Trias

Spread your dinosaur tribes across a splitting Pangaea before the meteorite ends their age.

Designer: Ralf Lehmkuhl
Published by: Gecko Games (I)
Editions by: Rio Grande Games, Tilsit

Dinosaurs on a drifting supercontinent, and a meteorite on the way. Trias (2002) starts with every tribe on the single landmass of Pangaea, built from hexagon tiles of different terrain. Each turn you drift a piece of land, take optional actions and then check your tribes: any left in water or on overpopulated tiles are lost. Each tile can only hold so many animals, and the land keeps breaking up, so spreading out is smart but dominating each continent you live on is what scores. There is some take-that and a lot of area majority, with a clock ticking until the meteorite strikes and ends the age of the dinosaurs. Plan on 45 minutes for two to five players.

Pangaea made of hexagon tiles that drift apartTiles hold a limited number of animalsThe game ends when the meteorite strikes

Who it's for

You like area-control games with a changing map and a dinosaur theme, and you enjoy a bit of mean-spirited tile drifting with three or four players.

Not for you if…

You dislike having your pieces stranded by someone else's move or you want a calm, solitary build. The map shifts, and a rival can wreck your plans.

Vibe's take

Shifting and slightly mean. The map moves under your feet, and each drift can strand a rival's tribe or your own.