Paleontologists

About this board game

Paleontologists is a roll-and-write game for 1–100 players that takes about 20 minutes, challenging everyone to uncover valuable fossils over 20 rounds.

Each round, two six-sided dice are rolled and shared by all players. One die helps determine the pentomino shape you can use, while the other indicates its dig type. You may choose how to combine the dice, then draw the selected shape onto your personal dig site. Shapes can be mirrored, turned, or flipped, but must fit entirely in open, non-fossil spaces.

Your goal is to completely surround fossils with drawn shapes using orthogonal spaces—up, down, left, or right. Once a fossil is enclosed, circle its value in the scoring area. If every surrounding shape uses the same dig type, you also receive that fossil’s additional scoring bonus.

• Shared dice pool: Everyone uses the same roll, but each player decides how to make the best move.
• Pentomino placement: Select from the shapes associated with the rolled numbers and fit them into your dig site.
• Bonus stars: Covering a star lets you gain a useful bonus for a future round.

Bonus stars offer four options: place a one-square space anywhere, switch the shape, switch the dig type, or gain an extra point at the end of the game. Each bonus can be gained up to four times, creating opportunities to adapt your plans as the dig site fills.

After the twentieth roll, total the points from uncovered fossils, same-dig-type bonuses, and any collected extra points. In Paleontologists, careful placement and flexible use of the shared dice determine who makes the most successful excavation.