Lost Valley Of The Dinosaurs

I've said it before and I'll say it again: dinosaurs make anything cooler, even board games.

Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs is a board game published by Waddingtons (which sounds more like a Paddington Bear's loser cousin than a board game publisher) and designed by Julian and Tonie Courtland Smith with art by Julian Courtland Smith and Jerker Eriksson, and let me just say that - for the record - if I ever had a kid and I named them Jerker, I'd fully understand if they grew up to hate me. It's completely valid.

Released in 1985 and boasting 2-4 players and a thirty to sixty minute run time, it's on par with other board games that feature in depth designs and fantastical adventures, such as Fireball Island. This is yet another board game that has an expansive set, complete with excellent dinosaur figures you must avoid and even a working volcano that spews lava onto the board. This thing is really a work of art, man, and the fact that it seems relatively forgotten makes me super sad.

According to Board Game Geek, the synopsis of the game is as follows:

You have discovered an ancient chart to a lost valley. It shows that once the valley was occupied by a fierce tribe of natives who had collected a vast wealth of treasure and used vicious dinosaurs to help protect it. No humans inhabit the valley now and the chart shows that the 'treasure' is still hidden in a temple at the top of the valley but the dinosaurs are still there! The secret of the valley and its treasure have been stolen and you know that other expeditions are currently journeying to discover the lost secret of the valley. As your party enters the valley a volcano which has been dormant for centuries rumbles and threatens to engulf the valley in lava. The race is on, who will win the fabulous riches of the temple and who may die?

 So yeah, it's the exact same premise as a million other things, but who cares, because at least unlike 99% of those other things it's like, it actually does something with its board. Hell, even the back of the board has art on it, that's how absolutely dedicated these people were to their craft! Scope this sucker out.

They give you a map, complete with the description of the game! The art is even well done, which is incredibly cool considering this is - again - the back of the game board, something most people would likely never even bother to turn around and glance at. Again, absolute commitment to the product, and I love it.

 

Again, who cares if it's the same premise as other games, because it's so well made and so cool that it doesn't matter if it's something we've all seen a million times before. I've always said that you can do the same generic plot as long as you do something cool with it that differentiates it as your own, and boy did they achieve that here. The dinosaur models, and especially the volcano really give it a unique touch that's unlike anything else, even Fireball Island.

 

In fact, Fireball Island was released a whole year after this game, which leads some credence to the possibility that it was potentially inspired by the work that was done here, which wouldn't shock me if it were true, considering how similar the two are. As I said in the Fireball Island post, games just didn't look like this back then, which made it all the more appealing. And the fact that it came with fairly detailed - for the time anyway - dinosaur models and such only made it all the more interesting, because most times, a board game would include something that was simply one color plastic molds with no detailing whatsoever.

 

I mean, sure, they look like they're wearing lipstick and have a perpetual look of surprise on their face, but hey it's better than just some goofy plastic yellow dinosaur, right? Right. At least these people really put some effort into their models, which is odd considering the player tokens are simply one color plastic models, but I figure you gotta cut costs somewhere, so.

 

Also - and you can't see it well here but - I really like that they included little bits of rock and flora/fauna on the board itself, just adding even more dimensions to the whole thing visually. That's always a nice little touch. The colors on everything also work well together; sure, it's mostly varieties of brown or tan, but they work well together because none of them either overshow one another or work against one another. All in all, every design decision when it comes to Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs seems to be a good one. I think, as I said a moment ago, the mere fact that the dinosaurs are in fact textured and detailed really helps this stand out and not look so absolutely bland and dull as it could've otherwise, because now instead of yet a goofy color that doesn't fit at all (or perhaps yet another variety of brown or tan) you've got this nice green that's bright and eye catching against all that brown. It really helps, man.

 

Since these sorts of games are hard to take pictures of, I couldn't find one that I wanted to use, so instead check out the back of the box, which includes a pretty solid view of the game in full setup.

It even comes with a fucking pterodactyl to look over the players! How cool is that??? This gal says pretty darn cool. It's also neat in that, again like Fireball Island, it doesn't have any specific color coded squares you're meant to follow like most board games. There's no generic path to success you're meant to head down, bu instead you're meant to draw these cards and follow them as they affect you around the board, ala Jumanji style.

 

And the artwork on these is even tremendous!

 

It's always nice to see every aspect of something have heart put into it, and boy is that the case here. The models, the board, the back of the board for god sakes, the cards and the box. Every single piece is so polished, so well cared for by its designers and artists, that it's impossible not to praise. This actually makes me wish we'd had dinosaur trading cards, honestly. Imagine a dinosaur card game, like a BattleTech but for Dinosaurs. Could be awesome, dude.

 

I want to know why this level of attention to detail went out of style for board games. I mean, it was never really "in style", as games like these were outliers in a sense, but still, I wish it was the norm, because I know modern board games or in general most board games modern or not were so hastily made because it was cheaper to produce, but this sort of stuff is just so much better than something that's just a board with multicolored squares you're meant to follow to some pre-destined climax. Nowadays this sort of thing isn't unusual, as a lot of modern board games (generally ones not made by the big name companies, hilariously enough) are actually incredibly detailed and have lots of little aspects that build together to create a cohesive whole, thus proving that the smaller creators are the ones who aren't creatively bankrupt and that the big name companies need to get their shit together if they want to continue to dominate.

 

So that's Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs; a sort of Land of the Lost type game, featuring a working volcano you can drown your enemies in and dinosaurs who are ready to tear your flesh from your bones as you work towards getting the treasure. And now, before I sign off, I'll leave you with this absolutely glorious picture of artist/designer Julian Courtland Smith promoting the game in 1985 at London's Earls Court Trade Fair.

 

 Why didn't we just let this group of people make every single board game ever?

This is the single greatest board game promotional image ever taken. You can't tell me you'd turn down a salesman dinosaur. You know you'd let him into your house, buy his wares and then let him eat you. That's just how things go.