Fossilium

About this board game

Fossilium is a strategic and interactive set collection and tile placement game for 1–4 players, with games lasting about 120 minutes. As the director of a natural history museum, you must create the most impressive destination for fossil enthusiasts.

Send your paleontologists to promising excavations, collect fossil pieces, and carefully assemble them before displaying your discoveries in the museum’s grand hall. Expanding your museum with facilities such as restaurants and auditoriums can provide additional income and powerful bonuses.

Competition and cooperation are both central to the experience. Players may compete for valuable action spaces, while also helping rivals complete iconic fossils such as the T-Rex or Stegosaurus. This scientific collaboration allows both players to score points, creating opportunities for tactical partnerships alongside direct competition.

The game unfolds over five rounds, with each round following four phases:

• Receive income.
• Build and fill your museum.
• Open the doors, attract visitors, and gain prestige.
• Unearth new fossils and attract returning patrons.

Visitor trends also deserve close attention. Reading those trends can let you sell season tickets and gain a crucial advantage over competing museums, adding another layer of timing and strategic decision-making.

After the fifth round, the museum with the most prestige wins. Developed in collaboration with the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin (Natural History Museum), Fossilium combines science-based subject matter with fossil assembly, museum development, set collection, and tile placement.