DinoGenics (2019): seven seasons to build a working dinosaur park

DinoGenics turns players into corporate managers with the ability to recreate dinosaurs from DNA. Each company owns an island, where enclosures and hotels are built, animals are placed, reputation grows and facilities serve visitors. Meanwhile, workers travel to a shared mainland where the best actions can quickly be taken by competitors.

Richard Keene's game was published by Ninth Haven Games in 2019. Compared with more abstract park strategies, species in DinoGenics have distinct needs and abilities. A Brontosaurus needs open space, a flying reptile requires a biodome, and a large predator is more dangerous during a breakout. The park must be designed around the particular animals its owner can afford to create.

Seven seasons on a contested mainland

A full game lasts seven seasons. At the beginning of each, players take turns placing workers on mainland spaces. These actions can gather DNA cards, buy or sell them, acquire buildings, take loans, manipulate the visitor queue or change turn order. Most spaces are limited, so waiting can disrupt a plan for the entire season.

This worker placement is the main source of interaction. An opponent does not have to attack an island directly: occupying the laboratory or market may be enough to prevent another player from completing a set. The mainland grows tighter as more people play, so having a backup option is useful.

Corporations begin with different abilities, encouraging varied approaches and giving each game some asymmetry. Those powers do not replace the basic economy. A strong ability cannot save a park if its owner has ignored enclosures, food or cash flow. Players need to connect the mainland actions to a working island.

Collect DNA and create animals

To reconstruct a standard species, a player gathers a set of matching DNA cards. The cards are valuable: they can be saved for an animal, sold for an immediate loan or acquired through an auction. A rare set may take several seasons to collect, so the player also has to prepare a suitable place before the animal is ready.

A dinosaur adds points and reputation, which can attract visitors. It also needs the right enclosure and food. If requirements are not met, the park checks for a rampage. The results can include damage, lost reputation and injured visitors. A game Tyrannosaurus is especially destructive: its rampage check applies two results. The Ankylosaurus can share space with another species without the usual conflict, while the Stegosaurus can raise income through its own ability.

These names affect management rather than serving as interchangeable pictures with different numbers. At the same time, the game simplifies biology into abilities and costs. It does not model real genetics, and its animals are designed for a commercial park fantasy rather than a scientific account of dinosaur behaviour.

Plan an island for guests

The personal island is divided into cells. Fences create enclosures; buildings use space and provide services. Planning ahead matters: an expensive animal is useless if there is no way to draw a suitable closed area for it. Hotels increase visitor capacity, commercial facilities help generate cash, and specialised buildings alter the way animals are housed.

Visitors arrive according to reputation and available places. They bring the money needed for more construction and reconstruction. A healthy park often grows in waves: first it establishes a financial base, then invests in DNA and infrastructure, and finally adds a dinosaur that increases interest. If those steps happen in the wrong order, the island may run short of cash or receive a dangerous animal before its enclosure is ready.

This links several systems that are easy to think about separately. Building without an income plan creates a cash shortage. Creating animals without safety increases the chance of a damaging rampage. Focusing on guests without new attractions may leave reputation and score behind. Each choice changes what the next season can accomplish.

News, tactics and corporate competition

News cards change seasonal conditions. Some affect demand, while others influence animals or resources. They prevent seven seasons from becoming a completely closed calculation, though an experienced player can keep cash and alternative actions in reserve.

Tactic cards allow more direct interference. As a result, DinoGenics is more confrontational than quiet games in which everyone builds a private board. Players should be comfortable with that level of competition before starting. The tension fits its theme of rival corporations, but it can surprise a group expecting a purely cooperative park-building puzzle.

Event cards and animal abilities reinforce the fiction of a risky business. A park can generate a lot of revenue while supply and safety are working. One bad season exposes weaknesses and forces a player to spend actions on recovery. The game gives setbacks a mechanical cost without making the island's entire development irrelevant.

Solo scenarios and learning the systems

The current rulebook includes dedicated solo scenarios with their own starting situations, limits and goals. This is more than a simple target score. A scenario may ask a player to focus on particular species or cope with resource shortages, providing a way to explore different parts of the system.

Solo play is also useful for learning how the DNA market, island layout, reputation and animal requirements fit together. It cannot fully replace a multiplayer session because the mainland competition and tactical cards lose much of their social pressure. Still, the scenarios allow a player to make mistakes and understand the engine without a rival taking the laboratory at the worst moment.

Theme, complexity and audience

DinoGenics does not reproduce real genetics. Several cards become a finished dinosaur, animals from different periods share nearby islands, and the abilities are deliberately simplified. However, it does a better job than many competitors of making species affect their environment. Requirements and abilities change the island plan and the player's spending, so the theme reaches beyond the miniatures.

The game suits a group comfortable with a long strategy game built around limited actions and direct competition. It rewards planning across several seasons, collecting sets and rebuilding a plan after another player takes a key space. New players must watch the mainland, island, DNA and visitor economy at the same time, so the first session can feel demanding.

Players who enjoy a rich economic park with animals that change how the island operates may find that depth rewarding. Other table-top choices are gathered in the dinosaur board games catalogue. DinoGenics sits toward its heavier end: seven seasons connect worker placement, collection, spatial planning and the consequences of poor safety.