Pawsitive Vibes - Games With a Zoo Theme

 Conservation Is Key

Watterson was a genius and has made some of the best comics ever.

When it comes to zoos, I feel like I revert to my little kid phase again. There's something that I enjoy so much when I get to see wild animals in habitats that semi-represent their original habitats. Being able to see a snow leopard prowl inches away from me, only being protected by a thick layer of glass, or seeing the giant sleeping form of a black bear who is hibernating the winter months away, or seeing a majestic bald eagle closer than I've ever been able to in real life opens up some deep sense of wonder. I still love seeing the animals up and moving about their habitat and now that my daughter is old enough to enjoy them, it's really fun being able to share the experience with her.

Say what you want about the zoo keeping animals in habitats that are far too small for the animals they house, but we've come quite a far way from sticking them in a small cage and pretending that they are happy. Now, many of the animals kept in zoos are there in order to help with conservation as many of the animals are the last of their kind. We have come a long way from what zoos used to be, but there's still definitely a significant sense of wonder that comes with zoos and there are many games that have attempted to capture that wonder on the table.

As I was thinking about today's post, I thought I'd go over some games that have zoos built in as their theme. I've played several of them and quite a few of them are on my "want to play" list, so enjoy the list below!

Ark Nova

The pinnacle of zoo games, and even most other games here on BGG!

Year Published: 2021
Designer:Mathias Wigge
Zoo Integration: This game currently sits at the top of my "Want to Play" list, full stop. Not only is it highly rated and leans more towards the heavier side of the spectrum (which I'm all about), but there's really clever gameplay mechanics which require the player to balance conservation efforts with maintaining the most attractive zoo. So many of my friends have raved about how good the game is and I am all in about learning and playing the game, even if it is going to have to be the digital implementation on BGA. Plus with the implementation of the sea animals to the game and additional boards that offer different layouts for zoos, there's so much that can be unpacked with this game and it's something that really sticks out to me as a game that I really want to give a try.

Obviously the weight of the game might be off-putting for many players, but this is definitely a game that players can sink their teeth into and finding the right winning combination is always a challenge, especially with the 255 cards included in the main game which offer significant changes every time the board is set.

Dinosaur Island

A dinosaur zoo? It just... might... work...

Year Published: 2017
Designer: Jonathan Gilmour-Long, Brian Lewis
Zoo Integration: Whereas Ark Nova is all about building a conservation zoo, Dinosaur Island is all about building your park with dinosaurs. In a direct nod to the excellent Jurassic Park movies, the game sees each player building up their park full of dinosaur paddocks that they must build from DNA. However, the park's security must not be neglected and dinosaurs must be placed in the correct sized areas or players risk losing people to the dangerous creatures that they seed to add to their park. If players don't build an exciting enough park, they can also add in additional attractions like roller coasters or restaurants, but the player with the highest score at the end of the game is the one who will manage all of this the best.

Bärenpark

Bear-ing down on a zoo sounds fun.

Year Published: 2017
Designer: Phil Walker-Harding
Zoo Integration: While the last two games have had a wide variety of animals (and dinosaurs) that players can put in their park, Bärenpark sees players build a sanctuary for bears. Including a wide variety of bears, black, brown, grizzly, and even Koala (technically not a bear, but the dev admits they're cute), players utilize the various polyominos to fill in their player board and fulfill one of the many objectives that players work towards in the game. However, players must also contend with getting permits to build more of the polyominoes and the first player to cover their entire board triggers the end game and the player with the highest score wins the game. Its un-bear-ably clever in it's design and isn't the only polyomino-laying game on this list, but it is the highest rated.

Draftosaurus

Dinos really are popular to host in zoos...

Year Published:2019
Designer: Antoine Bauza, Corentin Lebrat, Ludovic Maublanc, Théo Rivière
Zoo Integration: Unlike many games that use a drafting mechanic, Draftosaurous doesn't rely on cards that get passed around the table and drafted by players. Instead, players must contend with specific restrictions made by a dice roll at the beginning of a round and draft dinosaur meeples that they place in their personal park. It's a lighter game, but no less fun for the players who seek to make the most exciting park for their visitors who are coming to check out the dinos contained within.

New York Zoo

It's not really a zoo list without a New York Zoo.

