New York Zoo Board Game

"New York Zoo Uwe Rosenburg is back at it mixing elements from his previous games to make something new and engaging. New York Zoo may move away from farming, but sticks with animals and, err, breeding.

Add this to polyomino goodness and you have another winner. New York Zoo comes with some lovely components including double sided player boards that balance the game for all player counts, wooden animeeples that I'm reliably informed are cute and gorgeous art work through out. Mechanism wise there is drafting, tile laying, efficiency and planning involved.

The tiles are laid out around a long board in a semi random fashion with bigger sized tiles being placed below smaller tiles, making them harder to grab. On a turn you will move a shared elephant around the central board from 1-4 spaces depending on player count.

During this move you may pass a breeding spot which allows players with at least two of the matching animals to add one new animal to that enclosure. Of course you can't just breed willy nilly, you can only do this in up to two eligible enclosures. Your landing spot determines whether you add animals or enclosures to your zoo following the placement rules of course.

Cleverly this is one of the parts of the game that balances really well for all player counts. To win you must be the first player to completely cover your board with enclosures and attraction tiles. But you can only gain attractions, which handily fill small gaps, by filling out your enclosures with animals.

 New York Zoo is a easy playing, easy to learn, enjoyable game. The theme is a little loose but works well with the components and art work. It is a game that fits game nights for families and gamers.