The 26 Best Dinosaur Games Ever Released - Gameranx (2024)

Dinosaurs have a way of inspiring our imagination. If you grew up in the 80s or 90s, you were subjected to a ton of dinosaur content from Jurassic Park to the popular Dinosaurs TV series. There’s no lack of video games featuring these ancient beasts, and the Gameranx staff pulled together to answer one surprisingly difficult question: what are the best dinosaur games of all time? If we missed your favorite, let us know.

If you enjoy this list, you’ll probably like our list of the best pirate video games.

#26 ARK: Survival Ascended

Platform: PC
Release Date: October 26, 2023

Steam

Ark: Survival Evolved was a huge hit when it was first released back in 2017. We know a sequel is also in the works, but before that sequel lands in the marketplace, we have Ark: Survival Ascended. This is a remake of Ark: Survival Evolved. Likewise, this remake uses Unreal Engine 5, so it should look visually better than before. However, the game itself remains the same. You’re still trying to survive on a mysterious island filled with different hostile dinosaurs. Craft up items, defend yourself from these beasts, and even form a tribe with friends.

#25 Exoprimal

Platform: PC PS4 Xbox One PS5 XSX|S
Release Date: July 14, 2023

Steam | Playstation | Xbox

Welcome to a future where one of the most essential sources of energy in the world comes from dinosaurs. No, really, that’s the world ofExoprimalthat you live in.

But instead of focusing on the crazy sci-fi plot of the game, let’s instead focus on killing dinosaurs with mech suits! That’s what you and other players will do in the game. You’ll load up and outfit your mech with weapons and abilities to take on hordes of dinosaurs either by yourself or with a crew.

Numerous modes will let you tango with these dinos, so don’t miss your chance to beat the prehistoric age with a few bullets from the future.

#24 Prehistoric Kingdom

• Developer: Blue Meridian
• Publisher: Crytivo
• Platforms: PC
• Release: April 27, 2022

Prehistoric Kingdom has the potential to be one of the best Dinosaur games ever made, and some fine-tuning here and there could make that so. Players take control of almost limitless power as they manage and grow the ultimate zoo for extinct animals; use an array of powerful and creative tools to grow jungles, carve rivers, and raise mountains across this massive playable area. This is a new game (only being released in April this year) and it feels largely unfinished, but it does have a lot of scope, and with few updates down the line, we could be looking at the number one dinosaur game of all time.

#23 Animal Revolt Battle Simulator

• Developer: VDimension
• Publisher: VDimension
• Platforms: PC
• Release: July 12, 2020

Animal Revolt Battle Simulator acts very much like Totally Accurate Battle Simulator. Here, players are pitting different enemies against each other to see who wins while the characters feature wacky ragdoll physics. This is a sandbox game including all kinds of dinosaurs to mess with, along with some more familiar animals. An additional feature allows players to join in on the fight, granting access to powerful weapons to use against enemies.

#22 Dino D-Day

• Developer: 800 North and Digital Ranch
• Publisher: 800 North and Digital Ranch
• Platforms: PC
• Release: April 8, 2011

There have been plenty of games released where players battle against Nazis during World War II, but have you played a game where dinosaurs have been thrown into the mix? Set in 1942, Hitler managed to resurrect dinosaurs which are being used to defeat their enemies and claim more territories. In this game, players will have to fight off Nazis and dinosaurs to the best of their abilities. Sure, it’s ridiculous, but it’s worth it for the low price.

#21 The Isle

• Developer: Afterthought
• Publisher: Afterthought
• Platforms: PC
• Release: December 1, 2015

The Isle was released in 2015 is still marked as an early access game on Steam. Players take on the role of a dinosaur–either a carnivore or herbivore–and are dropped into a server where the goal is simply to survive. You’ll need to scavenge food, potentially battle other dinosaurs, and grow larger. Overall, this is a kill or be killed game best played in a busy server. The developers are looking to add plenty more to the game such as more complex AI, playable aquatic and aerial dinosaurs, and mod support.

#20 Minecraft – Jurassic World DLC

• Developer: Mojang
• Publisher: Mojang Studios
• Platforms: PC, PS4, XBO, NS
• Release: 2011 (Initial release date)

Minecraft has been a worldwide phenomenon and over the years Mojang has delivered all sorts of updates, allowing the game to thrive years later. Recently, we got an official Jurassic World DLC bringing 60 dinosaurs and over 20 skins to the title. Players can dive into a new adventure as they build exhibits and craft and train dinosaurs. There’s even the ability to venture out into the wild in search of Dinosaur DNA.

