Dinos Dinos Everywhere! – Final Girl – The Raptor Games Review

We are now down to it.

The final Final Girl feature film left for me to play, though I do have three vignettes to play.

Series 4 is now over with the release of The Raptor Games, a film where you are on an island facing not just a pack of vicious raptors that can tear you limb from limb, but also a T-Rex who, if he gets out, could chomp you with one bite.

(You can click on a picture to expand it)

The Raptor Games was designed by Byron Jorjorian and A.J. Porfirio, with art by Tyler Johnson. It was published by Van Ryder Games in 2026.

Unlike The Green Terror, there isn’t really a thematic disconnect of “why are you actually on this island?” or anything like that.

Hell, Jurassic Park (and others films in the series) had kids in it.

From the title of the film and at least one Event card, it looks like there are actual survival games on this island, which is pretty cool I guess.

Essentially, you are on an island facing off against a voracious pack of raptors, with more of them hatching and joining the pack all the time.

The island also has an active volcano and a lone T-Rex locked in a pen, just itching to get out.

Poor thing is all by itself!

Together, this can make for a horrifying combination.

So let’s talk about the Raptors.

They come in a small pack at first, with really low health if you can actually do something to them very quickly.

However, Horror starts at a really high level, so you also need to work to bump that down quickly for more dice.

The first Pack kill will trigger a spawn of 0-3 raptors.

They will go in a random space, which could be far away from the pack or really close to it.

(Note, you won’t get off that easy. There is only one Zero card in the deck).

Their Minion action is just to move toward the pack in order to join it.

They won’t attack, and must stop if they enter any space with you or a victim, no matter how much movement they have.

It’s like they’re watching, but don’t really know what to do yet.

(Some Terror cards will have them attack, though).

Once they move, then the Pack moves, but only one space toward the target victim/you.

They only move their full speed if directed by a Terror card.

Or the finale.

I also just realized that I may (but maybe not) have played one of the raptors’ rules wrong. It also says that if they start in a victim’s space, or your space, they don’t move. I can’t remember if I ever moved them out of a space like that.

Anyway, if a raptor enters the Pack’s space, then it joins the Pack, increasing they pack’s health by the number of raptors that just joined.

Which means it could get very high very quickly.

Not only that, but like the Ratchet Lady, there is no upper limit to the Pack’s health.

If something would have the Pack (re)gain health, its health goes up. Even if it’s already at “max”

That’s the special mechanic for the Raptor Pack, so let’s see about the Dark Powers and Finales.

Blood Thirsty (isn’t that usually one word?) is one of those “increase health” things I mentioned above. Doesn’t matter what the Pack’s health is, or if it’s even gained a raptor or two.

It kills, it gets bigger.

Pack Conditioning just makes it easier for the Pack to grow, requiring only that the raptors be in an adjacent space instead of entering it.

They’re Everywhere means you will always have a raptor spawn if you get the egg symbol, since there is only one “Zero” card in the spawn deck and you draw two.

I don’t even want to talk about Scaly Hide and how you can’t use Retaliate to actually hurt the Pack.

As for finales, they all have the Pack finally moving at full speed, and in three of the four, it attacks twice!

Good luck with that.

Claws Like Knives makes one damage from a Pack Attack unblockable, which can really ruin your day.

The Minor Dark Powers are only a little better.

Survival Instincts makes the Pack get stronger and stronger, while Predatory Instincts makes it more deadly.

Other Terror cards can make things hairy as well, with They’re Stalking Me designed to make sure you always have a protection card handy.

I got nailed by that twice without any assistance.

No Escape is one of the ones that will have the Raptors attack, though in this case only in an exit space.

They’re Too Fast isn’t too bad if it happens early in the game, when the Pack is slower, but can be nasty later when it’s moving 3 spaces per boot.

Even if nothing happens, though, you either get more Raptors or you get a massive Horror increase.

Others will spawn more raptors, or actually make the raptors attack.

Pinned Down will really make your day bad.

Even though I got slaughtered in all four games (though one of them was close), the Raptors are actually a really cool Killer.

I love the raptor mechanic, spawning all over the board and doing nothing but run to join the pack (unless told otherwise).

Having the Pack’s health be pretty low to start with is nice, though they’re always going to kill at least one or two victims pretty quickly, so new raptors will be spawning.

I can imagine them running rampant through Maplewood Lane or something, which would be very cool.

They’re hard to defeat, but not so aggressively hard that they’re not enjoyable.

(I’m looking at you, Poltergeist)

How about Isla Lagarto?

This location is really cool with lots going on.

Even with that, though, it doesn’t feel as fiddly and overwhelming as some of the earlier locations with stuff to do did.

First, there’s the minor stuff: the electric fences that keep powering up or down and that can block off part of the island from the other part.

Each upkeep phase, you roll the big, chunky yellow fence die, and whatever letter you roll (A, B or C), you either power that fence if it’s not active or disable the power for it if it’s active.

(The Setup card will tell you which ones are active at the start)

This can make things hairy, because paths, which affects things like “place raptors at the closest exit space” in addition to just making it harder to move around.

Then there’s the Volcano, which can erupt and have lava spread to three different spaces, making them inaccessible.

That kills any victim that’s in the space and does one damage to you, the killer, and any minions (which would hopefully kill the minion if you’re lucky!)

The first volcano symbol on a Terror card has it erupt, subsequent ones have the lava spread to one of three locations.

