Dino Hunt

Dino Hunt is Steve Jackson Games' 1995 dinosaur-themed card game, released during the Jurassic Park cultural afterglow when dinosaur content was selling across every category of kid merchandise.

The game

Released in 1995 by Steve Jackson Games, Dino Hunt CCG is a two-to-six-player time-travel hunting duel where each player travels back to various prehistoric eras (Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous) and hunts or captures dinosaurs for Fame points. The Ambush mechanic lets hidden dinosaur cards spring on hunting parties, and different dinosaurs require different hunting techniques.

The context

Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World (1997) had put dinosaurs back at the centre of pop culture, and Steve Jackson Games' characteristic design approach (clever mechanics, tight rulesets, distinctive art) produced a Dino Hunt game that stood out from typical tie-in CCGs. Paleontologically accurate illustration was a design priority.

The collector angle

The base set and Dino Hunt: Lost World-era expansion are the main runs. The game shares publisher DNA with Car Wars and Munchkin and is sometimes assembled by completionist Steve Jackson Games collectors. The iconic T-Rex and Utahraptor rare cards are the primary chase pulls and sell to cross-audience dinosaur-merchandise collectors in addition to CCG players. Steve Jackson Games still occasionally reprints Dino Hunt content, creating a blurred line between vintage and modern inventory.