Jurassic World Alive beginner's guide - 5 tips when pitting dinosaurs against each other in mortal combat
Spared no expense
- With the success of the Jurassic World franchise, mobile spinoffs are inevitable
- But Jurassic World Alive may be the most ambitious as it emulates other AR hits
- Want to give it a go? Here are the very basics and what you need to keep in mind
For better or for worse, Jurassic Park has come roaring back to the fore with the launch of the Jurassic World franchise, including the most popular recent entry, Jurassic World Dominion. Like it or not, that massive popularity also comes with inevitable mobile spinoffs, including the long-running Jurassic World Alive that only recently hit a whopping seven years of service!
Basically, it's Pokémon Go but with dinosaurs, as you explore the real world in order to find different creatures to add to your roster, and even generate entirely new ones in the lab. Oh, and of course, you then do what humanity is wont to do and pit them against each other in mortal combat.
Jurassic World Alive beginner's guide
Now, somehow, this is slightly less unethical than what InGen usually does. And it's definitely got its appeal. So if you want to see what all the prehistoric fuss is about, then this Jurassic World Alive beginner's guide is the place to get started!
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Tip# 1 - The Basics: GO Jurassic
Alright, now here's the basics. As stated above, this is essentially Pokémon Go with dinosaurs. And if you've somehow missed that pop culture event, that means you'll find this is a mobile game with a twist, as instead of just sitting down at home, you'll need to actively walk around to get the most out of Jurassic World Alive.
Essentially, each real-world location your phone finds itself in will correspond to where you are in-game, and what sort of dinosaurs and other challenges you find. Move around your city or local area, and you'll find more, with certain special events taking place in particular areas.
Collecting more dinosaurs grants you a greater variety to take into battle. You can even view them in the real world by using the AR feature to overlay them. However, the fact that they aren't necessarily to scale makes this a bit more of a neat feature than anything really useful.
Speaking of dinosaurs, you'll start off with a few basic creatures to add to your roster, such as the humble Triceratops and iconic raptor. From there, however, it's up to you to gather the necessary genetic data to create more. Speaking of…
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Tip# 2 - Growing your collection: The Drone Cam
If you've ever played Jurassic Park Evolution, you may remember the gameplay where you made use of a helicopter-borne sniper to tranquilise rampaging dinos. Similarly, when you need to gather DNA, you'll launch a drone equipped with a dart gun to gather genetic material from dinosaurs. Darts are limited, but can be gathered from supply drops; more on those in a bit.
The drone is probably the most straightforward mechanic, as your drone hovers over the various creatures while you drag and hold to take aim before shooting. Hitting in the circle grants more DNA, while a direct hit to the smaller white circle in the middle grants the most for a 'direct hit'.
From there, as you gather DNA, you'll be able to create new dinosaurs in your lab. However, you'll need enough DNA to do so, which may require multiple trips out. And, as mentioned above, for certain dinosaurs, you'll likely need to trek out around the city, as your drone has a limited range.
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Tip# 3 - Getting some goodies: Supply Drops & Incubators
One other thing to keep an eye out for are Supply Drops. These will be your main source of goodies apart from events and other rewards. You'll especially want to keep your eye out for darts, as like Pokeballs in Pokemon Go, they're a limited resource but vital to actually playing.
In particular, you'll note that, while you can gather these drops from afar, it's often better to get closer. Getting closer before collecting them means that you'll get more rewards, which incidentally also means you'll likely encounter more dinosaurs on your travels too! As stated in our very early tips piece (from way back in 2018) Incubators, which are essentially your treasure chests or reward drops, are worth keeping an eye out for too as you get one freebie a day.
Scent Capsules, another resource you gather from these drops, essentially take the place of lures and will tempt stronger and rarer dinosaurs to your location so you can gather their DNA. Those are the basics of the metagame and AR elements, which brings us to the other main mechanic…
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Tip# 4 - Mortal Combat: Dino vs Dino
Who hasn't wanted to find out who would win in a battle between a T. rex and a Triceratops? Well, then, Jurassic World Alive is for you, as this is the main point of all that DNA gathering and traipsing around in real life. You'll find battles either on the map or through the campaign, which takes you through basic elements and teaches you how things work.
Don't expect something super-complex, or at least not as complex as Pokémon (last comparison, I promise). Your dinosaurs have various attributes that can be upgraded, but one of the most important early on is speed, as that's what allows your creature to act first.
How it works is that you select a team of five dinosaurs, pick either a campaign or battle on the map to take them into, and from there you duke it out with other dinosaurs (and other creatures). The battles are fought using a simple three-attribute system in a rock-paper-scissors configuration where one attribute is strong against another, or weak against them.
All you need to remember for the basics are: fierce is strong against resilient, resilient is strong against cunning and cunning is strong against fierce. Later on, you'll be able to create hybrid creatures that combine attributes, and even those that serve as wildcards, which can support the rest of your team.
You can find some more tips on Arena mode in particular, and other general pointers in our coverage of that particular mode!
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Tip# 5 - Size matters
I've found that something to keep in mind is that smaller and flying dinosaurs will be harder to dart. So keep that in mind if you want to make your all pterosaur army, or those adorable (and terrifying) little critters from the start of the second film somehow stole your heart. Mine's already taken by the best dino of all, the triceratops.
Other than that, the usual wisdom applies here with our Jurassic World Alive beginners' guide. Get trekking and keep your eye out for events and battles, and decide on what actual composition you want your team to be instead of winging it. It's better to lose because you had one big weakness than a bunch of little ones, after all.
If you're looking for the equivalent of Top Trumps but with AR added, and the fun of battling it out with your childhood envisioning of dinosaurs, then this is definitely for you!