#19 Dauntless

• Developer: Phoenix Labs
• Publisher: Epic Games
• Platforms: PC, PS4, XBO, NS

Dauntlessis a great game for those who enjoy theMonster Hunterfranchise. It’s also a great meter for those wondering ifMonster Hunteris for them. Since this is a free-to-play title, you can save quite a bit of money picking this game up before attempting something likeMonster Hunter: World, a game we have listed down below. WithDauntless, players are tasked with forming parties and joining in on hunts against mythical monsters. With each takedown, players are rewarded with new loot.

With this loot, players can craft new armor and buff their stats when having to face other types of monsters. Some battles can be quite lengthy as you’ll need to not only monitor your vitals but keep track of every move a monster makes. Players will also find a rather active online community enjoying this title.

#18 LEGO: Jurassic World

• Developer: TT Fusion
• Publisher: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment
• Platforms: PC, PS3, PS4, 360, XBO, NS

This game recieved mixed reviews due to some bugginess, poor audio patching from the original films, and frustrating Compsognathus battles. However, it does allow players to take on the role of a dinosaur character, making it at least worth a mention. LEGO: Jurassic World will not go down as the best Jurassic Park video game title, but it still ranks among the most memorable.

#17 ARK: Survival Evolved

• Developer: Studio Wildcard, Instinct Games, Efecto Studios, Virtual Basem*nt
• Publisher: Studio Wildcard
• Platforms: PC, PS4, XBO

ARK: Survival Evolvedmight offer the most unique spin on dinosaurs in this entire list, with the game taking place in a breathtaking original universe with harsh environments and even harsher wildlife. It’s easy to compare Studio Wildcard’s survival game gameplay toMinecraft, as players learn to hunt and gather the resources necessary to deal with the world around them. WhileArk: Survival Evolveddoes share much in common when it comes to its systems and crafting mechanics, the playground it takes place in couldn’t be more different. WhatArklacks in polish it makes up for with interesting creatures, interactivity, and a foundation that encourages experimentation.

#16 Off-Road Velociraptor Safari

• Developer: Flashbang Studios
• Publisher: Flashbang Studios
• Platforms: PC

This is one of the few titles on this list to get dinosaurs right. It’s a game where velociraptors look more like they are said to have looked realistically and not how they looked in Jurassic Park. Yes, these velociraptors sport some wicked plumage.

This free indie game sees players put into the role of a sentient velociraptor driving a jeep to run down the velociraptors in a jungle. That’s pretty much all there is to it, but the dinosaurs feature so prominently in this one, this list wouldn’t be complete without it. It’s also strangely addicting for its simplicity.

#15 Jurassic Park: Trespasser

• Developer: Dreamworks Interactive
• Publisher: Electronic Arts
• Platforms: PC

Oh, Trespasser. You could have been the game to end all games–instead, you ended up being a pile of rubbish. This overly ambitious project set out to revolutionize user interfaces for first-person perspectives but failed miserably by making things too complicated. Plus, the game was so hardware hungry, it put Origin games to shame.

Riding on the success of the first two Jurassic Park movies, this game was supposed to tie in with The Lost World – Jurassic Park 2. However, development hell struck, and what was supposed to be one of the biggest, most innovative games of the decade turned out to be a major dud, credited by a lot of contemporary critics as the biggest disappointment of the year. It’s actually worth playing just to see what we mean.

#14 Primal Rage

• Developer: Atari Games, Probe Software
• Publisher: Atari Games, Time Warner Interactive
• Platforms: Arcade, SNES, Genesis, PC, GB, GG, 3DO, Amiga, PS, 32X, Saturn

What could be more true to the pop-cultural representation of ancient giant beasts than a fighting game utilizing stop motion claymation that would have made Ray Harryhausen proud? Primal Rage arrived during the heyday of colorful fighting games, and it successfully stood out. Its sprites were created shooting single frames of puppets made of clay, which is something no other game had done before or since, if we’re not mistaken. This one’s an oldie and a goodie.

