Yesterday was the Shadow Creek Ranch Gamers monthly game day. We actually plowed through about 6 game plays in as many hours which is pretty good for us. I actually got a number of firs time plays this game day, only Guillotine was a game I had played before. I had recently purchased this Spiel des Jahres (SDJ) award winning game Zooloretto, and was happy to get it out on the table for a spin.
Zooloretto is basically a set collection game. Each player is trying to build the best zoo they can by collecting animals and concession booths, and playing them out onto there game board (zoo). The game mechanic seems to be very, very simple upon reading the rules. Players have three choices on their turns, they can either add a tile to a truck, take a truck and place the tiles on it into their zoo, or perform a money action. The money actions allow you to buy animals from other players and move animals around your own zoo. Money in this game is very tight, so you need to make sure you don’t waste yours.
The game itself can be explained to new players in about 5 or 10 minutes, it really is straight forward. I was a bit worried that the rule that has players who take a truck sit out the rest of the round would result in a lot of downtime, and it did result in some, but once someone takes a truck the remainder of the round seems to move pretty quick. On the matter of player interaction, the game does allow players to buy animals from other players, so it is important to keep track of what your opponents have. Still, there is not a lot of interaction between players in this game.
I think it is very easy to get into the mind set that this is a simple set collection game. Really this is a set extraction game, and the more ruthless you are at buying animals from other players, and the more aggressive you are at taking trucks that may only have one or two items (there is a maximum of three), the more likely you are to win at this game I think. Being nice to the other zoo owners, and then hoping that you will get some good trucks, is a sure way to lose. You can actually pretty well screw people over by placing your draws on trucks that do not help, and perhaps actually hurt, your opponents.
Scoring of the game comes down to how well you have filled the various pens in your zoo, and how varied your zoo is. Every player has a barn, which stores the excess animals you have acquired. You actually lose points for having things in the barn, so a great score can be easily halved by poor barn management.
So what did I think of Zooloretto? I gave the game a 7 on BGG this morning. I thought the game was enjoyable, and provided a good mix of easy game play combined with some good strategy. I will have to re-evaluate the game after an additional play, but I think that 7 is right. The components of the game are very nice. A combination of a few wood pieces and a bunch of thick card board pieces. The only thing I would have liked to see would be a player card that described the money actions.
If you have a group that is averse to conflict this might not be a good game, although you could complete the game without any conflict. I think the game has a very definite Eurogame feel to it, and it may not appeal to non-eurogamers. I purchase the SDJ winner each year, and I like this one less than either Ticket to Ride or Niagara, and more than Thurn & Taxis.
Ma.gnolia Tags: board, game, zooloretto, ticket to ride, thurn and taxis, niagara, game day, shadow creek ranch, review