itch.io

Thanks for asking — we love hearing about people using Escape from Dino Island for the first game they run!

Out of the “box,” Escape from Dino Island is calibrated for a one-shot or maybe a couple of sessions. Sam and I are working on some material for longer-form play, but I would definitely not wait on us — this is a side project for us so it's a slow process.

That said, I think it wouldn't be hard to do some DIY tweaks to run a short campaign and I have some thoughts!

For starters, without changing anything, there’s a lot of built-in flexibility to make the game longer as DM (by making travel more perilous, adding more encounters and challenges, etc.). The places where you may need to make some changes are:

•  managing obstacles (adding new ones, reupping them)
• advances (when to dole them out, what to do when they run out)
• stories (you'll probably run out)
• The endgame (the mechanics assume a one-shot's worth of stories)
• MAYBE dino damage/recovery

You might also find yourself wanting to make some additional moves as situations come up.

I don't want this to sound daunting, though! Most of those rules are there to help keep the adventure-movie pace/structure, so it shouldn't break anything to mess with them. It's actually really hard to break this game, so don't stress it. Also you know the source material well, so if your instincts probably won't lead you astray —  trust your gut and do what feels fun!

Another option is to reimagine your campaigns as a film series, and run several one-shots set in the same world/featuring the same characters. Basically, run the first game as normal and then write a new questionnaire (or just come up with answers) for each sequel as you go. You could have people come back to the same island a la Jurassic World or explore a new island with the same characters a la Lost World.

Basically — go for it! And then let us know how it goes. :-)