Finally, there’s the T-Rex, which is waiting patiently in the Dino Pen…until he’s not.

Each time a Terror card has the T-Rex symbol on it, you move it one space closer to escaping.

If it finally breaks out, then it will also move after the Killer and Minions do.

It moves two spaces but will attack anything that’s in its way.

If it attacks a victim, they’re dead. If it attacks a minion, it’s dead. If it attacks you, you’re dead.

No final health token allowed!

It’s also true of the killer, unless it’s something like the Raptor Pack, in which case it basically kills a raptor, removing one health from the Pack.

I really want to try this location with a “regular” killer, because in the game I narrowly lost, the T-Rex actually did 3 damage to the Pack before it finally gobbled me up instead.

I was able to induce the Pack to get in the T-Rex’s way.

Those are the three mechanical things about Isla Lagarto.

How about some items that can help you deal with all of this stuff?

There are a bunch of cool weapons on the island.

The Tranquilizer Gun you can use at any time, so if you have the killer about to enter your space, you can use a charge, deal a damage, and stop it in its tracks.

The Safari Rifle can be useful to do some damage at range, the same with the Throwing Axe.

The Shotgun can shred through some minions and do some nice damage to the killer as well, especially if you use it with a really big attack.

Other useful items can be the Bush Plane, which will help you save an additional victim anywhere on the board if you save one at the Airstrip.

And that poor goat, being used as bait. But it may save your life.

The Rover could just be the key to getting away from everybody and rescuing people.

Finally, the net is an awesome way to defend against those times where the Killer attacks twice, negating the second attack!

Other useful stuff are the electric fence codes, allowing you to engage (or disengage) a fence that is in your way or that you want to be blocking your trail behind you.

I made great use of the Enhanced Goggles, meaning you can always move one space regardless of your die roll, since you ignore the health loss for stumbling.

That’s amazing.

How about the special victims that can show up?

I really messed up the Terrified Child when she showed up in one of my games.

She can’t be targeted, saved, or killed until there are no other victims left on the board.

She showed up on the volcano and it erupted.

I had missed the “killed” part of the description, so I killed her, boosted Bloodlust to max and conceded inside of 20 minutes.

By the time I realized it, I had already set up to start again so I couldn’t rectify my mistake.

Anyway, she will either kill your game or save it completely, because if you manage to save her, you unlock your ultimate ability no matter how many victims you have saved.

But if she dies, bloodlust gets maxed out and you have to do the effect of every step of the way.

That being said, if that many victims are off the board already, then it’s very possible bloodlust won’t have far to go.

Essentially, she will either make a great game (where you’re saving everybody) terrible, or a terrible game (because they’re all dying before you can save them) awesome.

The Hunter can be funny, doing some damage to bad guys, but he will either kill victims in his space or, if he panics into the Killer’s space, do one damage and then likely die the next turn.

But you never know!

Other Event cards have a nice mix of good or bad.

Herbal Remedies is amazing!

The Game Makers will bring bad things down upon you.

Supply Drop can be great if you manage to be near a beach or a cliff to get a cool new item that wouldn’t have been available to you otherwise.

The red spaces are cliffs while the yellow spaces are beaches.

Fierce Competitors (the Event card that reinforces that this is a survival contest of some sort) will make you lose Time every time you save a victim.

Ungrateful whelps!

Let’s take a look at the Terror cards and the bad things they’ll inflict on you.

Many will activate the T-Rex and/or cause the volcano to erupt or spread lava.

The Brontosaurus stampede can be devastating if you have nothing but victims (or you) over by the Airstrip.

Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t.

Isla Lagarto is a wonderful location, with a lot going on but yet it doesn’t feel that overloaded.

I love the possibilities with the T-Rex, where much like the USS Konrad, you have some opportunities for some one shot victories (though in this case, you can’t really engineer that like you can on the ship).

The electric fences make things interesting because you could end up with the Killer cut off from you, or at least having to take the long way around.

The map is pretty well laid out, too.

The search spaces are reasonably close together (when there isn’t a fence in the way), which is pretty good.

I love the Volcano, but considering that there only 8 location Terror cards and 16 killer Terror cards, you may not get an eruption at all, or much flow if one does happen.

It’s just something to watch out for.

I will definitely be playing this location with another Killer at some point just to see if I can get the T-Rex to eat them.

How about the two Final Girls that came with the film?

They’re pretty standard on the basic side. Some Horror reduction, some healing, some Time, gaining a search or a sprint card, moving, etc.

On the Ultimate side, they are very good, though.

Christina lets you attack with any item (discarding the item) from a range of 1.

If you do, you count 3s and 4s as hits!

Not to mention the same happens if you use a ranged weapon with an attack card (or presumably any ranged weapon that requires a Horror roll).

Maud has a really nice ability too, letting you get cards that do damage for one Time less, and you ignore any health loss when using them (like if you fail that Horror roll).

Both are amazing, though I was only able to flip Christina once and not Maud at all.

Which was too bad.

As a full feature film, The Raptor Games is a great addition to the game system.

The Raptor Pack is deadly but interesting, the location is great, and the Final Girls can be very useful if you can get them upgraded.

This is a great way to finish out the first wave of Final Girl releases (Van Ryder has said that they will be doing future releases in a different way than in “seasons”).

Just don’t get chomped!

(This review was written after 4 plays of this film)