#13 Primal Carnage

• Developer: Lukewarm Media
• Publisher: Reverb Publishing
• Platforms: PC

A class-based online multiplayer shooter that pits dinosaurs against human mercenaries, Primal Carnage looks surprisingly fantastic. It’s also one of two games on this list that lets you actually play as a dinosaur, ripping apart pesky two-legged mammals with guns. As far as dinosaur games go, this is probably the best that any true dinosaur fan can ever imagine. Rip and tear, rip and tear.

#12 Primal Carnage: Extinction

• Developer: Circle Five Studios, Pub Games, Panic Button Games
• Publisher: Circle Five Studios
• Platforms: PC, PS4

Primal Carnage: Extinction is a massive, class-based online multiplayer shooter unlike anything else you’ve ever seen. Offering fast-paced combat on an island overrun with prehistoric monsters, players can go toe-to-toe against a variety of legendary dinosaurs or even play as them.

#11 Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

• Developer: Capcom
• Publisher: Capcom
• Platforms: Wii, 3DS, Wii U

Arguably another one of those “close.. but..” cases, Monster Hunter sees players tracking countless different creatures roaming the land, with many of the bigger targets taking clear inspiration from existing dinosaurs. If there’s a game that lets players indulge in their dinosaur (or other gargantuan reptilian creature resembling actual dinosaurs) hunting urges, it’s this one.

#10 Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie

• Developer: Ubisoft
• Publisher: Ubisoft
• Platforms: GBA, GC, PC, PS2, XB, DS, X360, PSP

This is one of the few instances where a movie tie-in is actually pretty good. The game was developed by none other than legendary French game designer Michel Ancell of Rayman and Beyond Good and Evil fame. In the game, the player is cast as Jack (Adrien Brody in the movie), and has to survive the mysterious island, fighting off hungry dinosaurs of various sizes.

In the second half of the game, the player is actually cast as Kong, the giant ape, and goes toe to toe with the island’s T-Rex population. The game wasn’t a huge commercial success despite its high production values and solid game mechanics.

#9 theHunter: Primal

• Developer: Expansive Worlds, Avalanche Studios
• Publisher: Expansive Worlds, Avalanche Studios
• Platforms: PC

Developed by the same studio that brought you the Just Cause series and Mad Max, theHunter: Primal is touted as the most realistic prehistorical survival game ever created. Players take on the role of a hunter who’s armed with a variety of implements allowing them to take down dinosaurs of all stripes, including the Triceratops, Velociraptor, and the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex.

#8 Dino Crisis Series

• Developer: Capcom
• Publisher: Capcom
• Platforms: PS, DC, PC, PS2, XB, Mobo

Dinosaurs! In space! Oh dear, could there be anything more awesome? Oh right, add robots. Or ninjas. Or pirates maybe. Dino Crisis 3 was a game with one of the most awesome concepts ever conceived, yet sadly, the actual game wasn’t too great and eventually led to the demise of the Dino Crisis series.

Dino Crisis was Capcom’s attempt to give the Resident Evil formula more broad appeal. Sadly, given that Resident Evil is still doing very well to this day and Dino Crisis is nearly extinct, things clearly didn’t work out for the company. Still, even if the titles weren’t fantastic, they’re still worth playing if you missed out. After all, they’re a piece of gaming history.

#7 Turok – Dinosaur Hunter

• Developer: Acclaim Studios Austin, Propaganda Games
• Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment, Touchstone Games
• Platforms: N64, PC, GB, GBC, GBA, PS2, XB, GC, X360, PS3

Turok is one of these weird phenomena that eventually passed away in the early 2000s, even though there was an attempted reboot of the game series in 2008 that failed both critically and commercially. The original Turok was actually the first third party game developed for the N64 in 1997. Overall, the game series is based on a dinosaur fighting Indian character from a 1950s comic of the same name.

The Turok games are FPS titles in which the player takes on tons of different dinosaurs and aliens along with other trans-dimensional mutants and other creatures. Even though the first games were largely revered, the series eventually faded into obscurity and couldn’t compete commercially with the Halo generation of shooters of the early 2000s.

