Designer: Antoine Bauza, Corentin Lebrat, Ludovic Maublanc, Théo Rivière

Artist: Jiahui Eva Gao, Vipin Alex Jacob

Publisher: Ankama

Harmless. I think that is how I would describe Draftosaurus’s gameplay. Harmless. That label can be seen from either a positive and negative angle, depending on what type of gamer you identify yourself with. Harmless could mean a pretty mediocre game with simple mechanisms that feel rote and boring after a while. On the other hand, the game is probably easy to learn, short, very little player conflict and not overly complex – all generally good qualities in a game. To be clear, Draftosaurus was extremely well-received when first published – garnering a bunch of nominations and awards mainly in the family category. It remains quite well rated which prompted me to give it a go.

Simple dinomeeple drafting followed by placement on individual player mats for scoring.

A quick recap, Draftosaurus, as the name implies, is a drafting game. Players each grab six wooden dinosaurs from a bag – sight unseen – and select one from the bunch to place on individual player mats to score points. Before selection or placement of dinosaurs, a die is rolled by the active player which imposes some placement restrictions for all players except the active player. Each player board is carved up into specific zones and the die will determine which pens are available for placement for all but the active player. The active player is the only one not bound to the die roll. Fortunately, players get to choose the dinosaur type after the die is rolled and not before. As to be expected, the pens all have different ways of scoring. For example, one pen will only score points if a pair of dinosaurs of the same species is placed – and there are six dinosaur species in total. Another pen will score only if dinosaurs of a similar type are placed while another pen will award points for placement of different species. In an attempt to make this more interactive, there is also a pen that can hold only one dinosaur and at the end of the game, will score points only if the player holds a majority for that dinosaur type across all player mats. Any dinosaur that is not placed in pens can be put in the river for a measly point. The river is more a dumping ground for unwanted dinosaurs. The player mat has a double-sided scoring with the winter scoring variant on the reverse side. I personally find the winter scoring to be slightly more challenging and fun. Each game lasts for two rounds with players replenishing their hand of six dinosaurs between rounds. This also means a total of twelve dinosaurs will be placed on the mat before final scoring.

As to be expected, the game plays quick and with little to no down time. Once the die is rolled, most players pretty much know what dinosaur they want to pick and place. The active player has the advantage of placing the dinosaur anywhere on the board, and thus is more prone to analysis paralysis. Even then, I would say it is pretty mild. This is good because Draftosaurus is meant to be played quickly. What is also in favor of Draftosaurus is the theme. The wooden dinomeeples are cute, colorful and with enough detail that you can tell apart the brontosaurus from the diplodocus. I suspect the theme played a large part of the game’s success since the idea of building a dinosaur zoo is appealing to kids and adults both. I mean the game would not have received as much attention if it was picking and choosing different colored blocks for tower construction.

Draftosaurus is similar in feel to Kingdomino

I know exactly another game that fits into the same mold as Draftosaurus – Kingdomino. Yep, the one that won SdJ in 2017. Even though the mechanisms are fundamentally different, the weight, appeal and target audience is exactly the same. Both games allow players to draft “things” and to build up their own area for scoring. Scoring tends to be simple, no frills and amenable to expansions. Much like Kingdomino with several mid- and large-sized expansions, Draftosaurus appears to be headed that direction with several expansions targeted at giving you more ways to score. Oddly enough, as much as I avoid expansions, these are precisely the type of simple games where a small expansion MAY enhance game play. I say may because one can overdo it and in the process, negate the thing that makes the original game shine – simplicity. A bit more is fine but too much more could sour the experience.

My review of Draftosaurus matches that of Kingdomino. It is a cute and decent family game, but not one for hobby gamers, at least in the long term. This is especially true for those that seek a more dynamic interaction between players. There is very little of that in Draftosaurus. Draftosaurus is a game where the points scored are tightly clustered with the winner usually beating out the rest by a point or two. This is a common feature for games of this type where a few points here and there will make all the difference. It is possible to play Draftosaurus a bit more aggressively by scouting other player boards to see how the dinosaurs are distributed and what are the needs. Perhaps by withholding a key dinosaur during drafting, one can deprive others of valuable points. In practice though, we rarely ever bother with this unless specific scoring criteria forces us to do so. For example, the majority scoring of dinosaurs. At most, I scan all the player boards to see how many dinosaurs of a particular species remain in circulation since there is a fixed number of them at the start. This is just so I can optimize placement of dinosaurs in specific pens. Between this and the ability to see what dinosaurs are being passed around during drafting, there is an opportunity for skillful play if one desires to do so.

As it stands, Draftosaurus is a delightful family game in the vein of Kingdomino. As a Dad, I appreciate the game for what it is and it fills a place in the my collection even though I don’t have a strong desire to play this outside of the family setting.