Here are instructions on how to play The Zoo Game
And here is a breakdown of Powers and Events
And here are the rules in text:
THE ZOO GAME INSTRUCTIONS
CONTENTS
126 ZOO cards 15 P cards
15 EVENT cards 6 reference cards
This Rulesheet
IT’S A ZOO OFF!
Competing to create the greatest zoo, players build exhibits in seven colour- coded sets. Each set has strengths, weaknesses and a special Power. The four numbers on each exhibit are Cost in black, Beauty in pink, Ferocity in red and Rarity in purple. Events reward you for the quality of your zoo
ENDGAME
When a player owns a minimum number of sets each containing a minimum number of exhibits, the acting player may finish their turn and then players tally the total Cost of each zoo. The one who reached the goal is awarded ten bonus points, and the highest score wins the game.
players 2 3 4 5 6
sets 7 4 3 2 2
exhibits 4 5 5 6 5
SETTING UP
Lay five Zoo cards face-up in the middle: this is called the Market. Deal five Zoo cards and one P card to each player.
HOW TO PLAY
Play is turn-based, going clockwise. The turn has two phases: Act and Draw
Phase 1: ACT
Acting is optional. Perform any Actions in any order as many times as you like but you may play only one P card per turn. The four Actions are building exhibits, trading, purchasing P cards and playing P cards
Building Exhibits
Take an animal from the Market or your hand, place it face-up in front of you and pay its Cost in hand cards. If the Cost is 2, discard two hand cards. If the Cost is 5, discard five hand cards, etc
IMPORTANT: In order to build any exhibit you must first open its set (OPENING SETS)
Trading
Trade hand cards and P cards with other players. Both players must agree to the terms of trade. Exhibits in your zoo cannot be traded. You may ignore the hand limit when trading
Purchasing P Cards
Discard seven hand cards to buy a P card
Playing P Cards
To play a Power card nominate any set in your zoo, execute its power (POWERS) and place your Power card at the bottom of the P deck
To play a Penguin simply build it in your zoo at no cost as a member of any set (PENGUINS)
Phase 2: DRAW
Draw two cards from the Zoo deck up to the hand limit of seven
If you hold six cards you may draw only one. If you hold seven or more cards you must Act. You may not pass
Drawing signals the end of your turn
Replenish any gaps in the Market after the Draw and before the next player commences their turn
OPENING SETS
To open a set you must build two or more exhibits at once. They can come from your hand or the Market or both, so long as you can pay their combined Cost. Powers, Events and Penguins can also help. After opening a set you can add exhibits one by one. Example: build a Cobra (Cost 2) and an Iguana (Cost 1) together to open the Reptile set, then build a Crocodile (Cost 5) later
Every time you open a set, immediately draw an Event. Follow its instruction and place it face-up on the Event discard pile. After the Event you may continue having your turn
All the animals in a set must have the same coloured frame (excepting Penguins)
If a set is reduced to one exhibit you can still access its Power. If a set drops to zero exhibits you may open it again
You may open more sets than are required for the endgame quota
You may open only one each of the seven sets
FULL SETS
Build six different exhibits in one set to make a full set. (There are a total of six different animals in each of the seven sets.)
Every time you make a full set, immediately take a P card and draw an Event in that order
Each full set in your zoo grants you a +1 Draw bonus. Example: if you have three full sets you may Draw five cards at the end of each turn instead of two
If a full set drops below six different exhibits you lose the Draw bonus. If the set is once again filled the Draw bonus is reinstated and you get another P card and draw another Event
PENGUINS
Penguins can be built at no cost as members of any set
You may open a set by building a Penguin and any other animal
Penguins count toward the six different exhibits required for a full set
Penguins cannot be moved unless stolen during the Ferocious Zoo Bonus
Penguins are worth zero in the endgame Cost tally
When Penguins die they return to the bottom of the P deck
If a Penguin becomes the last remaining member of its set, it dies of loneliness
PAIRS
You may build two of the same exhibit (see Hawk and Koala above). The second animal does not add Beauty, Ferocity or Rarity to your zoo so its values are hidden
Pairs do not count as two different exhibits
Pairs count in the endgame Cost tally
You may build only one pair per set. (If this limit is exceeded discard exhibits down to a legal population as soon as the mistake is noticed.)
You may open sets with pairs
You may not build triple exhibits
DISCARD PILES
When the Event deck expires, shuffle and reset
When the Zoo deck expires, flip the discard pile without shuffling
Players may inspect discard piles at any time but must not disturb their order