Overview: Stratus Games is seeing another Kickstarter success with DiceAFARI. Players roll dice to "see as many animals" as possible on their "safari."
Players: 2-4 players, ages 8+
Who will like it: Adults and parents who like strategy games and animals. Kids who like animals will like this game too, and with some help, kids younger than eight can play if they recognize patterns and colors. There is no reading required in the game.
Playing Time: The box says 15 minutes, but our game was longer. For four players, figure 30 minutes.
What’s in the box?:
- 18 Safari Tiles
- 28 Animal Photo Tokens
- 4 Safari Dice and 1 Bonus Die
- 72 Travel Tokens
- 14 Map Cards
How is it played?: A Map card is picked and the Safari Tiles are randomly placed in the pattern provided on the map (extra Safari Tiles are discarded). Photo Tokens are placed at the point where card intersect with each other.
Game turns involve rolling the five dice. Looking at the pictures on the dice, the player can put them in any order to form a pattern they find in the Safari Tiles. If they aren't able to match a pattern, they can re-roll a couple of dice. If the player is able to "take a safari route" equal to the number rolled on the bonus die, the player gets a bonus to their score. If the player has an Animal Photo Token between two joining tiles of the safari route, the player can pick up the token for a point bonus at the end of the game. The game ends when all of the Safari tokens have been claimed by a Safari route and each player has taken three turns.
Geeky Goodness: It's a strategy game. If you want to make it educational for younger family members, gather around the computer and look up information about all of the animals in the game.
Hey, where can I buy this game?: Game stores will be able to order this game for you, or you can purchase it from the Stratus site for $24.95.
GeekMom approved or "meh"?: Once you've been through the game, it goes very quickly. My husband and I played a quick two player game and found we spent most of our time helping each other instead of competing because the strategy was so interesting. There are three sets of optional rules that can make the game easier or harder depending on what you want. It's a quick and entertaining game that would be a great addition to any family gaming collection. Because I have to find something wrong with the game, I will say the brown and red terrains were hard to tell apart at a glance. But that's being nit-picky.
**A copy of this game was sent to me so I could play it and tell you if it's fun**
