Prehistoric Pack

Prehistoric Pack is a dinosaur-focused auto battler that combines creature collecting, strategic preparation, upgrades, and automated combat into an accessible single-player experience. Developed by Bonepile Studios and published by Champlain College, it embraces a relatively straightforward concept: acquire dinosaurs, assemble an effective pack, strengthen individual creatures, and send the resulting formation into battle. Rather than relying on reflex-heavy combat, the game puts most of its strategic weight on the decisions made before and between encounters, making preparation more important than mechanical execution.

The primary progression loop revolves around opening packs containing dinosaurs and deciding how those creatures fit into an increasingly capable team. Battles are handled automatically once they begin, so success depends heavily on how intelligently the player has constructed the pack beforehand. Winning encounters rewards Bones, which can then be used to obtain additional packs and expand the available selection of dinosaurs. This creates a simple but satisfying cycle where every victory potentially leads to new creatures, stronger combinations, and additional strategic possibilities.

Dinosaurs are not merely interchangeable units with different appearances. The inclusion of dinosaur families encourages players to consider relationships between creatures when putting together a formation. Finding combinations that complement one another can be more valuable than simply selecting whichever individual dinosaur appears strongest. This introduces a useful team-building component that gives the otherwise approachable mechanics some additional depth. Players are encouraged to experiment, reorganize their forces, and discover which combinations consistently perform well against increasingly difficult opposition.

Buffs further expand the customization system by allowing individual dinosaurs to become more effective. Choosing where to invest these enhancements creates another layer of strategy because strengthening the right creature can significantly influence the effectiveness of the overall group. There is an enjoyable sense of development when a dinosaur that initially seemed unremarkable becomes an important part of the formation after receiving useful improvements. The system also gives players reasons to reconsider earlier choices instead of constantly replacing older creatures whenever something new appears.

Another notable mechanic is the Apex Meter, which builds toward an opportunity to unleash additional power during encounters. It provides battles with a greater feeling of momentum and escalation while complementing the otherwise automated nature of combat. Since players spend much of their time preparing for confrontations rather than directly controlling every attack, mechanics such as this help make battles more exciting to watch. Seeing a carefully constructed dinosaur pack perform successfully provides much of the game's satisfaction, particularly when a formation survives an encounter that initially appeared unfavorable.

The visual presentation supports the lighthearted nature of the experience. Stylized 3D dinosaurs, colorful environments, and a clear battlefield perspective make the action easy to follow without pursuing strict prehistoric realism. The top-down presentation is particularly appropriate for an auto battler because players need to understand the overall state of the encounter rather than focus on precise character movements. Watching groups of dinosaurs clash has an inherent entertainment value, and the playful artistic direction keeps the experience welcoming rather than excessively serious.

Accessibility is one of the game's stronger qualities. Players who have little experience with auto battlers should be able to understand the fundamental loop without facing an overwhelming collection of systems immediately. Adjustable difficulty also makes it possible to approach the experience according to personal preference. Someone primarily interested in collecting dinosaurs and experimenting with different packs can take a more relaxed approach, while players looking for greater resistance can increase the challenge. The single-player structure also means there is no pressure to keep pace with a competitive multiplayer community.

That accessibility does come with limitations. Players expecting direct control over their dinosaurs may be disappointed because the battles are fundamentally about watching previous strategic decisions play out. The gameplay will consequently appeal more strongly to people who enjoy planning, optimization, collecting, and experimentation than those searching for action-oriented dinosaur combat. Its relatively focused design may also feel lightweight to strategy enthusiasts accustomed to extremely complicated unit statistics, large technology trees, or elaborate economic management.

The pack-opening structure adds an enjoyable element of anticipation to progression. Obtaining another dinosaur is not simply about filling a collection because each acquisition can potentially alter the composition of the active team. This makes collecting directly relevant to the strategic side of the game. Combined with Bones, buffs, dinosaur families, and the Apex Meter, the system provides enough interconnected mechanics to keep the core loop engaging without making it unnecessarily difficult to understand.

