Lost Valley of the Dinosaurs is a 1985 board game designed by Julian Courtland-Smith. It was manufactured by Waddingtons in the UK and also issued by companies such as Australia’s Crown & Andrew. Described as “the epic 2-4 player game of adventure and fear for all the family,” this slightly complicated game includes six “vicious” dinosaurs, a swooping pteradon bird (with moving beak and wings), sixteen ‘old school’ explorers wearing pith helmets, a volcano cone and thirty plastic ‘pieces’ of lava. Plus, there is a swamp monster that resembles Nessie…
The objective of the game is to fearlessly strike forth to claim gold coins and then take them back out of the treacherous valley:
You have discovered an ancient chart of 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 that 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?
Nice touches include the fact that the six mini plastic dinosaurs included are hand-painted – in China, of course – so each one has its own ‘character’. Unfortunately, in the game, we purchased one of the dinosaurs has slightly displaced legs so keeps falling over. Thus, we have permanently retired this infirm beastie to its lair.
We recently bought this game up from a local Mind charity shop for a mere three quid and have since discovered it online for as much as £60! According to my nine-year-old son, “it’s a great game. You can have lots of fun”.
Adrian J Smith, MOVIES and MANIA
We are grateful to the following websites for images: Board Game Geek, Dice Maestro (Images are copyright Dice Maestro)
