 1 Plant, 1 Meat, and 1 Supply token to represent their resources during the game. These markers will move up and down the track on the Player card to indicate how much of each resource the player has.
7. Place the large Contract card above the Action cards. Separate and shuffle the Private Contract and Public Contract decks.
8. Place the Public Contract deck on top of the large Contract card and flip cards off the top equal to 1 more than the number of players. Place these cards in a face-up selection row to the right of the deck.
9. Deal 2 Private Contract cards to each player. Each player chooses and keeps 1 card face down near their Player card.
10. The unchosen Private Contract cards are shuffled with any extras and placed face down next to the Public deck.
11. Place the large Research card below the Action cards. Shuffle the Research deck and place it on top of the large Research card.
12. Flip 3 cards off the deck to form a selection row to the right of the deck.
13. Create a supply with all the Dinosaurs, Fences, and the Tamer die. (The Dinosaurs in the game are limited in pieces.)
14. Choose a 1st player and give them the marker. The 2nd/3rd/4th player in clockwise order receives 1 Leaf/1 Meat/1 Supply.

Game Flow

Tiny Epic Dinosaurs is played over 6 rounds. After 6 rounds, the player with the most Victory Points (VP) is the winner.

Each round of play is divided into 7 phases: Collect Resources, Assign Ranches, Retrieve Ranches, Arrange Ranch, Feed Dinosaurs, Breed Dinosaurs, and Advance to Next Round.

All phases except “Assign Ranches” may be performed simultaneously.

• Stegosaurus, Velociraptors, Brachiosaurus, and Allosaurus are commonly referred to as “Regular Dinosaurs”.
• Purple dinosaurs obtained from Research cards are commonly referred to as “Unique Dinosaurs”.

Phase 1: Collect Resources

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

Phase 2: Assign Ranches

Starting with the 1st player, clockwise, each player on their turn must make 1 Action selection (discussed in detail in the next section) and then immediately perform the associated Action. (Only phase not played simultaneously.)

• If a player cannot perform at least some part of the Action, they must choose a different Action space.
• If a player has no more Ranch meeples to place, their turn is skipped.
• On a player’s turn, they will place 1 or more Ranch meeples onto 1 Action space on the Action cards. If other meeples are present, the active player must place at least 1 more meeple than the player with the most meeples in that space.
• Small Ranch meeples count as 1 Ranch. The larger Leader Ranch counts as 2.
• No player may go to an Action space where a Ranch meeple of their own color is already present.
• Some Action spaces have a dark ring around the space with an arrow. This shows the cost (returned to the general supply) to perform this Action. Pay the cost before performing the given Action.
• When all players have placed their Ranches, proceed to Phase 3.

Phase 3: Retrieve Ranches

Simultaneously, all players retrieve their Ranches from the Action cards and their Sick Bay space back to their Player card. Any Dinosaurs in the Sick Bay space are placed in the player’s Holding Area now.

Phase 4: Arrange Ranch

Simultaneously, all players move Dinosaurs and Fences from their Holding Area to their Ranch.

• Spaces enclosed on all sides by a combination of Fences, Water, and/or Mountains is called an Enclosure.
• Fences may only be placed on dotted lines, and previously placed Fences may not be moved.
• All Dinosaurs may be moved freely, however you want the 4 Regular types to be in Enclosures so they do not “Escape”.
• Only 1 type of Dinosaur may be in an Enclosure, and each square space may only hold 1 dinosaur.
• Unique Dinosaurs do not need to be in an Enclosure. They may roam freely without fear of Escaping.
• Unique Dinosaurs may not be in an Enclosure with Regular Dinosaurs, but may be with other Unique Dinosaurs.
• If a player cannot place a Dinosaur in their Ranch, it will Escape at this time.

Phase 5: Feed Dinosaurs

Simultaneously, all players feed the Dinosaurs in their Ranch by moving their Plant and Meat markers down.

• Each Dinosaur has its own food requirement as shown on the Player card (or Research card for Unique Dinosaurs).
• Omnivores have a choice between Plant or Meat.
• Feed your Dinosaurs in any order you wish, however, any Dinosaur not fed will Escape at this time.

