Games: Dino Hunt; Timelapse

Dino Hunt

Michael Crichton never hunted game this big...

Dino Hunt
Steve Jackson Games
Ages 8 and up
2 to 4 players
Playing time: 30 minutes and up
MSRP $29.95

Review by Tamara I. Hladik

he premise for Dino Hunt casts players as hunters who must capture dinosaurs while time-traveling through the Mesozoic age (comprising the Triassic through the Late Cretaceous, five time periods in all). There are two card decks involved: the Dinosaur Deck, which contains all the dinosaurs, and the Special Deck, which has helpful gadgets, action cards and team experts. The game is played on a simple board that resembles a long ruler, except in this case the ruler demarks time periods rather than inches or centimeters.

As dinosaur cards come into play they are placed in the appropriate time period. Each dinosaur is worth a number of Capture Points, which players earn by capturing the dinosaur and transporting it home. At the beginning of every turn players get 10 Energy Points and a Special Card, then they roll a six-sided die to see how many dinosaurs get added to the timeline. Then the hunt begins.

To accomplish time travel, dinosaur capture and Special Card actions, players must expend Energy Points. The results of the hunt, be it a successful capture or a dinosaur stampede, are dictated by instructions on the Dinosaur Cards, which correspond to the roll of a die. Example: a roll of one results in the Utahraptor savaging the hunters; the player's turn is over. A roll of two or three is a miss; pay one energy point. A roll of four, five or six results in capture; pay three Energy Points to transport the dinosaur. The game ends when there are no more dinosaurs, and the winner is the player whose dinosaurs are worth the most Capture Points.

Although game play is simple, involving chance with a dollop of strategy, Dino Hunt is utterly charming (there is also an even simpler play variant based on the card game war). This time-traveling safari delivers much fun via rubber dinosaur tokens, wonderfully executed artwork and droll text ("On a very bad roll, [the dinosaur] can attack your party...this is a good time for all the other players to growl, 'Yaargh!'").

One of the best, best, absolutely best elements of the game is its dinosaur data. In terms of scientific accuracy, this is no Tyrannosaurus vs. Brontosaurus Land of the Lost -- Dino Hunt gets everything right. Guaranteed, there are some species dino whiz-kids won't know, like Stygimoloch and Kakuru. And cooler than cool, each dinosaur is detailed -- height, length, etymology, pronunciation and highlights (Tarchia -- the last and the biggest of the Asian ankylosaurs [29' long]).

A slight drawback for strategic-level thinkers is that there's no deck design. So, to keep the mini-story lines fresh, add booster packs that bring along helpful experts, gadgets and special action cards. Conversely, although this game is for folks eight years old and up, it will have a strong pull for older players because of its potent ingredients: superb art, good concept, strong science and fantastically awesome dinosaurs.

This is the game for people who, growing up, knew the names of dinosaur species better than the names of their family members (and we know who we are). -- Tamara

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Timelapse

Are the civilizations of the Egyptians, Mayans and Anasazi linked?

Timelapse
GTE Entertainment
PC CD-ROM, 486DX2/66
MSRP $59.99

Review by Brooks Peck

imelapse opens with a tried-but-true incident: an urgent message on an answering machine. But in this case players aren't staring at the answering machine while it plays, but are flying through a rocky valley to land, as the message ends, on Easter Island. It seems their old friend, Professor Nichols, has been studying similarities among the ancient civilizations of the Egyptians, Mayans and Anasazi, and he theorizes that all three are linked to the lost continent of Atlantis. He says he's made a tremendous discovery, but now he's gone missing, and it's up to players to get to the bottom of it all. This is accomplished by traveling back in time to explore sites scattered through ancient history and solve a plethora of mind-bending puzzles.

Timelapse uses a first-person perspective to show intricately rendered scenes of Easter Island and other locales. Players move about either with the arrow keys or the mouse, and they can also manipulate objects here and there by clicking and dragging. Timelapse pushes beyond the standard slide-show perspective in that movement such as turns are animated -- the screen rotates smoothly as players look left or right. Environment sounds like bird calls and running water add to the sense of place, and an unobtrusive New Age sound track lilts in the background.

Simply put, this game has many terrific features. It combines art that is detailed, realistic, and beautiful with challenging and inventive puzzles. While the temples and other structures are quite nicely designed, Timelapse especially excels in the creation of natural scenes such as jungles, beaches and caves. The puzzles are varied, and many involve sound as well as sight. Some can be rather difficult, but they are never arbitrary. All these elements are glued together with a smart interface that gives good feedback. The pointer, for instance, changes to a hand when placed over something that can be moved. Sounds ridiculously simple, yes, but it's surprising how many games overlook that kind of detail.

It's too bad that the game's underlying story and setup are so cliched. Those misunderstood scientists sure get carried off a lot, but luckily they leave behind copious journals to wade through. When people want to spend their free time reading, though, they buy books, not computer games. Why couldn't the designers have used the medium to tell the exposition?

Nichols, trapped in his time bubble, looks more like a model from the L.L. Bean catalog than a scholar, but he delivers his lines with enthusiasm. But his appearance breaks the mood of the game, and it would have been better had he been left out entirely. These few quibbles hardly detract, though, from what is overall a very rich and spacious game. Highly recommended.

I've heard that many of those Easter Island statues have whole bodies buried under the earth. No wonder they look so grumpy.-- Brooks

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