How to Play Tiny Epic Dinosaurs

Game Objective

In Tiny Epic Dinosaurs, players take on the role of Dinofarmers who breed and sell dinosaurs on remote tropical islands. The goal is to outcompete opponents and operate the best dinosaur farm. At the end of 6 rounds, the player with the most victory points (represented by a star symbol) is the winner. In case of a tie, the player who goes first in turn order (starting with the player who has the First Player Marker and proceeding clockwise) among the tied players, is the winner.

Preparation (Setup)

1. Place the 4 Action Boards in sequence in the center of the table, in alphabetical order from 'A' to 'D'. Choose the sides that show the appropriate number of players.
2. Place the Round Board to the left of the line of Action Boards and the Round Marker (coffee mug) on space "1" of the round track.
3. Give each player the following components:
   • 1 Farm Board and 1 Player Board. Choose the side of the Farm Board and place the Player Board with the normal side up next to your farm.
   • 4 Dinofarmers and 1 Foreman (considered a special Dinofarmer) in your player color. 3 Dinofarmers and the Foreman are placed in the Dinofarmer field (i) of your Player Board. The last Dinofarmer is placed on space "4" of the Round Board track labeled "Receive a new Dinofarmer..." (ii).
   • 1 Plant Marker, 1 Meat Marker, and 1 Supply Marker. Place them to the left of your resource track on the Player Board.
4. Place the Contract Board above the Action Boards. Separate the Public Contract Cards and the Private Contract Cards into two separate decks.
   • Shuffle and place the Public Contract Deck face down, in the space identified as "Public Contracts" on the Contract Board. Reveal a number of cards equal to the number of players +1 from this deck, forming a line of cards, face up, to the right of the board.
   • Shuffle and deal 2 Private Contract Cards, face down, to each player. Each player looks at their cards and chooses 1 Private Contract to keep (i), and the other is returned to the Private Contract Deck. Shuffle this deck again and place it, face down, in the space identified as "Private Contracts" on the Contract Board (ii). Players must keep their Private Contract Cards secret until they are fulfilled.
5. Place the Research Board below the Action Boards. Shuffle the Research Cards to form a face-down deck, placing it in the space identified as "Research" on the Research Board. Reveal 3 cards from this deck, face up, in a line to the right.
6. Place the 5 types of Dinosaurs (i), separated by color, as well as the Barriers (ii) within reach of all players. Leave the Hunting Die (iii) near Action Board "A".
7. Give the First Player Marker to the last person to visit a natural history museum, or determine the first player using any method of your preference. Additionally, give the following starting bonuses to players, clockwise from the first player:
   • Place the second player's Plant Marker on "1".
   • Place the third player's Meat Marker on "1".
   • Place the fourth player's Supply Marker on "1".

Game Flow

The game has 6 rounds. Each round is carried out through the following phases, most of which can be performed simultaneously:

1. Collect Resources
2. Allocate Dinofarmers
3. Retrieve Dinofarmers
4. Adapt the Farm
5. Feed Dinosaurs
6. Breeding
7. Prepare for Next Round

Rounds are marked on the Round Board. After the sixth round, players add their victory points.

1. Collect Resources

All players simultaneously collect resources for each symbol on their Farm that is not covered by a Dinosaur. Resources are accounted for by moving the resource markers up and down the track on the Player Board. Each player can collect a maximum of 13 resources of each type. If the resource marker is to the left of the board, it means it has a value of "0" (zero). A player's stock cannot fall below zero for any resource.

In the first round, collect 5 Plants, 3 Meats, and 1 Supply, as there are no Dinosaurs on your Farm. In future rounds, this will change as you fill your Farm. Some Research Cards may provide abilities during collection.

2. Allocate Dinofarmers

Starting with the player who has the First Player Marker, players take turns allocating their Dinofarmers to different "action spaces" on the Action Boards, and performing actions.

• On your turn, you must place a single Dinofarmer (either the Foreman or a normal one) in an empty action space. Then you immediately perform the action of that action space.
• Then, the next player clockwise will place a Dinofarmer and so on, until all players have placed all their Dinofarmers. If, on a player's turn, they have no Dinofarmers to place, then they are simply skipped and the phase continues with the next player clockwise.
• Occupied Action Spaces: If an action space already has one or more opponent Dinofarmers, you can perform that action by placing 1 more Dinofarmer than the player who currently has the most Dinofarmers there.
• A Foreman counts as 2 normal Dinofarmers for both allocation and blocking opponents.
• You CANNOT allocate Dinofarmers to action spaces where you already have other Dinofarmers.
• Cost to Perform Actions: Some action spaces are marked with a cost for the action to be performed, identifiable by a black circle around the action space, as well as the resource(s) or Dinosaur(s) that must be paid.
• When placing Dinofarmers in action spaces, you MUST pay the necessary resources immediately and then perform at least part of the corresponding action.

