Dragon's Hobbies

www.yucata.de  has proved to be a wonderful site to try out new board games.  Zooloretto tDG by Michael Schacht was the first one I learned and so far I love it. The game plays 2 - 4 players, takes about a half hour, and is very simple to learn.  Each player gets a score pad that represents their zoo.  Then the first player rolls 2 dice from a common supply.  The dice results can be one of five different animals or a coin.  The player then loads these dice into one or two "trucks" (each truck holds up to 3 dice).   The next player can then roll two more dice or take one of the already loaded trucks to their zoo.  Once you take a truck your turn is over.  The remaining players can keep going until all the dice have been rolled at which point you must take a truck that has at least one die in it. Where the strategy really comes into play is in the fact that you have limited space in your zoo.  Each animal that goes in a pen is worth 1 point.  The first player to completely fill one type of animal pen gets bonus points... but if a player gets any more animals once a pen is full, they get minus points.  The only way to cancel out these minus point penalties is to fill slots in the ticket booth with coins (i.e. paying for the food for the extra animals). Once any player finishes a round with four animal pens filled, the game ends and the player with the most points wins.

That is literally all the rules to the game (oh, except that the last player to take a truck in the previous round becomes the first player in the next round).  Again, it's very simple, but the decision of taking what's in truck number one or going for the mystery dice; of loading the elephant into the truck with the lion because another player needs lions, but if he taks any more elephants, he gets a penalty; or forcing a player to take an animal that will fill their second to last pen, even though they have less points (that one is pretty nasty)... well, it is fair to say that it's very exciting and surprisingly interactive for this type of game.

Of all the dice games based on other board games, I have to say this is my new favorite, nudging Roll Through the Ages to the #2 spot.  If you're looking for another fun, "quicky" game you can take to Taco Bell, I highly recommend getting a copy of Zooloretto the Dice Game.

Try it out for yourself here!