Overview

Draftosaurus is a drafting and dinosaur-placement game in which players fill their personal zoo boards with dinosaurs drawn from a shared bag. Each round, players simultaneously choose a dinosaur from their hand, place it in one of their zoo pens following placement rules dictated by a shared die, then pass remaining dinosaurs to the next player. After two rounds (12 dinosaurs placed), the player with the most victory points wins.

Components

• 5 Zoo boards (double-sided: Summer and Winter)
• 60 dinosaurs (10 each of 6 different species)
• 1 placement die
• 1 draw bag

Setup

1. Each player takes a Zoo board (all players use the same side; use Summer for first games).
2. Put dinosaurs in the draw bag based on player count:
   • 5 players: all 60 dinosaurs
   • 4 players: remove 2 of each species (48 in bag, 12 in box)
   • 3 players: remove 4 of each species (36 in bag, 24 in box)
   • 2 players: remove 2 of each species (48 in bag, 12 in box)
3. The youngest player takes the placement die.

Turn Structure

The game is played in 2 rounds, each consisting of 6 turns.

Start of Each Round:

• Each player draws 6 dinosaurs from the bag, keeping them hidden in hand.

Each Turn:

1. The player with the placement die rolls it.
2. All players simultaneously choose one dinosaur from their hand.
3. Everyone reveals their chosen dinosaur and places it in their Zoo.
4. All players except the die roller must obey the placement condition shown on the die.
5. Players pass their remaining dinosaurs to the player on their left; the die also passes left.
6. Repeat until all 6 dinosaurs are placed.

Round 2 is played identically to Round 1. After Round 2, each player has 12 dinosaurs in their Zoo.

Actions

Placement Die Faces: | Die Face | Constraint | |—|—| | Woodlands | Must place in a Woodlands pen | | Grasslands | Must place in a Grasslands pen | | Restrooms | Must place on the Restrooms side (right of the River) | | Food Court | Must place on the Food Court side (left of the River) | | Empty Pen | Must place in a pen with no dinosaurs | | Watch Out for T-Rex | Must place in a pen that does not already contain a T-Rex |

• If a player cannot or does not want to place a dinosaur in a Pen, they may always place it in the River instead.
• The die roller is not bound by the placement constraint.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Summer Side Pens:

Pen	Placement Rule	Scoring
Forest of Sameness	Same species only; fill left to right, no gaps	Points based on number of dinosaurs
Meadow of Differences	All different species; fill left to right, no gaps	Points based on number of dinosaurs
Prairie of Love	Any species allowed	5 VP per same-species couple (pair of 2)
Woody Trio	Up to 3 dinosaurs, any species	7 VP if exactly 3 dinosaurs; 0 VP otherwise
King of the Jungle	Holds only 1 dinosaur	7 VP if you have at least as many of that species as every opponent; 0 VP otherwise
Solitary Island	Holds only 1 dinosaur	7 VP if that dinosaur is the only one of its species in your Zoo; 0 VP otherwise

The River: Each dinosaur in the River scores 1 VP. The River is not treated as a Pen.

T-Rex Bonus: Each Pen containing at least one T-Rex scores 1 additional VP. Multiple T-Rexes in the same Pen still only give 1 bonus point.

Winter Side Pens (alternative):

Pen	Placement Rule	Scoring
A Well-Ordered Wood	Exactly 2 species, alternating (ABABAB); fill left to right	Points based on number of dinosaurs
Lovers’ Bridge	Split across both sides of the River; any species	6 VP per same-species couple with one member in each sub-Pen
The Pyramid	Up to 6 dinosaurs (3 bottom, 2 middle, 1 top); no same-species adjacency (horizontal or vertical)	Points based on number and position
The Lookout	Holds only 1 dinosaur	2 VP per dinosaur of that species in the right neighbor’s Zoo
Quarantine Zone	Holds only 1 dinosaur	At end of game, move this dinosaur to another Pen or River (obeying placement rules) before scoring

Winning: The player with the most points wins. Tiebreaker: fewest T-Rexes. If still tied, players share the win.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Two-Player Variant: Play 4 rounds instead of 2. Remove 2 of each species. Each round, draw 6 dinosaurs but only place 3. Each turn: choose one to place, choose one to return to the box, then swap hands. Players alternate rolling the die.
• Summer/Winter Mode: Play one game on Summer, one on Winter, and add scores together.
• Lovers’ Bridge sub-Pens are treated as two separate Pens for T-Rex bonus purposes (each can earn 1 T-Rex bonus point).
• A Well-Ordered Wood: You may not place two dinosaurs of the same species one after the other and leave an empty space between them.

Player Reference

Turn Sequence:

1. Roll placement die
2. Choose dinosaur (simultaneously)
3. Reveal and place
4. Pass hand left (and die)

Quick Scoring (Summer):

• Forest of Sameness: score by count (same species)
• Meadow of Differences: score by count (all different)
• Prairie of Love: 5 per pair
• Woody Trio: 7 if exactly 3, else 0
• King of the Jungle: 7 if majority, else 0
• Solitary Island: 7 if unique in zoo, else 0
• River: 1 per dinosaur
• T-Rex in a Pen: +1 per Pen