O Zoo le Mio

Bid in secret for zoo tiles, fit them into your zoo and collect stars of animals that visitors love.

Designer: Corné van Moorsel
Published by: Cwali
Editions by: Rio Grande Games, Gigamic, G3, Zoch Verlag

You run a zoo, and every year five new zoo tiles go up for auction. Each tile holds two animal types, some paths and maybe a tree. In O Zoo le Mio (2002) you bid in secret, picking coins in your hand, and the highest bidder takes the tile and has to fit it into their zoo so that paths and green areas line up. Little stars on the tiles show how interesting your zoo is for each kind of animal, so the more stars of one color you gather, the better the score. Trees and parks matter too. The game lasts five years, with scoring at the end of each. It is a gentle, clever mix of auction, tile placement and set collection, around an hour for two to four.

Five years, five tiles auctioned each yearSecret bids with coins in your handMatch paths and trees while collecting stars

Who it's for

You like auctions and tile laying, and want a zoo theme with a bit of puzzle, around a table of three or four.

Not for you if…

You want a high-interaction or cutthroat game. The play is mostly your own zoo, and bidding mistakes are the only real conflict.

Vibe's take

Calm, thoughtful and a little tense at the reveal. The bidding gives you the fun, and the zoo-building gives you a little puzzle to match paths and trees.