Phase 6: Breed Dinosaurs

Regular Dinosaurs that were fed during Phase 5 now Breed, provided they are in an Enclosure.

• Regular Dinosaurs not in an Enclosure will not Breed, and Unique Dinosaurs do not Breed (unless stated on their Research card).
• To Breed, every 2 Dinosaurs in the same Enclosure adds 1 Dinosaur of the corresponding type to your Ranch.
• The newly born Dinosaur must adhere to the rules of the Enclosure, but does not need to be with its “parents”.
• If a newly born Dinosaur cannot fit in your Ranch, it will Escape at this time.
• Newly born Dinosaurs may be placed in any order and obviously do not Breed the round they are born.
• If this is round 6, when this phase ends, proceed to End Game scoring. Otherwise, perform Phase 7.

Phase 7: Advance to Next Round

• Flip Public Contract cards to bring the total back to the number of players + 1. Do not discard any from the row.
• Discard all remaining Research cards and flip 3 new ones.
• If the Research draw deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile to form a new Research draw deck.
• Advance the round marker by 1.
• When you reach Round 4, each player takes their extra Ranch meeple and adds it to their others, and each player also draws 1 new Private Contract card. (If there are any Private Contract cards left, place them in the box.)

Actions and How to Play

During the Assign Ranches phase, players place their Ranch meeples onto the Action spaces to perform actions. The order of placement is clockwise, starting with the 1st player.

Action Areas in Detail:

• Free Roaming Dinosaurs
  • Immediately take the associated Dinosaur and place it in your Holding Area on your Player card.
  • Then, roll the Tamer die.
  • If a Net is rolled, nothing happens.
  • If a Wound is rolled, move the Dinosaur (that you just placed in your Holding Area) and your Ranches used for this Action to your Sick Bay color space on the Round card.
  • If the Egg is rolled, take another Dinosaur of the same type and place it in your Holding Area.
• Dinosaur Market
  • Pay the cost and take 1 Dinosaur from the given options. Do not roll the Tamer die!
  • Place the new Dinosaur in your Holding Area on your Player card.
• 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 VP shown at the end of the game.
  • If, and only if, you complete a Public Contract card at this time, you may then fulfill a Private Contract card from your hand. Fulfilling Private Contract cards works the same as Public Contract cards.
  • No matter how many Contracts you fulfill, do not draw any new ones. Each player will be given 1 new Private Contract card upon starting Round 4 (see Phase 7 below).
• Fences
  • Immediately gain the shown number of Fences and place them in your Holding Area.
  • If you take the 1st player marker, take it immediately. If you already have it, keep it!
  • The icon allowing a Dinosaur to be moved from your Holding Area to your Ranch is immediate. At this time, Dinosaurs do not need to obey normal rules regarding Enclosures or being mixed!
  • The icon allowing a player to move Fences from their Ranch back to their Holding Area is immediate. At this time, it does not matter if Dinosaurs are out of Enclosures or mixed.
  • If an Action space has 2 actions, they may be performed in any order, but 1 must be performed.
• Research
  • Take 1 Research card from the face-up cards or by drawing 3 off the top of the deck and keeping 1.
  • If drawing cards from the deck, the 2 unchosen cards are placed face-up next to the deck and may be taken by anyone using a future Research Action.
  • Keep in mind that face-up Research cards will be discarded at the end of the round and replaced by 3 new ones.
• Resources
  • Immediately gain the shown resources by moving your markers up the track.

When Dinosaurs Escape:

During Phases 4, 5, and 6, there are chances for Dinosaurs to “escape” from your Ranch. If a Dinosaur escapes, follow these rules no matter when it occurs.

• First, there are 2 different penalties based on whether the escaping Dinosaur is a Herbivore or Carnivore.
• If the escaping Dinosaur is an Omnivore, the player chooses which penalty they will trigger.
• Second, each penalty may only occur 1 time per player per round, even if multiple Dinosaurs of the same type escape.
• Herbivore Penalty – Remove 1 Fence from your Ranch. It is okay if this causes a Regular Dinosaur to no longer be Enclosed (they do not escape), but remember only Regular Dinosaurs in an Enclosure will Breed during Phase 6.
• Carnivore Penalty – Des