Game Theory: Bone Wars
23 Sep 2019
Games have never been more popular and in their column Dr Louise Robinson and Dr Ian Turner, take us through Bone Wars: The Game of Ruthless Palaeontology to find out if it is any good...
Age 10+
2-4 players
30 minutes
Zygote Games
What is Bone Wars?
In Bone Wars you become a famous palaeontologist from the late 19th Century and take part in head-to-head (or heads!) battle to have your name passed down in science history. You do this in the Dinosaur Bone Rush and aim to collect as many impressive skeletons and fossils as possible to build up prestige points. You have to watch for scientific meddling from your rivals as they play cards such as “it’s a fake” and the “head is at the wrong end” damaging your reputation whilst boosting theirs. Of course, you could beat them at their own game... where is that “explosive” card...?
Is it Fun?
The game is good fun to play, the first attempt is a little slow as you learn what everything does, but it picks up speed quickly afterwards (…like new lab equipment). The game mechanics are based around set-collection (dinosaur skeletons) and each turn is divided into three phases: field work (get cards), museum work (place cards) and controversy (change placed cards). You need to play complete sets of bones alongside a named dinosaur to claim the prestige. Of course, in all of these phases you can play events to interfere with your opponent’s efforts – as they can to you.
The cards are well presented with simple cartoon images and nothing beats laying down a fully formed dinosaur skeleton. The effect cards add real fun to the theme nicely, building up a sense of scientific rivalry and double crossing.
Is it Educational?
The game is based on a real period of history known as Bone Wars or The Great Dinosaur Rush fuelled by the Cope and Marsh rivalry (two characters in the game). The skeletons are all named and include a range of scientific information including classification, period alive, height, and weight. They also include a range of anatomical descriptions of each bone part e.g. did you know a Styracosaurus has ossified tendons along its vertebrae? We like the fact that incorrect bones can be placed in a skeleton then later replaced, this is true to life (though often accidental rather than deliberate). The event cards are all believable activities (for the time period) and offer insights into the scientific skulduggery of the late 19th Century. The game does have some scientific merits primarily as a cognitive tool for learning the names of dinosaurs and their key statistics.
Conclusion
A fun and light-hearted scientific rivalry game set in the late 19th century. Recommended to play instead of fighting over whose turn it is to clean up in the lab.
Dr Louise Robinson is Lecturer in Forensic Biology and Dr Ian Turner an Associate Professor in Learning and Teaching, both at the University of Derby.
