Zoo Game

A game in which you collectively run a zoo, but also take into account what’s involved behind the scenes, such as actually finding and rescuing endangered animal species in the jungle. A large family game. Fairly specific and clearly worked out, especially for such an old idea of mine.

Game Description

There are many endangered animal species. They are threatened by the disappearance of habitat, or because they are hunted. Together, players try to maintain a zoo, and keep as many protected animal species alive in it as possible.

However, in the game players take on different roles. Some roles are good (the zookeepers), some are bad (the hunters), some are neutral (the mayor?). Players do not know each other’s role, and everyone tries to fulfill their own role without being caught. The first person who has achieved their goal wins (and the possibly associated group also wins).

Requirements

8 open roles (front contains illustration + explanation, light backside)
8 closed roles (front contains illustration + explanation, dark backside)
10 x 10 animal cards (front contains illustration + information, backside is jungle)
10 x 10 plant cards (front contains illustration + information, backside is jungle)
50 empty cards (front is jungle, backside is jungle)
100 money cards (both front and backside contain money value + illustration)
- 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 100 => 10 of each type
10 x 10 food cards (both front and backside contain food information?)
Zoo components (such as enclosures, ground/habitat, plants, paths, maybe even catering?)
Jungle components (such as huts, houses, buildings that perform certain functions)
More? That’s it I think?

How does one round work?

Players take turns, clockwise, the starting player is the one who has most recently been to the zoo.

Each round represents half a year. When one does something, the action is therefore completed immediately after the round – it has taken that half year to perform that action, so to speak. Everyone must perform a regular action, and optionally a special action that fits their role.

When a player has completed their mission at the end of a round, they say so and they have won.

Goal of the game

Fulfill your own mission, before someone else has fulfilled theirs

What does a Player have?

Each player actually has two roles;

An open role, which every player can see, and which gives them a certain trait
A closed role, which shows their true nature (bad, neutral, good)

Each player has their own hand of cards, and their own cash reserve.

What can a player do?

A player can perform an action in one of the following three places during their turn:

Zoo
Jungle
(Black) Market

For the zoo the following actions are available:

Build area
Place something in an enclosure
Place an animal
Give an animal food
(Build a path? Build catering? Build something else?)

For the jungle the following actions are available:

Plant new things
Cut down plants/trees (to harvest resources from them, such as wood/food/medicine)
Build a hut/building
(Hunting? There are surely more things to do?)

For the black market the following actions are available:

Sell things
Buy things
(Distribute money? There are surely more things to do?)

Animals

Each animal has the following properties:

Gender (male, female)
Climate/Habitat
Community (alone, groups of two, packs, etc.)
Feed (how much of which type of food it needs)
Type of eater (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, scavenger)
Favorite animals (which animals it can live together with)
Life expectancy
Relation (which family it belongs to, which species it belongs to, etc.)
Size
A random special fact

Rules for Animals

When is an animal threatened with extinction? In reality this is based on current numbers, and prognosis for the coming years (due to hunting/logging).

How do animals reproduce? (male and female together in the same habitat, certain chance that they will do things (depending on how happy/healthy they are), certain time it takes before the baby is there. How do we distinguish between adult animals and babies?)

Which animals can be together in one area? (they do not eat each other => same habitat => same diet => they coincidentally like each other/have the same habits/I don’t know)

How do they get food? (people with food cards can place them with an animal, depending on its needs the cards are “eaten” in a turn)

How is the zoo’s income determined? (depending on number of animals, how special the animals are, and sponsorship/donations)

How is it tracked whether an animal is healthy/happy/content? (the habitat must be correct, the food must be good, and any diseases/other dangers must be averted)

When is a population too large and must animals be shot/captured/traded? (This adds a very strong element to the game, since it is unclear whether someone performs a certain action as a hunter or as an animal lover)

Jungle

Consists of all kinds of trees and plants. A plant has the following properties:

A clearly recognizable appearance
Favorite climate
Certain naming/family
Function (for which animal it is food, something else cool it can do, etcetera)
Something about how fast it grows, how fast it dies, I don’t know.

#Animals/Plants in the Game

Which animals do I want to use? Preferably endangered species (that also look somewhat nice):

Red Panda
Giant Panda
Saola
Tiger (choose one or two species)
Monkey (choose one or two species)
Rhinoceros (choose one or two species)
Amur Leopard
Indian Elephant (other elephant species?)
Mountain Plover
Brown Bear
(Arctic) Fox/Wolf/Bushdog
Macaw
Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch
Tree Kangaroo
Koala
Zebra?

