go to All Games Index
by Frank Nestel & Doris Matthaus
Rating: 9/10 after 20+ plays
by Frank Nestel & Doris Matthaus
art Doris Matthaus
published 1999 by Doris & Frank / Rio Grande
players: 4-7 players
duration: 40 mins.
type: family card game
PACE: QUICK. Players simply need to figure out if their have the next set of animals to play, and if they do have them, whether or not to play them. This game plays at a very nice pace.
COMPLEXITY: LIGHT. Not light as in "no strategy", but light as in easy to learn. The rules are very simple, even with the wonderfully odd partnership rules. This game can be played by almost anyone: child to gamer.
LUCK: MEDIUM. As it is in many cards games. Luck is mitigated somewhat with the partnership rules, since partners may now exchange cards and help the junior partner. Even with a bad hand, good players will find all sorts of tricks to help them out, but being dealt a great hand will help tremendously.
TENSION: MEDIUM. The brisk pace of the game keeps the game from becoming all that intense, but certainly it has its moments when a player is trying to find a way to get rid of his cards effectively, or trying to put together a good set of plays to get bonus points.
CONFRONTATION: LOW. On the whole, a very friendly, fun game. Although when your partner refuses to help you, there may be some after-the-game confrontation...
INTERACTION: HIGH. True, without the partnership rules, interaction is rather low. But I highly recommend only ever playing with the partnership rules, and that makes it much higher. Partners exchange cards to help one another at the beginning of a round, and senior partners can help junior partners win tricks. And partners change every round, adding anothing neat social dynamic.
VISUALS: EXCELLENT. Wonderful Matthuas art with cartonnish animals cleverly illustrated. And each card has a built-in, language independant reference card. Absolutely brilliant graphic presentation.
THEME: GOOD. When a player wins a pile of cards, they go into his "zoo". So collecting animals for a zoo theme would seem to be a good fit. But since the animals seem to be preying upon each other, it gives one pause to consider how on earth they all survive in your zoo. Fortunately, I don't have to answer these inconsistencies. Suffice it to say that the setting was an excellent choice, and works remarkably well for such a light card game.
PLAYER SCALING: GOOD. I want to say excellent, but with 7 players, it becomes very difficult to play tactically, and the luck of being dealt a good hand becomes too pronounced. 6 players works well, but can still have that problem, although far less so. This game is played best with 4 or 5 players yusing partnership rules. It allows for maximum skill and good pace of game.
GAMER APPEAL: PROBABLY. There is a lot more skill than one might think at first. I win about 85% of my games of this (and this is a game that has 4 players minimum, so a normal win percentage would be around 25!) This should make it a good lighter card game for gamers. The non-linear progression of the power of different animals is a nice touch.
CASUAL GAMER APPEAL: YES. Easy to learn, easy to play, quite friendly, co-operative partnerships, changing partnerships, fuzzy animals, cartoonish illustration, innovative gameplay. Almost universal appeal amongst casual gamers.
REPLAY: EXCELLENT. I could play this game dozens of times a week, I enjoy it so much. It's the non-linear powers of the animals, coupled with the changing partnerships that make this game unlike any other and keep it fresh all the time.
RATING: 9/10 after 20+ PLAYS
Which animals can you get into your zoo? Players are dealt a hand of animal cards and score in one of two ways: by getting rid of their cards quicker than the other players, and by acquiring lions and a hedgehog (because nobody like a zoo without a hedgehog!) The first player plays an animal or a set of animals of their choice. The player to their left may only play if they have a set of cards that will beat the previous set, then the next player must beat that set, etc. Beating is simple: if you play 1 mouse, I must play either 2 mice, or 1 predator of a mouse. If I play a fox, then the next player must play 2 foxes, or one predator of a fox. The catch? Some animals can only be preyed upon by one animal, some animals have no predator/prey relationship at all, and the mightly elephant has only one predator: the lowly mouse...which can in turn, be beaten (or eaten), by almost anything. Throw in co-operative partnerships, and a change of partners every round, and you have the makings of a remarkable card game.