Reluctantly crouched at the digging site, handpicks pumping and thumping in time, the white bone flashes, the cries go up, churning and burning, they yearn for the hip.

They deftly maneuver and muscle for plaster, energy burning fast on an empty tank, sweaty and tired, they pour through the sand, their prowess is potent and secretly grand.

As they speed through the process, the plaster goes down, the bones go up and they head off to town, the dig site is empty except for one player, still digging and striving as gently as they can.

The sun has gone down and the moon has come up, and long ago somebody left with the hip, but they’re digging and striving and looking for bones, and thinking of something for which they still burn.

They’re digging for dinos. They’re digging for teeth. They’re all alone, all alone in their time of archaeological need…

Does anything else need to be said? I think Cake has done my job for me. This is Fossilis by David Diaz and Kids Table Board Gaming. It’s about getting fossils out of a dig site. And you may enjoy it even more than your kid does.

Pick up your brushes and shovels and let’s get to work.

Overview

Budding paleontologists need to make a name for themselves. And so they need to get their hands dirty. At the dig site. Unearthing fossils. And assembling the full skeletons of dinosaurs from different geological periods for preservation and exhibition at museums.

That belongs in a museum!

In Fossilis, players will reserve shift the sand, clay, and stone of a dig site to search for fossils. Then, after extracting and preserving the fossils with plaster, they will construct partial or complete skeletons of dinosaurs to be sent from the lab to the museum. Assigning fossils to dinosaurs and sending them off (before starting the process all over again) is how you score points in the game. Use tools, supplies, and skills that you learn along the way to make the process more efficient and to become the most renowned paleontologist at the dig site.

That’s Fossilis in a fossilized nutshell.

Theme

An incredible new dinosaur graveyard has been discovered, and if the early findings are any indication, it could be a treasure trove of fossils and bones like the world has never seen!

Imagine if all of the dinosaurs across eras of history congregated in one location for an epic mosh pit for the biggest concert of their lives. And the last concert of their lives. Because some tragic extinction event occurred in this spot and all of the bones were slowly consumed in the crust of the earth until now.

And then, in a whirlwind of clumped sand, crumbled clay, and cracked stone, paleontologists descend on the dig site. Like the seven dwarves from Snow White, these heigh-ho workers with their rolled-up sleeves and university degrees will grab whatever chisel, shovel, or broom is available and get to work.

If the museum-minded calm demeanor of Marcus Brady from Indiana Jones was combined with the originally safe exhibit of John Hammond from Jurassic Park. That’s the scientifically inclined experience we’re talking about here. No gunfights in desert cities. No free-roaming velociraptors in search of a meal. Just good clean paleontological work. Outside in the sun. With some dirt to move and some fossils to discover.

Get the plaster ready!

Accessibility

While Fossilis is a competitive game, there is no player elimination, and most actions that might affect another player will usually only slow them down rather than derail all of their plans. And then the Skill actions that can be gained by players have iconography delineating if they involve negative player interaction. So adults who want to avoid that kind of interaction in the game with either other adults or kids who are playing can filter those out before starting.

Also, the rules are relatively straightforward because it’s based on an action-selection system with a certain amount of energy points that can be used each turn. Every turn, players will move through the same decision tree. Spend energy on certain actions. Buy a card. And then claim a dinosaur from the display if they have room in the lab. During the action phase, they can use any available Tool or Supplies card they have. And they can score dinosaurs from the lab at any time, partially or perfectly.

The mechanical routine in place makes it easy for players to figure out the game and don’t leave them paralyzed with indecision.

Card text is clear. Iconography is easy to pick up. And rules are intuitive. It all makes for an easy learning experience.

Gameplay

The aim of the game is to extract dinosaur fossils. But you have to find them first… So you’ve got to manipulate the three-dimensional dig site in order to push past the layers of earth and find the fossils. When you do find one, you’ll use plaster to extract it, pull it out physically with the tweezers, and then either store the bone or add it to an ongoing dinosaur display in your lab.

On their turn, players use 4 energy points to move, dig or shift the earth on top of the fossil pits, collect plaster, and extract fossils. When the sand, clay, or stone tiles are shifted off of the board, players collect the different fragments of eggshells, footprints, and amber to buy Tools and Supplies.

When a player has some or all of the fossils on a dinosaur attached, they can score the skeleton for partial or perfect points.

Players have to score the dinosaur in their lab before taking another (unless they score one perfectly from the display using what’s in their storage).

The game has a countdown mechanic using the plaster that players collect. It sits in a pool on top of a small event deck. Whenever the plaster pool runs out, an event occurs and then the pool is reset. When the fourth plaster pool is exhausted, the players all take one final turn.

Most points (from dinosaur fossils and scoring categories, as well as Tools and Supplies cards) will win!

Modes of Play

The Kickstarter version of the game includes some additional modules or mini-expansions that you can include in the game, but the regular retail version of Fossilis only has one way to play.

If you want more variety in the long-term with this kind of strategy game, then maybe track down the Kickstarter edition (which has extra pretty components as well), but if you think that you’ll be fine with the gameplay that’s already been described, then you should be satisfied with the core experience.

Innovation

The physical components of the game and the player interaction with the board are the best parts of Fossilis. A shifting landscape of sand, clay, and stone tiles makes an interesting puzzle for players to tease out. And it can create some satisfying player turns when one is able to push their opponents away from a coveted fossil pit while also collecting valuable fragments.

David Diaz has done a fantastic job of building a tactile delight for players that also maintains strategic tension as players push and shove in a paleontological king-of-the-hill.

Pricing

The Kids Table Board Gaming shop has all things Fossilis for you. The retail version of the game is still available, along with some promo and expansion content, but the bigger six-expansion pack and the Kickstarter version of the game are currently out of stock, at the time of writing.

A retail copy of the game will cost you $45 USD and the Kickstarter version will set you back $66 USD but includes upgraded components and all of the expansion content.

If you’re interested in the publishers, learn more about Kids Table Board Gaming and their other publishing company Burnt Island Games!

Fossilis is…