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Frank's Zoo box art
1999 Ranked #1,960

Frank's Zoo

Climbing card game where animals compete to shed their hands across several rounds. Stronger creatures can interrupt weaker ones, so every play must judge whether to seize control now or save a crucial animal for later.

Family Games Animals Card Game Ladder Climbing Trick-taking

Players

3-7

Play time

Not listed

Age

10+

Complexity

1.52/5

Rating

6.61

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.3/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 3.9/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.8/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.0/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.5/5

Deep strategy

See all 5 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

This game is played in several hands. In each hand the players try to be the first to get rid of all of their cards.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

This game is played in several hands. In each hand the players try to be the first to get rid of all of their cards. Their scores are based on how early in the hand they get rid of all their cards. There are two ways to play: you can play where all hands are played the same, or you can play the game with changing partners. This is a climbing game, similar to The Great Dalmuti, Tichu, and others. The difference here is that the ranks are different kinds of colorfully illustrated animals. Each is scared away only by certain other animals. Players set out one to whatever cards of a particular variety, and someone can play onto that pile only if they have more of that animal or an equal number of some animal that can scare it away. Players get points by playing all their cards, collecting lions, and collecting a hedgehog.

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Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
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Player resources

Rulebooks, player aids, FAQs, and solo resources.

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Game and edition data

All specifications (5)

Play and group

Players
3–7
Best with
4–7
Play time
60 min
Age
10+
Complexity
1.5/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

2
Doris Matthäus Frank Nestel

Artists

1
Doris Matthäus

Publishers

1
Doris & Frank

Linked items

No published linked games yet.