Botswana Review

"In Botswana, players are dealt nearly all cards from a 30-card Animal Deck. There are five total species of animals, numbered from 0 to 5. A player's turn is dead simple: play a card from their hand, and take an Animal Meeple. The card played determines the score for that animal species at the end of the game, and which Animal Meeple is chosen gives that player a chance to score that animal."

"The game ends once one species has all six of its Animal Cards played. Once the end of the game is triggered, whichever Animal Card is at the top of the stack for that species determines how much those Animal Meeples are worth. It doesn't matter that the first card for the giraffes was the 5, because another player played the 0 on it right before the end of the game, meaning my 4 giraffe Meeples are now worthless."

"Botswana is one of the many small card games Knizia has designed, in the likes of Lost Cities or Battle Line. Unlike those two, however, Botswana can be played from two players all the way up to five."

Botswana is a 20-30 minute hand management card game designed by Reiner Knizia for 2-5 players. Players are dealt cards from a 30-card deck featuring five animal species numbered 0-5. Each turn, a player plays a card and takes an animal meeple. The card played sets the current point value for that animal species, while the meeple chosen allows scoring opportunities. The game ends when one species has all six cards played. Final scores depend on which card sits atop each animal stack, as later plays can overwrite earlier values. Success requires card counting, speculation, and careful observation of opponents' meeple collections.

Read at Board Game Quest