I've finally played time-travelling RTS Dinolords, and we need velociraptors in every historical game now

To paraphrase Mariah Carey, all I want for Christmas is to ride a velociraptor into battle against a legion of Vikings trying to assault my precious fortress in Ipswich. Thanks to the magic of Father Christmas (and developer Northplay), my Christmas wish has come true. Time-travelling adventure Dinolords may sound like a joke, but its latest alpha test shows me that it could have what it takes to make our prestigious list of the best RTS games on PC.

Listen, I get it. The idea of medieval rulers stumbling upon a cache of frozen dinosaur eggs is ridiculous. But nobody's playing Dinolords for its historical accuracy. We're playing it to ride into battle atop a velociraptor or heavily-armored ankylosaurus in order to dominate with teeth, claws, or an enormous, club-like tail.

There's even lore to explain this madness, for those interested. It's based on a tale of Sweyn Forkbeard assailing the shores England with defrosted dinos in tow, and Æthelred the Unready desperately sending his son to learn the secrets of the Jurassic period. I just wanted to see how Northplay would balance prehistoric reptiles with swords and suits of armor, but it's nice to see a bit of thought has gone into the 'why' of Dinolords.

From a gameplay perspective, though, it works surprisingly well. Like any RTS game worth its salt, Dinolords forces you to balance attacking in combat and managing your armies; sending them to various parts of the battlefield, reinforcing weak points, and the like. The dinosaurs, while powerful weapons in the right hands, don't dominate the battlefields unfairly. Run into a horde of Vikings atop a raptor, and they'll whittle down your health. Stand too close to an angry ankylosaurus? It'll mollywhop you with its spinning tail attack, throwing you from your prehistoric mount and leaving you vulnerable.

Dinolords also encompasses all the city-building aspects associated with this genre. There's some sense of realism here, in that the dinosaurs don't pick up a hammer to help repair the walls, but you will need to stay on top of repairs to keep your troops happy. Presumably in the full game, the eponymous reptiles will need a healthy supply of goats to keep their bellies full or something.

This could have been a throwaway game. Made for the memes, to cash in on a funny idea but not provide anything substantial. Nobody would have minded. But Northplay has put real thought into Dinolords, so it's not only a fun game (that much was a given), but a surprisingly balanced one, too.

It seems unlikely that Dinolords will meet its original goal of releasing in early access in 2025, but after playing for a few hours, I'm happy to wait as long as it takes. Dinolords was always going to bring a smile to my face - dinosaurs in medieval wars always do that - but it also made me think tactically and treat my prehistoric beasts as any other contemporary siege engine. Most of all, I'm happy that Santa brought it early, so I've got something to play after the kids go to sleep on Christmas Eve.