Go Home Dinosaurs was released on Steam in 2013 by Fire Hose Games. The premise is fairly simple. You have to stop hoards of dinosaurs from crashing your BBQ and stealing all the steaks. The towers in this game act like puzzle pieces and must be fit in accordingly. Go Home Dinosaurs has 60 levels for the price of $9.99 on Steam. For that price tag, you’re getting plenty of levels to play.
I judged this game too early
When I downloaded Go Home Dinosaurs, I was convinced it would look and play like a mobile game. By the second level, I was wrong. Go Home Dinosaurs has a refreshing level of polish and thought.
The art style is charming, especially for the dinosaurs. The style works well for each level, and the towers are well designed on the outside. Go Home Dinosaurs should not be underestimated solely by its appearance.
The towers could have used more time
In a tower defense game, the most important element is the towers. The gimmick of Go Home Dinosaurs is that each tower is a puzzle piece, meaning you can’t use every tower on every level. I find myself constantly trying to use my favorite towers, only for them not to fit.
Tower Economy
To buy more towers during a level, you have to gather and spend coconuts. Some towers cost three coconuts, and some cost as many as seven. The tower economy is strange because of the puzzle aspect of the game.
The upgraded rock shooter is seven coconuts and takes up a larger area than the three coconut shooters. The developers appeared to have tied in the strength of a tower to the size and shape. For the most part, this makes sense, except the meteor launcher that you can purchase for eight coconuts becomes obsolete if you use a couple of smaller towers.
This all depends on what level you’re playing as well. In some instances, the meteor launcher will be the best you can use for an area, and other times it would be a waste to place it down.
Tower Shape
Although I like the gimmick of each tower being a puzzle piece, I hate how tower shapes seem to be decided. Each tower can only fit into a certain number of blocks, and of course, each tower can only do so much damage.
Some of the shapes make no sense and appear to take up more space than they should. Other shapes seem too big for what the tower does.
Some of the dinosaurs don’t make sense with the tower selection in the game either.
The Dinosaurs
The dinosaurs in the game and the available tower selection do not make sense. Some of the dinosaurs make the towers feel useless. Bruno acts as a meat shield for other dinosaurs to hide behind. The hitbox is unclear, and the hiding mechanic drives me nuts. In instances where it seems the tower should be hitting a dinosaur, it doesn’t because Bruno is in front.
The best thing about the dinosaurs is the variety and art style. I wish Go Home Dinosaurs had larger maps so all of the dinosaurs could be utilized to their fullest potential. The tightness of each map makes it hard to track what dinosaurs are on the field as well.
The Shop is so close to being useless
The shop in Go Home Dinosaurs does not provide towers. Instead, it offers one-use items and skins. You can also purchase a vegetarian option: Although I get the sentiment, I can’t help but be confused as to why that’s even an option? Steaks and salads would make sense since some of the dinosaurs would prefer a salad over a steak.
I digress.
The one-use items are not useless, but I have never preferred taking them over another tower card. Since tower cards are limited, I like to take as many as the map allows. The skins are a nice touch.
The shop would have been better if you could buy tower cards or more tower card slots. Go Home Dinosaurs has one of the worst shops I have ever seen. Luckily there are no microtransactions, and the coins can be earned as you play.
Go Home Dinosaurs is a fun experience for fans of all ages
Despite my nitpicking, I genuinely believe Go Home Dinosaurs is a fun experience. I would suggest Go Home Dinosaurs to anyone who likes tower defense games but does not want to spend a lot of time planning and buying upgrades.
Go Home Dinosaurs is perfect for kids. The reading in the game is minimal, and the concepts are easy enough to understand, plus the art style screams kid-friendly. There are no curse words in the game. Go Home Dinosaurs does not feature any blood or gore either. Go Home Dinosaurs can be a fun place to start for fans new to the tower defense genre.
Time to go home
Go Home Dinosaurs is a game I do not regret playing. Although it lacked the depth I enjoy in tower defense games, I found myself itching to progress to the next level. The shop is one of my biggest complaints about the game because it feels tacked on.
Go Home Dinosaurs would be best enjoyed by children or people who are looking for a more straightforward tower defense game. The tower system works for its purpose but could be better. You can tell when levels are specifically designed to be used with certain towers.
Go Home Dinosaurs will be receiving a 5/10 because of the animations and lack of depth. However, the game is fun to play, and I can recommend it if you pick it up on sale.
I took all the screenshots in this article during my play-through. Please do not use these screenshots or this article for any reason.
Titanium Gaming 