How Super Trumps works

The game

Each card has 6 attributes. On your turn, you pick one attribute from your card. If your value is higher than the opponent's on that same attribute, you win the round and capture their card. A tie sends both cards to the table, going to whoever wins the next round.

The 6 attributes

• Weight (kg): real estimated weight from paleontology literature
• Length (m): total estimated length, snout to tail tip
• Speed (km/h): estimate based on body plan and weight
• Intelligence (/100): relative estimate based on encephalization quotient (brain-to-body ratio)
• Combat Power: who would win a fight (mass + weapon + armor)
• Pack Bonus (/30): social behavior advantage based on fossil evidence

Combat Power: the formula

Answers "who would win in a fight". Calculated as:

Combat Power = mass base + weapon bonus + armor bonus

The mass base uses a hybrid formula:

log10(weight) × 18  +  sqrt(weight ÷ 1000) × 4

The log10 term gives a smooth curve in the middle of the weight spectrum (doesn't unbalance medium-sized animals). The sqrt term ensures giants dominate by sheer mass. Without sqrt, an armored 7-ton Ankylosaurus would beat a 69-ton Patagotitan in a stomp, which is absurd.

Pure mass base examples:

Weight	Mass base
1 kg	~0
100 kg	~37
1,000 kg	~58
10,000 kg	~85
70,000 kg	~120

Weapon bonus

Each group has different weapons. The bonus reflects how lethal the weapon is in close combat:

Group	Bonus	Why
T.rex / Giganotosaurus / Carcharodontosaurus	+28	Bone-crusher bite (~35,000 N)
Mosasaurus / Kronosaurus	+26	Marine apex, massive jaws
Ankylosaurids (Ankylosaurus, Euoplocephalus)	+22	Tail club, can break tyrannosaurid fibulas
Allosaurus / Carnotaurus / Albertosaurus	+20	Medium bite and claws
Stegosaurids	+14	Thagomizer (4-spike tail)
Triceratops / Torosaurus	+14	Three frontal horns
Spinosaurids (Spinosaurus, Baryonyx)	+14	Piscivores, fragile skull, only claws work on land
Dromaeosaurids (Velociraptor, Deinonychus)	+16	Sickle claw on the foot
Giant sauropods (>30t)	+15	Dominant stomp + tail
Diplodocids (Diplodocus, Apatosaurus)	+10 to +15	Long whip-tail
Other ceratopsids	+9	Smaller horns
Iguanodon	+7	Thumb spike
Nodosaurids (Edmontonia, Sauropelta)	+5	Shoulder spikes, more defensive than offensive
Small sauropods	+5	Basic stomp
Pterosaurs	+4	Beak, low lethality in combat

Armor bonus

Group	Bonus	Why
Ankylosaurids	+18	Full body armor + skull armor
Nodosaurids	+16	Body armor + lateral osteoderms
Armored titanosaurs (Saltasaurus)	+12	Dorsal osteoderms
Stegosaurids	+8	Dorsal plates (partly ornamental)
Triceratops and large ceratopsids	+8	Bony frill + thick neck
Sauropods	+6	Thick hide + size
Large ornithopods	+4	Thick hide
Theropods (T.rex, Allosaurus)	0	No armor, depend only on mass
Pterosaurs	−8	Hollow bones, too fragile

Combat luck

When the chosen attribute is Combat Power, each side rolls ±2 dice. This simulates real fight uncertainty: lucky strike, animal positioning, terrain, physical condition that day.

Other attributes (weight, length, speed, intelligence, pack) don't have luck. They're facts about the animal.

Example: T.rex (110) vs Triceratops (107).

• Base difference: 3 points favoring T.rex
• Max luck for the underdog: Tri rolls +2 and T.rex rolls −2
• Result: Tri 109 vs T.rex 108 → Tri flips the win

Approximate underdog win probability by CP difference:

Difference	Flip chance
0 (tie)	50/50 or table
1 point	~36%
2 points	~24%
3 points	~12%
4 points	~4%
5+ points	0%, favorite always wins

The other attributes

• Speed: estimated by body category and weight. Small theropods are the fastest (up to 50 km/h), giant sauropods the slowest (6 km/h)
• Intelligence: troodontids and dromaeosaurids at the top (relatively large brains), sauropods at the bottom (tiny brains for huge bodies)
• Pack Bonus: extracted from fossil evidence of social behavior. Deinonychus has 22 (documented cooperative hunting of Tenontosaurus), Velociraptor 18, T.rex only 5 (solitary), Mapusaurus 25 (pack hunting of sauropods)

Cases validated by paleontology

The formula matches current scientific consensus:

• T.rex beats Triceratops: documented predator-prey, bite marks and even decapitation (Fowler et al. 2012)
• T.rex loses to Ankylosaurus: zero fossil predation record, the tail club was a real defensive weapon
• T.rex beats Spinosaurus on land: bite ~6x stronger, more robust skull
• Patagotitan stomps anything smaller: 69-ton mass dominates any armor
• Allosaurus can lose to Stegosaurus: documented thagomizer punctures on Allosaurus fossils

The numbers are paleontological estimates, not exact measurements. The formula aims to reflect the current scientific consensus on dinosaur behavior, anatomy, and combat capability, with room for adjustment as new fossil findings emerge.