3. Retrieve Dinofarmers

All players simultaneously collect all Dinofarmers, including those present in Medical Leave, and place them back on their Player Board. Any Dinosaur present in Medical Leave is moved to that player's Containment Zone.

4. Adapt the Farm

Players simultaneously place their Barriers and Dinosaurs from their Containment Zones on their Farms:

• Barriers can only be placed on dotted lines.
• Barriers placed in previous rounds cannot be moved.
• All Dinosaurs on a Farm can be moved at will.
• Common Dinosaurs MUST be placed inside Enclosures or they will Escape.

Enclosures: Enclosures are spaces on the Farm surrounded on all sides by any combination of Barriers, Mountains, and Water. Each Farm starts with a permanent Enclosure. An Enclosure can be as small as one space or incorporate any number of adjacent spaces, as long as it is surrounded on all sides. An Enclosure with a certain number of spaces can contain the same number of Dinosaurs of a single species (1 Dinosaur per space).

• If you cannot place a common Dinosaur on your Farm, it Escapes.
• Unique Dinosaurs (those received through Research) DO NOT NEED to be placed in Enclosures and can be left in the open areas of the Farm with other Unique Dinosaurs.
• Unique Dinosaurs cannot be in Enclosures with other common Dinosaurs.

5. Feed Dinosaurs

Players simultaneously feed the Dinosaurs on their Farms (including Unique Dinosaurs) according to the resources listed next to each Dinosaur's illustration. Move the Resource Marker down to show this. Generally, Herbivores eat Plant, and Carnivores eat Meat. Omnivores eat Plant or Meat. You can choose which resource to use to feed them.

You feed your Dinosaurs in the order you prefer. It is recommended to lay down each Dinosaur you have already fed. Feed until you have no more resources or all Dinosaurs are fed. If you have no more resources and have not fed all Dinosaurs, all unfed Dinosaurs (including Unique Dinosaurs) Escape.

Dinosaur Escape: Dinosaurs can escape during Adapt the Farm, Feed Dinosaurs, or Breeding. This causes different penalties for Herbivores or Carnivores (in the case of Omnivores, you choose which type it will be). Each penalty occurs ONLY once per round, even if several of the same species escape. You can resolve the penalties in any order.

• Herbivore Escape Penalty: Remove 1 Barrier of your choice from your Farm (if any). If the removal of a Barrier causes an Enclosure to no longer be "closed," the remaining fed Dinosaurs do NOT escape; however, they also do not breed during Breeding.
• Carnivore Escape Penalty: Discard ANY other Dinosaur (if any) along with the Dinosaur that escaped. The "eaten" Dinosaur can be one that would also have escaped. If a Carnivore eats an Herbivore that was going to escape, before its escape, then this Herbivore DOES NOT CAUSE the Herbivore Escape Penalty.

After resolving Dinosaur Escape, return all escaped Dinosaurs to the common supply. For escaped Unique Dinosaurs, also return their respective cards to the discard pile of the Research Board.

6. Breeding

Dinosaurs that were fed in Feed Dinosaurs will now breed. Every 2 common Dinosaurs of the same species that are in the SAME Enclosure will generate 1 new Dinosaur of the same species.

• Dinosaurs that are not in Enclosures do not breed.
• All newly hatched Dinosaurs are taken from the common supply and must be immediately placed on your Farm. They must be placed in an Enclosure, but do not need to be with their "parents."
• Newly hatched Dinosaurs can be placed in any order and cannot breed in the same round they were born.
• If your Farm does not have space for a Newly Hatched Dinosaur, it Escapes immediately.
• Common Dinosaur Limit: If the supply of a common Dinosaur species reaches zero, you cannot take any more of this Dinosaur. Any effect that results in receiving this species is canceled. If there is not enough supply for all players during Breeding, each affected player receives one at a time, in order, starting with the first player, until the supply runs out.

7. Prepare for Next Round

1. Draw Public Contract Cards to complete the Contracts line up to the number of players +1.
2. Discard all open Research Cards to the discard pile of the Research Board, and draw 3 new cards, placing them, face up, in a new line. If the Research deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile, forming a new Research Deck.
3. Advance the Round Marker one space forward. Now comes the Collect Resources phase of the next round, and in Allocate Dinofarmers the player with the First Player Marker allocates their first Dinofarmer. The game continues as in the previous round.

Actions and How to Play

During the Allocate Dinofarmers phase, players perform actions by placing their Dinofarmers in action spaces. Available actions include:

• Hunt Dinosaurs: Immediately receive 1 of the common Dinosaurs (Stegosaurus, Velociraptor, Brachiosaurus, Allosaurus), and place it in the Containment Zone of your Player Board. Then, roll the Hunting Die and resolve its result:
  • Net: no additional effect.
  • Damage: Move your Dinofarmer(s) and the Dinosaur you received in this action space to the