Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Fossil Canyon is a competitive, lightly-strategic 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.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Open Drafting
Select cards or items from a shared face-up display.
Set Collection
Gather related items that become more valuable when scored together.
End Game Bonuses
Earn additional points for meeting conditions evaluated when the game ends.
Events
Triggered events alter the shared state, rules, or available choices.
Read the full game description
Fossil Canyon is a competitive, lightly-strategic 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 dinosaur skeleton has a different point value (represented as visitors per year) and may consist of two, three, or four unique fossils. On each turn, you dig fossils from the dig site (scattered face-down fossil cards), initiate trades with other players, take a bonus dig if you manage to complete a skeleton for your museum, and rearrange your fossil cards so that all but three are visible to other players. Strategic choices include deciding which fossils to expose and the number of increasingly expensive trades you perform to try to complete a skeleton or win a research award. Random events, such as erosion, may force you to alter your strategy. Fossil Canyon uses a unique jigsaw-puzzle scoring method, where each skeleton or research award 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. Fossil Canyon is a family-oriented STEM game. Adults will appreciate the beautifully-illustrated cards and the unique set-collection mechanics that make Fossil Canyon a fast-playing, lightly-strategic game. Children will love the dinosaur theme and the tactile jigsaw puzzle scoring, turning the game into a race. -description from publisher