Fossil Canyon is a set-collection card game developed in collaboration with the Field Museum of Chicago. You are a fossil-hunting paleontologist with the goal of constructing complete dinosaur skeletons that attract visitors to your museum. Each skeleton has a different point value (represented as visitors per year) and may consist of two, three, or four unique fossils. Endgame bonuses reward the theme of your museum, and you can enhance your museum’s reputation through groundbreaking research.
On each turn, you dig fossils from the dig site, initiate trades with other players, take a bonus dig if you manage to complete a skeleton, and rearrange your fossil cards so that all but three are visible to other players. Random events, such as erosion, may force you to alter your strategy.
Fossil Canyon uses a unique jigsaw-puzzle scoring method, where each skeleton added to your museum is represented by a puzzle piece with a length proportional to its value. No adding victory points or moving pawns on a board; the length of your puzzle-museum indicates your standing in the game. The puzzle pieces have a bonus dinosaur scene on the back from renowned paleoartist Franco Tempesta.
Fossil Canyon is a family-oriented STEM game. Kids love the dinosaur theme, “digging” through the cards, and puzzle scoring. Adults enjoy the strategic elements of the game, quick pace, and beautifully-illustrated cards. And parents appreciate the educational content from the Field Museum.
Also included are rules for the cooperative/solo variant Cretaceous Creek for 1-4 players.