Steam Deck compatibility is somewhat less certain than the straightforward PC experience. The game does not have an official Steam Deck Verified or Playable designation, so it should be regarded as unverified rather than guaranteed to work perfectly on Valve's handheld. Its comparatively simple presentation and gameplay concept may lend themselves reasonably well to portable play, but the mouse-oriented interface could require trackpad use, touchscreen interaction, or customized controller mapping. Players specifically purchasing it for Steam Deck should therefore expect that some manual configuration may be necessary.

Overall, Prehistoric Pack offers an appealing combination of dinosaurs and accessible auto-battler strategy. Its strongest qualities are the immediately understandable progression cycle, team-building possibilities, creature buffs, family-based considerations, and the satisfaction of watching a carefully prepared pack succeed. It is not designed to deliver deep real-time tactical control, but it does not need to. Its focus is on collecting, planning, upgrading, and discovering effective combinations, giving it a pleasant pick-up-and-play quality that fits the concept well.

Rating: 7/10

Very fun, but not without its flaws.

I do enjoy the core gameplay and I think the card interactions/crazy abilities can be super fun, there's a lot of mechanics that you can go really in depth with and min max till your heart's content. There are however 2 main issues that I have with this game:

Settings/Optimization: On higher tier settings I find it to really lag my PC on start up as well as during some gameplay aspects so I think there are some optimization issues that can be adjusted, I don't have a particular bad setup, a bit outdated but I don't think this game should require anything crazy regardless. I also find it really annoying that the settings reset each time you load the game up.

Difficulty: This game is extremely easy, once you get Polychrome or any other similar ability then you do just win, even on the secret "Hard" difficulty, it's not a challenge. I think there can be some adjustments made to make it more difficult, I'd like to see some more variation, especially in "Hard" so it's not just the same dinosaur with updated stats each round. I think it'll be interesting to include some really OP combos on the opponent's side, maybe even some unique effects to potentially mirror/match the high runs that you can do in this game. Some more aspects to make it more of a puzzle

Bugs: There are a few issues with the dinosaur pathing, I think that's the only issue I encountered bug wise, but it can make some games particularly annoying, especially when trying to get objectives.

Overall a very solid game and one I enjoy a lot on my free time. I highly recommend just to play it when bored.

Really fun! A nice little bite-sized deck builder. Even with the short length (which I see as a plus, to be clear) there's still a good variety of builds that can work.

I'd pay some money for a more refined expansion with a little more depth and more dinosaur species.

Fun game Mechanics and gameplay has potential if polished more. Migght need more dinos or other eras as dlc or even aquatic dinos and other maps other locations etc. endless mode is also good or like battle royal or 2v2 or something to really home in the synergies nice game

Hits like a meteor!

[hr][/hr]

Another game that my college pals worked on, and this one has a lot of polish I'd say. Once again, prefacing that I know some of the developers and that this is a college project, so ignoring anything that isn't a glaring issue.

Gameplay

A playthrough is pretty short. I've got an hour on record, with two (sort of) runs. First run, I wound up trying to focus on carnivores. Lost a couple lives, but then snowballed on a souped up T-rex. There's a surprising amount of mechanics and synergies that you can hone in on, and opening card packs is of course, a pretty addicting bit. The UI is very clean and satisfying. The music also feels fitting, but more than that, I think it's got a chill vibe to it and feels like quality.

I started a second run to focus on herbivores, which admittedly didn't seem as strong, but maybe I didn't have the right cards? Didn't finish that one because the game soft locked after clearing the opposing side, but I'm assuming/hoping that interaction isn't common.

Critiques?

I honestly don't have too much in the way of feedback, honestly. It's pretty cut and dry gameplay, it does one thing and it does that thing reasonably well.

If I had to suggest anything, I would say extending the duration of the average run would be nice (extending the number of rounds and/or endless, adjusting scaling to be more gradual, more card rarities, stuff like that). Also, while carnivores and herbivores are distinguished between red and green colors respectively, families don't have much differentiation from what I can tell. Meaning if you don't know dinos as well, like myself, it's tough to tell how much of an impact certain cards might have.

Conclusion

This is fun to play for an hour or two! Scratches that deck builder, roguelike itch. Wishing luck to my pals going into the game industry!