[The Fifth Horseman] Designasaurus II
 

I remember scant details about this game, but there were a few things that set it apart and made it unique.

It was a game played from top-down view and was very similar to a game like Diablo; your goal was to scour the land and ( I think kill other dinosaurs to acquire resources to use ) and ( quote possibly lay eggs? ) - and somehow you were ultimately brought back to a labratory to ( edit your dinosaur? ) where you ( may or may not have been able to mix and match parts of different dinosaurs ).

Other cliffnotes: there were caves and nests...

Edit: omg, I didn't know this was designasaurus - I didn't think it was an EDUCATIONAL KIDS game.

Oh--I STILL HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO PLAY THISS GAAME. ( watches it on youtube )

Sounds like Designasaurus II: http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/designasaurus-ii
We don't have a review for it yet. Interested?

I'm certainly not savvy enough in abandonware to give an honest review, but I am good at that sort of thing.

Of course... the mental image that I had of the game was a thousand times better than it is...

The only other titles I can think of that are even remotely similar are GeneWars: http://www.mobygames.com/game/genewars and Unnatural Selection: http://www.mobygames.com/game/dos/unnatural-selection