Zoo Tycoon: The Board Game – Great Game, Terrible Rule Book

It’s not often I dip my toes into a really heavy euro style game, but as a lifetime Zoo Tycoon fan, I didn’t feel like I could pass up on this board game version. GamesReviews purchased this copy for me via the Kickstarter campaign, and it was recently delivered to my doorstep. After a quick 2-Player game, I thought I’d push some of my first impressions out to you, so let’s get going!

So Much to Understand

Listen, this is a VERY heavy game, so even if you are a Zoo Tycoon fan reading this article because you think you’d like this board game, think twice. If you are NOT a longtime, hardcore board game fan, I think it’s likely you won’t find a lot to like about this game. Here are a few things to consider.

1. The how to play guide for this video on YouTube is over an hour long. You heard me right, in video format, it takes over an hour to teach you how to play this game.
2. The game itself is going to take 120-150 minutes to complete. That is assuming you know how to play, so for a 4-player game on your first night, you are probably looking at 4-5 hours of commitment.
3. Make sure you watch the How to Play video, because the rulebook for this game is pretty bad.

Lots to Love

Ok, so that previous section basically killed all your interest in the game, right? Well I’m here to tell you that if you do have the time, you understand most board game mechanics, and you have a good group of friends ready to play, then you are going to have a ton of fun with Zoo Tycoon. I love the decision that need to be made as you play, including deciding which animals to introduce into your zoo, where to place your various enclosure tiles, how to plan out your buildings, and so much more.

This is a very ‘thinky’ game that requires all of your attention. Forget having side conversations about your week, forget putting on a movie in the background. Forget it all. This game requires all your attention as you carefully plan your zoo and attempt to maximize your points.

And honestly, this game does a good job of replicating that Zoo Tycoon experience. Moving animals into and out of your zoo is a lot of fun, and working with the market to determine which animals you can take and which you can get rid of is a fun experience. I love breeding my animals, rolling dice to hopefully (or hopefully not in some situations) creating some little baby animals.

I love how the game separates out the various tracks into Popularity, Education, and Conservation. All of these tracks make sense in a zoo setting, and balancing them out is the best way to victory! Again, I think this mimics the general goal of any zoo – entertain, educate, and participate in conservation.

Minor Gripes

There are things I’m not a huge fan of – first and most importantly, if you get behind in a 2-Player game, you are likely never going to catch up. It’s an unfortunate reality, but it’s a very real reality. This is a game where one wrong move could sewer your entire game. This is more pronounced in a 2-Player game than a 4-Player game I assume, although a few too many mistakes in a larger player count game will also set you back, probably for good.

I’m also not a huge fan of some of the animal meeples, the Animeeples. The game uses darker color animeeples as males and lighter animeeples as females, but in some cases the difference between light and dark is not that pronounced. It would have been nice to get a bigger difference in some of the colors.

Conclusion

Listen, I’ve only played a 2-Player game so I’m not prepared to put a score on this one or even to say I recommend it 100%. That being said, it does a lot of cool little things I love to see in a board game, and replicates the video game fairly well. I think at the least, if you love board games and loved Zoo Tycoon back in the day, you are probably going to enjoy this one in some capacity.

And the animeeples are FANTASTIC!