Which plants do I want to use? Endangered plants exist, but it might be better to use plants that serve as food or habitat for certain animals.

(The IUCN red list is enormous, I need to find another way to choose about twenty animal species and plant species.)

Closed Roles

Animal lover: You win if there are X (healthy) animals in the zoo, or no animals are threatened with extinction anymore.
Tree hugger: You win if the jungle has reached a size of X, or there are X special plant species growing.
Manager: You win if there are X (special?) animals in the zoo, or you have built X enclosures/things.
Animal Scrooge: You win if there is X money in the cash reserve, or a daily profit of X euros is made with the zoo
Stupid Scrooge: You win if there is X money in your cash reserve, or a daily profit of X euros is made with hunting/logging.
Hunter: You win if all animals are threatened with extinction, or if you make X profit from selling your yields.
Lumberjack: You win if the jungle has reached a size of X, or if you have delivered X number of enclosures/things.
Capitalist: You win if there are X houses/things built in the jungle, or if he has removed/sold X special plant species

Open Roles

Tracker: This person is so good at tracking animals that they may do multiple things in their turn.
Detective: This person tries to expose bad guys within the organization.
Zookeeper: Animals immediately feel a lot better when they are cared for by her
Animal whisperer. Can communicate with animals, and thus catch the most difficult animals or get them to the zoo.
Ranger: Has control over the jungle. He makes decisions about what is/is not cut down, what is/is not built, who is/is not allowed in.
Botanist: May plant extra things in the jungle
Biologist: Knows everything about habitats and which animals can be together and such. Can develop or build new things for the zoo?
Mayor: Provides money for the zoo.

Notes

=> The game must be able to function with 4 basic roles; the rest is then a nice bonus

=> It must be possible to leave out all kinds of extras, such as reproduction and diseases – this creates a very simple core game that you could play the first time

=> Of course, the table and a player’s hand must not become too full. I must also look at whether there is a smart way for draw and discard piles – so that you do not know what is coming, but can still quickly find things you might need.

(Expansions: add water animals. Other climates/types of animals?)

