I have done many video game reviews for balance, ease of difficulty, and mechanical understanding. This time I get to review a Board game with card game mechanics called Happy Little Dinosaurs. Since I only really played with my wife, I will gear this review towards the expansion Dating Disasters released for Valentine’s Day.
Name: Happy Little Dinosaurs: Dating Disasters
Developed by: Unstable Games
Game Type: Board Game
Price: $12.00 ($20.00 for base game)
Players: 2-4
Play Time: 30-60 Minutes
There are four dinosaurs you choose to play as, Rex, the nervous T-Rex, Stego the Stegosaurus, Bad Luck Bronto the Brontosaurus, or Cry Ceratops the Triceratops. Each one has modifiers on their game board that gives them a unique play style. Once every player chooses their dinosaur then you can set up the game. There are two types of cards, disaster cards and play cards. The goal is to escape to the end on your dinosaur board, or be the last dinosaur standing.
Once everyone is dealt five cards from the play deck (after separating the playing cards from the disaster deck), flip over the top card of the disaster deck. The goal is to survive the disaster by accumulating the most points in a round. The player with the fewest points at the end of the round must take the disaster card and add it to their board. The player who wins the round moves their dinosaur figure forward by the number of points they earned.
In a standard four-player game, as soon as a player collects three disaster cards of the same category, they’re out of the game. The three categories of disasters are: Emotional, Predatory, and Natural. You’re also out of the game if you end up with one disaster card from each category on your board.
In a two-player game, like the one I played with my wife using the Dating Disasters expansion, a player loses if they collect four cards of a single category or two cards of each category. Since you’ll be trading losses back and forth with the other player, you’ll gradually stack up more disaster cards. The upside to this is the dinosaur passives. Some dinosaurs actually gain points based on having a certain type of disaster card. Even if you lose the round, these bonuses still apply, allowing you to keep moving forward. As the manual states: “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
That said, I have one main critique of the two-player game mode: speed. The game is supposed to take 30 to 60 minutes per round, which is a great estimate for a four-player game. However, in two-player mode, 30 minutes is more of a maximum. I played three rounds with my wife, and most of them were surprisingly fast. I was often taken aback by how quickly one of us would win a round. Honestly, I wanted the rounds to last longer, which made me wish we had more players involved. This critique is more about the Dating Disasters expansion, which is designed specifically for two-player games, than the base game itself. The Dating Disasters deck contains only cards worth three points or more, so it’s easy to rack up points quickly by combining instant cards with play cards, which moves you forward even faster. Additionally, accumulating more disaster cards on your board lets you move quickly as well.
Now, let’s talk about one of my favorite aspects of this game: the art.
Each card in Happy Little Dinosaurs, especially the disaster cards, are packed with personality—some of the most expressive card art I’ve ever seen. The game also thrives on its clever puns and humor. The Dating Disasters cards, in particular, are full of hilarious concepts, from nightmare dates to situations that might have even happened to you in real life. The contrast between the cute, cheerful art and the chaotic, sometimes terrible situations it portrays is both striking and incredibly effective.
Overall, Happy Little Dinosaurs is a fantastic game to play with friends when you need something quick and fun. Even though the game feels like it ends too soon in two-player mode, before it really gets going, it’s still an enjoyable time. And if you’re like me and have a soft spot for quirky art, the visual appeal alone is worth the price of admission.
You can buy Happy Little Dinosaurs on the Unstable Games website, as well as the expansion Dating Disasters.
Summary
Happy Little Dinosaurs: Dating Disasters adds a two player expansion to the base game. It can be a little too quick but it still has a lot of fun moments in store.
Pros
- Game is easy to set up.
- Only need two players for the dating disasters expansion.
- art work is gorgeous.
Cons
- Game feels too quick with two players.
- Still probably best played with four players.
