Review: Dodos Riding Dinos (Detestable Games)

Life was calm and peaceful on Dodino Island — right up to the point when a meteor fell on the ruling dino and dodo, leaving the island without leadership.

To pick a new leader, dinosaur and dodo teams must race around the island, with the dinos providing speed and the dodos offering wisdom. The winner claims the throne and brings harmony back to Dodino Island!

That’s the hilarious backstory behind Dodos Riding Dinos, a new release from Detestable Games. Now that we have the explanation of why dodos are perched on dinosaurs in the first place, let’s look at the top five things you need to know in your quest to rule Dodino Island!

Lots of Dinos and Boards

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When you open the box, you find unique miniatures and matching meeple for the 12 dodo and dinosaur racing teams. Each team has a special ability card plus instructions for using it in solo play (more about that later).

The game includes two double-sided boards representing the varied landscapes of Dodino Island. First is the island itself, then sky, volcano, and iceberg maps that feature special challenges. The sky map makes you jump from area to area by flicking the egg projectile. The volcano’s flame hexes limit where you can move. Finally, the iceberg’s unstable terrain features dangerous shortcuts and deep snow.

Pick Your Race Length

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Each map has two tracks: a short inner track and longer outer course. This lets you choose the race’s features depending on the map you select, and also the race length by picking either the inner or outer course.

For a quick game, you can do one race around a single island map. The full game experience sends your racers across all four maps, with the winners gathering fans. The racer with the most fans at the end becomes the new ruler of the island.

Playing Cards and Throwing Things

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Yes, it’s true: in Dodos Riding Dinos, you get to throw stuff. Technically, you toss, roll, and drop things, but it all gives you the same joy.

Each turn, you play a movement card. The cards show how far your dino moves that round, plus gives you a special action. Many of the actions involve tossing one of the game’s give projectiles.

Each projectile requires a different throwing technique, which adds to the hilarity. You toss the feather from your open palm, drop the meteorite from your closed fist, roll the log across your open hand, and so on.

Grabbing a Power-Up

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Power-Ups boost the racing craziness another level. When playing the full, multi-race game, the first and second place players in each race earn fans (acting as victory points). To help the other racers stay competitive, they each draw a power-up card after each race.

These cards give you a one-shot special ability that can dramatically change a race. It might let you draw extra cards or move ahead a few spaces. Some let you reroll a die, swap the card you played, or even force other players to skip their turns while you move ahead on your own. Who says being in third place is bad all the time?

Solo Play And Team Modes

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Whether you want to race with one or two people or entertain a massive group of eight racers, Dodos Riding Dinos has you covered.

To fill out the field in a solo or 2-player race, every racer card includes built-in instructions for running that racer as a automated opponent. You can choose from three difficulty levels as well, letting you adjust the challenge to match the skill of the players.

For a group of eight, players form four teams. One group races on the inside track of the board; the others race on the longer outside track. And when one racer finishes before their teammate, they can keep playing cards from their hand to boost their partner’s speed.

Verdict

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Dodos Riding Dinos is an absolute gem. You get friendly competition, nail-biting races, and all kinds of special abilities. And you get to throw things at the miniatures as part of the game!

The game’s miniatures and lush board artwork give it a great table presence. By including matching meeple for each miniature, Detestable Games makes multiplayer races a lot easier since several racers fit into one square — but the meeple are much smaller targets when tossing bananas, eggs, and meteors.

This is one of those rare games that’s both family-friendly for kids and thoroughly engaging for adults. It earns a spot on our shelf, and should take its place in your collection as well. Highly recommended!