Components
- 10 dice each with 6 symbols
- 1 Double-Sided Game Board
- 1 Score Pad
- 1 pencil
- Instructions
Object of the Game
Time to roll the dice on your zoo! Players are the zoo directors of small zoos trying to fill their enclosures with animals. These are worth points at the end of the game.
But once the enclosures are full, extra animals have to go into the barn where they are worth negative points. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
Setup
Depending on the number of players, use the following number of dice:
- With 2 players: 6 dice
- With 3 players: 8 dice
- With 4 players: 10 dice
These dice form the supply. Extra dice are not used and should be returned to the game box. Then, place the game board in the middle of the playing area.
Use the side with 3 delivery trucks for a 2 or 3 player game and the side with 4 delivery trucks for a 4 player game. Each delivery truck shows 3 crates.
 delivery truck |
l Give each player a sheet from the score pad - these represent the players' zoos. Place the pencil within the reach of all players. The youngest player is the start player and begins the game.
Game Play
The game is played over several rounds. On your turn, you must choose to carry out one of the following two actions:
- Roll two dice and add them to delivery trucks or
- Take all dice from a delivery truck and pass for the rest of the round
Play then proceeds with the next player in clockwise direction. Once each player has taken dice from a delivery truck, the current round is over and a new round begins.
A. Roll two dice and add them to deliver trucks
Take two dice from the supply and roll them. You must now place them onto the empty crates of your choice from those available among the delivery trucks on the game board.
Important: You may not change the die results after rolling the dice.
You are allowed to add both dice to the same delivery truck or to split them between two trucks. No more than three dice, equalling the number of crates, may be added to any one delivery truck.
Should the supply of dice be exhausted, then you may not choose this action. You must choose to carry out action B instead.
B. Take all dice from a deliver truck and pass for the rest of the round
Take all of the dice from the delivery truck of your choice and place them onto the space for dice in the upper right-hand corner of your zoo. You must then immediately add the symbols shown by those dice to your zoo.
Important: You may only choose delivery trucks with at least one die.
Once you have chosen to take dice from a truck, you must pass for the remainder of the round. You will only get to play again in the next round.
Note: This delivery truck will continue to be useable by the other players!
Since players who have passed will have dice in the upper right-hand corner of their zoos, it is easy to recognize who will be passing for the rest of the round.
When adding symbols to your zoo, you must follow these rules:
Animal Symbols
Cross off one space in the corresponding enclosure for each animal symbol. Enclosures must be filled from left to right.
Should the enclosure be full, then you must cross off the barn space for that animal type instead. If that space has already been crossed off then you can ignore the animal symbol.
The first player to fill an animal type's enclosure must announce this. That player receives a bonus and crosses off the bonus space to the left of the corresponding enclosure.
Important: The other players cannot claim the bonus for that animal type anymore.
Coin Symbols
Cross off one space in the ticket office for each coin symbol. The ticket office must also be filled from left to right. Once your ticket office is full you ignore any additional coin symbols.
End of the Round
Once each player has taken dice from a delivery truck, the round is over. Return all dice to the supply and start a new round, beginning with the player who was last to take dice in the previous round.
Note: Once all players but one are out of a round, the remaining player may continue to play and take multiple actions, if possible, before finally choosing a truck and passing.
End of the Game
Should one player, after passing, have either filled all of their enclosures or only have spaces left in a single enclosure, then the game will end at the end of the current round. Once each player has taken dice and passed, the game is over and scoring takes place.
Scoring
Players calculate the positive and negative points for their zoos and enter the results in their score spaces:
-
Each crossed-off animal space in the enclosures is worth 1 point.
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Each crossed-off bonus space next to an enclosure is worth the number of points indicated by the adjacent hex.
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The six total coin spaces in the ticket office are split into three groups. Players must choose how to use each individual fully crossed-out group:
- A complete coin group is either worth 1 point or
- may be used to remove one crossed-out animal type from the barn.
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Each crossed-out animal type left in the barn is worth 2 negative points.
Players then total their scores, adding the overall result to their bottom score spaces. The player with the most points is the winner.
In the case of a tie, the winner is the tied player with the most coins. If there is still a tie, then there are multiple winners.
Example: The player receives 1 point for each animal in his enclosures.
He also gains bonuses for the crocodile and the lion enclosures as he was the first /to completely fill them.
He was only able to complete a single coin group and uses it to remove the crossed-out crocodile from his barn.
The ostrich left in his barn will cost him 2 negative points.
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