"Biomechanic Dino Battles - The Deckbuilding Game" is an action packed and very combat-centered deckbuilding game for 2 to 4 players. One game takes about 60 Minutes, may be over faster or take longer than that depending on the cards that are available, the skills of the players, etc. While the game rules are very simple and easy-to- pick-up, the game offers tremendous strategic depth and complexity. With 14 different Dinosaurs as well as 21 different Strategies and Items to choose from, the game is a whole new experience every time you play it and thus offers great replay value.

In BDB - The Deckbuilding Game, players try to knock out 3 opponent Dinosaurs through building and optimizing their decks, fielding Biomechanic Dinosaurs, plotting Strategies, activating Items and using Combat Cards in multiple ways.

The game features an unique economy and resource system all based on the three different types of Combat Cards: Attack, Evade and Defend.

Here a brief overview of how the game works (For more information just have a look at the rulebook provided on this site):

Before the game starts you create a Supply of 10 different Strategy and Item Cards, Status Cards (Wound, Poison, Paralyze) and Combat Cards (Attack, Evade, Defend), as well as a Dino Deck containing multiple copies (the number depends on the number of players) of 6 different Dinosaurs. You can either use the suggested “Starter Setup” or make your own setup by either selecting the cards you want to have in the game or by choosing cards at random. So every time you make a new setup, the game is a whole new experience, offering ever-changing strategies and countless roads to victory.

After setup, the game can begin. Each player starts with an identical deck of 12 cards (3 Attack Cards, 3 Evade Cards, 3 Defend and 3 Wound Cards). Players take turns which always follow the same structure: First you can, in any order, play one Strategy Card, attach one non-Status Card to a Dinosaur and perform one Combat Move (You can either attack or retreat your active Dinosaur). If you have done all that, you are allowed to buy one card from the Supply or the Dino Deck. Bought cards from the Supply go to your Discard and bought Dinosaurs go to your Dino Bench (which can hold up to 3 Dinosaurs) or become your active Dinosaur if you do not have one at this point. There are cards that allow you to draw additional cards, play more Strategies, attach more cards, perform multiple Combat Moves and buy more than one card on your turn. After buying you discard your hand and draw 6 new cards from your Deck. Then it is the next player’s turn.

As stated above, you have to knock-out at least 3 opponent Dinosaurs in order to win. You do so by performing attacks (each Dinosaur has up to 2 different and unique attacks) which cost you a Combat Move and require you to discard a combination of Combat Cards you previously attached to the attacking Dinosaur. Your opponent may evade or defend the attack by purging (removing from the game) an Evade or Defend card previously attached to the attacked Dinosaur. To add more strategic options to the game, some attacks have so-called “Status-Effects”. You can inflict Wound-, Poison- and/or Paralyze-Cards on your opponents, which slow down their decks (Wounds), inflict little but constant damage (Poison) or decrease the number of Combat Moves a player has on his turn (Paralyze).

So as the game progresses, you buy new Dinosaurs to battle your opponent, tune your deck in order to support your attacking force of prehistoric beasts by acquiring new Strategies and Items and have at each other until one player scores 3 K. Os.

This is the game in a nutshell - for a more in-depth look at the game rules, please read the BDB Rulebook to be found on this website. In case of questions do not hesitate to contact us and we, the designers of the game, will answer it personally. You can also post on the BDB forum if you want to share your questions and our answers with others.

This game is a joint-effort of Nathan Moore and Andreas Propst.