Tiny Epic Dinosaurs

To set up Tiny Epic Dinosaurs, arrange the four action mats alphabetically from A to D based on the player count. Place the round mat to the left with the round marker on space one, and position the contract mat above the actions. Shuffle the public and private contract decks, dealing public contracts equal to the player count plus one, and give each player two private contracts to choose one to keep. Place the research mat below the actions and deal three face-up research cards. Sort the dinosaur components, barrier tokens, and the wrangler die. Each player takes a player board, five matching ranchers (four regular and one lead), a random ranch map, and starting resources. Place the remaining lead rancher on round four of the track.

The goal of Tiny Epic Dinosaurs is to become the most successful dinosaur rancher over six rounds. Players collect resources, gather and breed various types of dinosaurs, build protective barriers, and complete lucrative public and private contracts to earn victory points. Only the player with the highest score at the end of the game will win.

The game spans six rounds, each divided into seven phases. First, everyone collects resources simultaneously. Next, players take turns placing their available ranchers onto action spaces on the board to perform tasks like gathering resources, acquiring new dinosaurs from the market or free-range areas, taking barriers, or buying research. After all ranchers are used, players retrieve them, arrange their ranches by placing barriers and dinosaurs into valid enclosures, feed their hungry dinosaurs, and breed pairs of same-colored dinosaurs. Finally, any unfed or uncontained dinosaurs escape, triggering penalties, and the round tracker advances.

At the end of the sixth round, players flip the round mat to the scoring side and tally their points. Points are awarded for each completed public and private contract, leftover research cards, and every dinosaur currently housed securely inside your ranch enclosures. Dinosaurs left in the holding area score no points. The player with the highest total points wins, with ties broken by the first player token order.

The game officially ends after the completion of the sixth round. During round four, players receive their locked lead ranchers back and draw an additional private contract. Once round six finishes, final scores are calculated immediately using the scoring reference on the back of the round mat to determine the winner.