Welcome to the dig site fellow Paleontologists! We are all here to dig up the biggest and best fossils that are mixed up in this dig site. Sharpen your chisels, work together but strive hard to get the best collection of fossils! Today we will look at a game that explores that world in more in Jurassic Parts!
Jurassic Parts is published by 25th Century Games and designed by Kevin Lanzing. It is illustrated by Andrew Bosley. It plays 2-5 players in 20-45 minutes.
Overview
Jurassic Parts pits players against each other in a game area control where everyone has access to the same rock to split apart and mine for dinosaur skeleton parts. Claim tiles with skeleton parts, complete them and score points! The player with the most points wins.
Gameplay
All the tiles are shuffled together and some are flipped face down. They are then placed in the center of the table trying to make a general hexagon shape. Each player takes a Paleontologist mat, 12 chisels and their field guide.
The Field Leader is placed near the board and the amber is placed there as well. Player order is determined and starting amber or chisels are given as well based on player order.
On your turn you can do the following:
1-Sharpen Your Chisels. Here the active player will move three of their dull chisels to the left side of their board to be used as sharp chisels. If you have none to draw you must move some from the slab.
2-Play Chisels. Chisels are placed in-between the cracks on the board in any empty spaces. If there are no rocks, one chisel will do it. In places where there are rocks on a side, each rock requires an extra chisel to be spent to break it apart. You may also choose to save a chisel for the next round. Unused ones are lost.
Also during your turn you may interact with the Field Leader or possibly split the slab. The Field Leader will allow you to sell tiles to him once per turn for one amber, or take an action for the cost of one amber. These actions will allow you take tiles from him, sharpen some extra chisels or even ignore rocks.
Splitting the slab happens whenever it is split into 2 parts. When this happens you must resolve it before moving forward. Resolution means that all players who are involved in the split will choose the tiles they want as half of the ones available rounded up based on the amount they contributed to the split. Once the slab is completely split out to everyone any extras go to the Field Leader.
Completing dinosaur sets will allow you to score one amber immediately from the Field Leader. There are also plant cards for set collection and wild piles of bones that can be used to sub in for any one tile you might be missing from a set.
Impressions
What could be better:
Tile organization. I’m not sure how, but keeping track of all of your dinosaur skeletons separate makes it a little tough as you go through the game. The letters helps but you still really have to stay on top of them. Numbered pieces would help a bit also so you knew which of the skeleton you needed.
What I liked:
Artwork. I am really loving the work on this game. Andrew Bosley is slowly moving up my list as one of my favorite artists, and it really shows in this game. I love the characters and the tiles are all the right theme and color scheme to really feel like a big dig site.
Area control. I am a fan of games that feature area control but often times they are war games or combat driven types of games. This one is definitely not that type of style. Sure, there is a quality of controlling areas away from others but it plays that type in a more family-friendly way.
Overall
Once again 25th Century Games hits it out of the park with a family style game that is accessible to all ages and enjoyable for different levels of game players. I fully expect this to be one that both younger and older players in your family will not only understand but will have a really good time playing around the table.
The art and visual appeal of this one is great and really shines on the table. I love the little chisels and how easily the mechanics of the game play. Using the Field Leader is something you may not do your first few games but with time you start to really understand how important those pieces are and choices are to finishing sets.
Overall I would recommend this one to families with kiddos who love dinosaurs or really anyone who wants to get out a chisel, dig around in the dirt and become the best Paleontologist at at the dinning room table. Make sure to check out Jurassic Parts and bring the fun to your next game night!
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