Header image for this project
Assets dinoland favicon Create a flourishing world of dinosaurs that avoids the asteroid as much as possible.

Dinoland

Background

This was the second idea for the collection. I was in a bit of a rush and wanted to make this game as a “joke” for my sister’s birthday. (Long story short: she’d found a place in the Netherlands called Dinoland, thinking it was a theme park we could visit for her birthday, then it turned out to be a really small venue with a maximum age limit. So we couldn’t go.)

I started thinking about dinosaurs, the famous asteroid, and how to blend it all into a very simple game I could make before her birthday. That process turned into this game, which ended up being far better than I imagined and more than good enough to release publicly!

It has the simplest ruleset of all the games, because placement of dominoes is almost completely free. The asteroid mechanic adds a bit of complexity, but not much, while you get a clear goal or “time bomb” in return. Just like stories, it feels good to have a game work towards a “climax”, and I’ll probably use this technique for more games in the future.

Because of its simplicity, I decided to also make it the most colorful, textless, and therefore most suitable to play with young children too.

(And yes, as I also mentioned at the Theme Park domino game, the names of the fonts used give insight into my incredibly professional process for selecting them. I basically searched for fonts with “dino” or “dinosaurs” in their name, or something that sounded similar … such as Tinos. Of course, I still check if it’s readable and looks good, but it’s honestly impressive how often this just works out. You can search for the most specific or random of keywords and find a cool, thematic font just sideways of that.)

Credits

The fonts used are Cute Dino (headings) and Tinos (body text). Some generative image AI was used. Everything else (code, idea, rules, illustrations) is entirely mine.

Support

You can hire me! Maybe you need a special board game or video game for a birthday or educational purpose? I'm also open to inquiries about physically publishing my games. I am a registered freelance artist from the Netherlands and you can contact me professionally through my portfolio.

If unsure, visit my Online Store. It contains everything I ever made. Though it focuses on playful education and activities for children/family, first and foremost.

Another great way to support me is to simply let me know what you think! Mail me at harmonize@pandaqi.com with any feedback.

Alternatives would be to buy my paid work (a win-win situation!) or to donate through the most popular channels (see buttons below).