How to reconstruct DNA: Jurassic Park Builder hints, tips, and tricks

Back in 1993, I sat next to my mother in a Liverpool cinema and watched Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park for the very first time.

Ever since that moment, I've wanted the chance to create my very own Isla Nublar facility. You've no doubt wanted to do the same.

Ludia's Jurassic Park Builder allows you to realise this dream, construct a personal prehistoric zoo, and take care of your favourite dinosaurs, including the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex.

There's lots of work to be done, mind, so we've decided to lend a helping hand. Here's our guide to Jurassic Park Builder.

The basics

When you fire up Jurassic Park Builder for the very first time, you'll notice that there are five resource icons displayed at the top of your device's screen.

The first of these icons is your park's level. You can increase this level by completing missions and other tasks around your park. As your level increases, you gain access to new buildings and items.

The next two icons are your food stores. The first of these displays the number of crops you have in storage, while the second displays the amount of meat you own. You can acquire crops and meat - which are used to feed your dinosaurs - through your harbour.

The second-to-last icon on your screen is the amount of Gold that you have in your bank. You can spend Gold - which you earn as you complete missions and regularly check on your dinosaurs - on buildings, decorations, and research projects.

Finally, the last icon displays the number of Bucks you have. This is Jurassic Park Builder's premium currency. Bucks are rare and are earned in very small amounts as you level-up and complete certain tasks.

Naturally, packs of Bucks are available through in-app purchases for as little as £1.49 / $1.99, but you can also grab some by tapping on in-game offers. Visit Tapjoy on your device and earn even more by installing and running a selection of free games.

As you can imagine, dinosaurs are the most important part of your park. You create dinos by reconstructing DNA in your research centre. DNA is found periodically in balls of preserved amber, which are discovered as you expand your park.

The dinosaurs that you place in your park produce Gold coins at regular intervals. You can collect these coins and add them to your bank simply by tapping on them.

Each of your dinosaurs has its own unique level, which dictates the level of income you earn from them at said intervals. This level increases gradually as you feed your little critters, so it's important to keep them well fed.

Basically, the higher a dinosaur's level, the more money you'll make from it.

As previously mentioned, you obtain food from the two right-most buildings in your harbour. You can upgrade these buildings to increase the amount of grub you get for your precious Gold coins.

We suggest you upgrade these whenever you get the chance.

Buildings are another great, albeit less entertaining, source of income.

Restaurants, museums, towers, and diners all produce revenue at random intervals - in the same way that dinosaurs provide you with riches - which you collect with a simple tap.

We normally suggest that you stay clear of decorations in these types of games, but - to be fair - they're normally completely useless. In Jurassic Park Builder, however, they aren't.

Decorations in this build-'em-up grant revenue bonuses to your dinosaurs and other attractions, so try to place some in your park whenever you have a few Gold coins lying around.

If you know some of your friends are also playing Jurassic Park Builder, be sure to add them to your in-game friends list - they can help you with your research projects if you do.

Unfortunately, you can't invite your buddies via Game Center, so you're stuck using one of the other three available methods: Facebook, SMS, and email.

SMS messages cost real-world cash (if you don't have a contract), so be careful.

Dr Alan Grant, John Hammond, and various other characters from the Jurassic Park franchise will pop up from time to time to give you missions.

These missions normally involve your constructing specific buildings, feeding animals a set number of times, and performing upgrades.

Thankfully, they're all pretty straightforward tasks.

For completing missions, you are rewarded with Gold coins and experience points. These missions also often act as a guide to what to fill your park with. Definitely try to complete as many as you can.

- Use Red Alert Mode whenever you have the chance to. Through this mini-game, which tasks you with tapping on your dinosaurs before they escape, you can earn large quantities of Gold.

- Try to build your food stores up by placing orders at your harbour as often as possible.

- Place more than one decoration around a single attraction or structure to apply multiple bonuses to it.