Which is larger, a tricerotops or an ankylosaurus?  If you already know, you may be in the target audience of Cardline: Dinosaurs.  The Timeline family of card games challenges players to place cards representing items and events in chronological order.  In Cardline: Dinosaurs, players place their cards in order either by weight or by size.  While similar to the previous games, the dinosaur theme may be more attractive to younger players.

Cardline: Dinosaurs
Designer: Frédéric Henry
Publisher: Asmodee
Ages: 7+
Players: 2-8
Time: 15 mins
(Review copy provided by Asmodee)

The game consists of a stack of cards displaying animal names pictures on the front, and a wealth of information on the back (most importantly their size and weight.)  Players choose whether to play with size or weight for each game.  Players start with five cards face-up in front of them and one card in the middle.  The first player takes one of their cards and places it to the right or left of the central card, hoping that its characteristic (size or weight, depending on what was chosen) matches its location.  The back of the card is revealed, and if it “fits” (is larger or heavier than the card on its left) it stays in the tableau.  If it is incorrect, it is removed from the game and the current player must also draw a new card from the deck.

As the game progresses, the tableau of cards grows.  Players continue to place their cards in the correct location in the line (so that they are larger/heavier than cards to their left and smaller/lighter than cards to their right.)  Players who make a mistake must draw a new card while those who are correct do not.  Thus, good players slowly whittle down their hand of cards.  The first player to play all their cards correctly wins the game.  (Technically the round is finished in case another player can also place their last card.)
It is a fun little game, and since detailed dinosaur information is not all that common knowledge there is a bit of luck and guestimation to be had.  However, if the game is played repeatedly it can become somewhat of a memory game to experienced players.  This could be good or bad (and allows a child to show off to their less experienced elders…)   Since few people know the details of dinosaurs, I find there is more “luck” in this game than in previous Timeline titles (reviewed here) that focused on events in history.  However, I enjoy that since it is a fairly quick, lightweight game.
The cards are very nicely illustrated and I particularly like the backs where not only is a dinosaur’s size and weight displayed, but also the time it lived.  Both sides display a picture along with what it eats (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore) and its common and latin names.  As a science teacher, I am disappointed in the lack of metric measurement.  Animals are ranked in feet and pounds or tons.  While I understand the American demographic needs non-metric measurements I bemoan the fact that there is not also a metric value listed.  (I would have been willing to sacrifice a bit more of the pictures if I needed to.)
All these are fairly small concerns and do not detract from enjoyment of the game.  Its main fault lies in its entirely trivia-based nature.  If you don’t like learning about dinosaurs, there is very little “strategic” decision making to be found.  However, a young or old person who is a huge fan of dinosaurs should easily get their money’s worth out of the game.

Kid Factor:  With fun art and essentially no reading required, this game should fit the fancy of any young dinosaur-o-phile with enough focus to last through the game. (Or it could simply be a shared experience.) Just do go young enough that your players try to put the cards in their mouth!

Tags: Unplugged