#6 Horizon Zero Dawn

• Developer: Guerrilla Games
• Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
• Platforms: PS4
• Gameranx Before You Buy

Set in the post-apocalyptic United States, the premise ofHorizon Zero Dawn‘s story is inherently tied to its dystopian setting. In this new universe set in the USA in the 31st century, humans are no longer the Earth’s dominant species. Instead, the world is overrun with dinosaur-esque machines, but the world setting itself remains somewhat true to Earth’s natural state. If you’re interested to see how the world might look after a millennium’s worth of decay, thenHorizon Zero Dawnis the game for you. Open-world exploration is a core component of this gorgeous game that was perfectly built for getting lost in.

#5 Horizon Forbidden West

• Developer: Guerilla Games
• Publisher: Sony
• Platform: PS4, PS5
• Gameranx Before You buy

The sequel to the hugely successfulHorizon Zero Dawnsees protagonist Aloyreturningto the world of post-apocalyptic America. The story continues the events of the previous game and as such, the setting of a futuristic version of the USA in the 31st century remains the same. This time, the Western United States of California, Nevada, and Utah form the game’s open-world setting, as Aloy sets off to explore what they’ve now become known as; the Forbidden West. The game world is just as visually stunning as inHorizon Zero Dawn, but this time, underwater exploration also forms a component of the gameplay. InHorizon Forbidden West, you’ll also encounter some interesting new weather systems as well as more ravaged landscapes.

#4 Monster Hunter: World

• Developer: Capcom
• Publisher: Capcom
• Platforms: PS4, XBO, PC
• Gameranx Before You Buy

If you enjoy slaying a range of mythical beasts in a low-fantasy setting, you’ll loveMonster Hunter: World. The game’s primary setting of the New World is ripe for questing and exploration. Of course, it’s perfectly crafted for hunting a variety of intelligent monsters as well. The New World is comprised of six huge zones that players can venture into freely, encountering different creatures and exploring unique environments. A world where wilderness features heavily,Monster Hunter: Worldgives players the freedom to explore the different ecosystems in-game and offers an incredibly expansive game world for players to enjoy. We’d recommend taking on the beasts with friends, as this game falls on the more difficult side.

#3 Monster Hunter Rise

• Developer: Capcom
• Publisher: Capcom
• Platforms: NS, PC

Monster Huntergames are always a ton of fun to play with friends. On the Nintendo Switch,Monster Hunter Riseis an incredible title for players to jump into, keeping the formula of other games in the franchise while pumping up the difficulty. Players work together to track down a monster, take them on, and attempt to gather the downed monster’s resources to craft better gear. As the name suggests, there is more focus on vertical movement this time around–players can climb or use a grapple, making things feel even more wide open. While not completely open-world, the areas you’ll be exploring here are vast enough. Also, having a friend may be the difference between life and death. The newSunbreakexpansion continues to smash records, so it’s definitely worth grabbing.

#2 Jurassic World Evolution 2

• Developer: Frontier Developments
• Publisher: Frontier Developments
• Platforms: PC, PS4, XBO, PS5, X/S

Who doesn’t love Jurassic Park? The idea of a science experiment sparking the creation of living and breathing dinosaurs once again is too exciting to ignore. With Jurassic World Evolution 2, we’re given control of building a park. As the name suggests, this is a sequel, but it’s one worth picking up regardless of whether you played the first installment. This business management game is made to be like Zoo Tycoon but with dinosaurs. There are countless prehistoric creatures you can feature in your park for guests to view. However, it’s not always easy to manage. You’ll need to monitor what dinosaurs you’re bringing into the park and ensure their habitat’s structure is strong and features all the necessary goods to keep these beasts happy.

#1 Yoshi’s Crafted World

• Developer: Good-Feel
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Platforms: NS

Everyone’s favorite dinosaur is back! Yoshi made a big return on the Nintendo Switch withYoshi’s Crafted World. This side-scrolling platformer with a new narrative is an absolute blast. It looks like Kamek is up to no good as he partners up with Baby Bowser and steals the fabled Sundream Stone that can grant wishes, leaving Yoshi to save the day. Unlike the last installment which put Yoshi into a yarn-made world, this particular game is focused on construction paper.

As you can imagine, the gameplay offers some puzzles that play on the new paper world. Players will need to look at each level from different points of view to solve puzzles and progress through the campaign. This title’s multiplayer allows up to two players to join a game and control their own Yoshi around the makeshift world. Now that we’ve seen Nintendo bring out a paper-crafted world and a title based around yarn, who knows where we’ll see Yoshi next.

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