Zooloretto

Reviewed by Laura Davis

Quick Notes

Age: 8 years and up
Time to play: 45 minutes
Players: 2-5
Price: $28.99 - $45.00
Available from:Gateplay.com, Amazon.com, ShadyCreekOnline.com, UnclesGames.com, BoardGameRevolution.com, BoardGames4US.com, CoolStuffInc.com, GameOutfitter.com
Best Price as of 6/08 found at: GameOutfitter.com (of course, shipping prices vary, so shop for the best deal)
Published by: Rio Grande Games

The Goals

Each Zooloretto player owns a zoo. The goals of Zooloretto are to fill the animal exhibits with different types of animals, and to attract zoo visitor traffic with concession stalls.

To Play

Players draw tiles for animal types, vending stall types, and coins. Each player's zoo also has a large barn, from which other players may purchase animals. The barn is also used to store extra concession stands.

Players earn coins by drawing them and by filling the enclosures. Then, they use the coins to expand their zoos, buy animals from other players, or move animals around within their zoos.

Scoring

Score the most points by having fully stocked exhibits, lots of concession stalls, and no animals left in the barn!

Comments

My son says that he enjoys the strategy of Zooloretto. (That’s what he calls grabbing a truck full of animals he knows another player is after!) This game is interesting to parents, and kids really love the zoo animal theme. The animal babies are also particularly exciting to the kids. This game has a great combination of strategy and luck.

Concerns

My only concern about this game has to do with setting it up for the first time: Be Very Careful when punching out the cardboard tiles. In our game, some of the die cuts did not go all the way through the cardboard, and we did damage some of the tiles when punching them out. Parents might use a sharp blade to get a clean cut in order to counter this problem. Don’t let this minor problem keep you from all the fun to be had with Zooloretto!

On the Davis Scale

(From 0 to 5 stars, with 5 stars being the best)

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Laura Davis is a writer based in the Fort Worth, TX area. If you are interested in submitting a game for review, please contact her at happypalms@gmail.com.