Year Published:2020
Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Zoo Integration: If one creates a list without including the fantastic Uwe Rosenberg or Reiner Knizia, is that list really valid? All jokes aside, this is one of Rosenberg's more recent games and with this game he tasks players with laying polyomino enclosures while also breeding new animals to help build out each player's zoo. The twist is that when one player completes an enclosure full of animals, all but one return to the supply and that player can build an attraction, which helps fill in the player board further. These attractions are limited in count and larger attractions have only one or two available for players to take. It's a delicate balance of choosing to add more animal enclosures and breeding them to add attractions as once the final tile on a player board is filled, the game is completed and scored with the highest score winning the game.

Dinosaur World

First we had an island, and now we have a world.

Year Published:2021
Designer: Brian Lewis, David McGregor, Marissa Misura
Zoo Integration: As a direct sequel to Dinosaur Island, Dinosaur World is the definitive way to play with building a dinosaur park. Players are still tasked with building dinosaurs from DNA, and adding paddocks and attractions to their park, all while managing the security levels, but there's a new twist to the game. Players build out their park with beautiful hexes and then have to take a tour through the park, activating each of the hexes to earn excitement, money and even perform special abilities. However, your guests are fickle creatures and they get bored of going on the same tour over and over, so players must strategically plan their park to allow for not only the highest points from the tour, but to also avoid the boredom that comes from visiting the same attractions over and over. Dinosaurs might be exciting the first time, but the same old Tyrannosaurus Rex will leave your visitors wanting more. It's a deeper game than the original game and despite it having a massive table presence, the game really feels excellent to play and the numerous strategies that can be utilized leave quite a bit open to the clever entrepreneur.

Aqua Garden

Surprising that it took over 2000 entries to find an aquarium themed game.

Year Published:2021
Designer:Totsuca Chuo
Zoo Integration: It's surprising to me that it took over 2000 separate entries to find a base game that was based around building an aquarium, but that's what it ended up as. Aqua Garden tasks players with creating a beautiful board with six aquariums, but only utilizing one worker to fill the tanks of each player's aquarium. Players workers move forward in steps with the furthest player moving (a la Patchwork) with players needing to manage the resources of their tanks. Once 3/4 rounds are over (based on player count) the player with the highest points from the cleverest aquarium that has been built is the winner of the game.

Zoo Tycoon: The Board Game

Can't have a list about zoos without this game.

Year Published:2023
Designer: Marc Dür, Samuel Luterbacher
Zoo Integration: I couldn't make a list like this without including the tabletop representation of one of the best computer games that I played as a kid. Like Ark Nova, players need to focus on both conservation and appeal, but unlike the former game, Zoo Tycoon has players focus on balancing the two in order to ensure that their zoo is successful. Additionally, Zoo Tycoon also allows players to increase the number of animals through breeding which also allows players to increase their scores too. With 35 separate animals that players can add to their zoos, this seems to be a decent representation of the original game that it is based off of.

Zoo Break

Cooperative prevention of escaping animals is really clever.

Year Published:2019
Designer: Alexa Forrester, Chris Guenther
Zoo Integration: This is the only cooperative board game that I have on this list and the idea of the game is that players need to work together to get the escaped animals back into their enclosures. Players have limited moves and resources in order to recapture the escaped animals during their turn and the Escape and Move cards that are included in the game ensure that each game is going to be very different. It's a lighter game, but a definite diamond in the rough that is sure to be a hit for both kids and adults alike.

Habitats

Pair habitats with animals to earn the most points in this interesting game without borders.

Year Published:2016
Designer:Corné van Moorsel
Zoo Integration: Unlike the previous games on this list, Habitats doesn't feature a player board as all players build a park without borders. During the game, players seek to pair animals with their preferred habitats, but with a caveat: all animals placed have their base habitat placed with them and players have fewer and fewer options about where to place their animals as the game progresses. Each of the three seasons provides new tiles for players to place and the first player to complete the seasonal objective wins bonus points for the game.

Gift Shop, On the Way Out

I really enjoyed this list and surprisingly enough, there weren't as many games that were built around a zoo theme. Interestingly enough, there were a bunch of games that had dinosaurs as part of the zoo that players built, so it must be a fairly popular theme as well.

Still, there's so much that can be done with a zoo, especially since it's basically a theme park with animals. There are so many different animals and mechanics that you can utilize when playing with board games and a zoo theme, so I have not doubt that we are in store for quite a bit of fun new games within that genre.

Give me your thoughts:Obviously Ark Nova is one of the best games on this list, but what are some of the favorite games that you've played that have a zoo theme? What is the coolest zoo that you've visited in your life? What is your favorite feature of a zoo and what has been the best implementation of that in a game?

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*Originally posted on BoardGameGeek on 12/8/2024*