Botswana
Play animal cards to swing each color's value, grab chips as bets, and hope you backed the right colors.
A painfully simple Reiner Knizia card game with real bite. Five colors of animal cards, numbered zero to five, get dealt out, and each turn you play a card and grab a matching chip of any available color. When a color runs out of cards, the last card played sets the value of every chip in that color. Bet on the right colors and the highest total wins.
Who it's for
Players who love elegant, quick Knizia fillers with speculation and bluffing, where simple rules hide sharp reads on your opponents.
Not for you if…
You want depth, theme, or a longer experience. The bare abstract math and short runtime can leave heavier-game fans wanting more.
Vibe's take
A tense little game of shares and nerve where every card you play publicly moves a value everyone has bet on.
Published 1994 · 32 years ago
older than 95% of games
In 7,627 collections
collected more than 72% of games
2–5 players · ages 8+
Best with 4 · publisher: 7+
20–30 min
shorter than 69% of games · typical 30–90 min
Complexity: light
Explained in 5 minutes · 1.3 out of 5 · lighter than 81%
Opinions: broad agreement
Most people rate it similarly
Language: no text
Playable without the language
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