A game in which you collectively run a zoo, but also take into account what's involved behind the scenes, such as actually finding and rescuing endangered animal species in the jungle. A large family game. Fairly specific and clearly worked out, especially for such an old idea of mine. ## Game Description There are many endangered animal species. They are threatened by the disappearance of habitat, or because they are hunted. Together, players try to maintain a zoo, and keep as many protected animal species alive in it as possible. However, in the game players take on different roles. Some roles are good (the zookeepers), some are bad (the hunters), some are neutral (the mayor?). Players do not know each other’s role, and everyone tries to fulfill their own role without being caught. The first person who has achieved their goal wins (and the possibly associated group also wins). ## Requirements - 8 open roles (front contains illustration + explanation, light backside) - 8 closed roles (front contains illustration + explanation, dark backside) - 10 x 10 animal cards (front contains illustration + information, backside is jungle) - 10 x 10 plant cards (front contains illustration + information, backside is jungle) - 50 empty cards (front is jungle, backside is jungle) - 100 money cards (both front and backside contain money value + illustration) - 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 100 => 10 of each type - 10 x 10 food cards (both front and backside contain food information?) - Zoo components (such as enclosures, ground/habitat, plants, paths, maybe even catering?) - Jungle components (such as huts, houses, buildings that perform certain functions) - More? That’s it I think? ## How does one round work? Players take turns, clockwise, the starting player is the one who has most recently been to the zoo. Each round represents half a year. When one does something, the action is therefore completed immediately after the round -- it has taken that half year to perform that action, so to speak. Everyone must perform a regular action, and optionally a special action that fits their role. When a player has completed their mission at the end of a round, they say so and they have won. ## Goal of the game Fulfill your own mission, before someone else has fulfilled theirs ## What does a Player have? Each player actually has two roles; * An open role, which every player can see, and which gives them a certain trait * A closed role, which shows their true nature (bad, neutral, good) Each player has their own hand of cards, and their own cash reserve. ## What can a player do? A player can perform an action in one of the following three places during their turn: - Zoo - Jungle - (Black) Market For the **zoo** the following actions are available: - Build area - Place something in an enclosure - Place an animal - Give an animal food - (Build a path? Build catering? Build something else?) For the **jungle** the following actions are available: - Plant new things - Cut down plants/trees (to harvest resources from them, such as wood/food/medicine) - Build a hut/building - (Hunting? There are surely more things to do?) For the **black market** the following actions are available: - Sell things - Buy things - (Distribute money? There are surely more things to do?) ## Animals Each animal has the following properties: - Gender (male, female) - Climate/Habitat - Community (alone, groups of two, packs, etc.) - Feed (how much of which type of food it needs) - Type of eater (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, scavenger) - Favorite animals (which animals it can live together with) - Life expectancy - Relation (which family it belongs to, which species it belongs to, etc.) - Size - A random special fact ## Rules for Animals *When is an animal threatened with extinction?* In reality this is based on current numbers, and prognosis for the coming years (due to hunting/logging). *How do animals reproduce?* (male and female together in the same habitat, certain chance that they will do things (depending on how happy/healthy they are), certain time it takes before the baby is there. How do we distinguish between adult animals and babies?) *Which animals can be together in one area?* (they do not eat each other => same habitat => same diet => they coincidentally like each other/have the same habits/I don’t know) *How do they get food?* (people with food cards can place them with an animal, depending on its needs the cards are "eaten" in a turn) *How is the zoo’s income determined?* (depending on number of animals, how special the animals are, and sponsorship/donations) *How is it tracked whether an animal is healthy/happy/content?* (the habitat must be correct, the food must be good, and any diseases/other dangers must be averted) *When is a population too large and must animals be shot/captured/traded?* (This adds a very strong element to the game, since it is unclear whether someone performs a certain action as a hunter or as an animal lover) ## Jungle Consists of all kinds of trees and plants. A plant has the following properties: - A clearly recognizable appearance - Favorite climate - Certain naming/family - Function (for which animal it is food, something else cool it can do, etcetera) - Something about how fast it grows, how fast it dies, I don’t know. ## #Animals/Plants in the Game Which animals do I want to use? Preferably endangered species (that also look somewhat nice): - Red Panda - Giant Panda - Saola - Tiger (choose one or two species) - Monkey (choose one or two species) - Rhinoceros (choose one or two species) - Amur Leopard - Indian Elephant (other elephant species?) - Mountain Plover - Brown Bear - (Arctic) Fox/Wolf/Bushdog - Macaw - Gran Canaria Blue Chaffinch - Tree Kangaroo - Koala - Zebra? Which plants do I want to use? Endangered plants exist, but it might be better to use plants that serve as food or habitat for certain animals. (The IUCN red list is enormous, I need to find another way to choose about twenty animal species and plant species.) ## Closed Roles - *Animal lover:* You win if there are X (healthy) animals in the zoo, or no animals are threatened with extinction anymore. - *Tree hugger:* You win if the jungle has reached a size of X, or there are X special plant species growing. - *Manager:* You win if there are X (special?) animals in the zoo, or you have built X enclosures/things. - *Animal Scrooge:* You win if there is X money in the cash reserve, or a daily profit of X euros is made with the zoo - *Stupid Scrooge:* You win if there is X money in your cash reserve, or a daily profit of X euros is made with hunting/logging. - *Hunter:* You win if all animals are threatened with extinction, or if you make X profit from selling your yields. - *Lumberjack:* You win if the jungle has reached a size of X, or if you have delivered X number of enclosures/things. - *Capitalist:* You win if there are X houses/things built in the jungle, or if he has removed/sold X special plant species **Open Roles** - *Tracker:* This person is so good at tracking animals that they may do multiple things in their turn. - *Detective:* This person tries to expose bad guys within the organization. - *Zookeeper*: Animals immediately feel a lot better when they are cared for by her - *Animal whisperer*. Can communicate with animals, and thus catch the most difficult animals or get them to the zoo. - *Ranger*: Has control over the jungle. He makes decisions about what is/is not cut down, what is/is not built, who is/is not allowed in. - *Botanist*: May plant extra things in the jungle - *Biologist*: Knows everything about habitats and which animals can be together and such. Can develop or build new things for the zoo? - *Mayor*: Provides money for the zoo. ## Notes => The game must be able to function with 4 basic roles; the rest is then a nice bonus => It must be possible to leave out all kinds of extras, such as reproduction and diseases -- this creates a very simple core game that you could play the first time => Of course, the table and a player’s hand must not become too full. I must also look at whether there is a smart way for draw and discard piles -- so that you do not know what is coming, but can still quickly find things you might need. (**Expansions:** add water animals. Other climates/types of animals?)