Quo Vadis? Zoo Vadis! In Zoo Vadis, players try to win each other’s votes to move up the ladder. Not on the political ladder, but in the zoo. Small difference, because in the zoo there is generally less poop thrown around. Will you be the best at negotiating and earn the most points?
Background and goal
Zoo Vadis is a reissue of Reiner Knizia’s classic negotiation game Quo Vadis? An underrated one from 1992. That, by the way, is a great year for several reasons. In Quo Vadis? players assumed the role of Roman senators who climbed the social and political ladder by winning over the souls of other players. Quo Vadis? Loosely translated also means “where are you going?” Well to the top of monkey rock of course! In this re-release, animals try to to reach the heights of the proverbial political jungle.
In Zoo Vadis, the animals are emancipated, but still live in the zoo. There is a single human zookeeper left, so it is up to the animals to climb the social ladder. The animals are trying to climb higher and win a spot in the animal exhibit. To do this, they have to move through the enclosures in the zoo, gather votes by trading and earn points. The player with the most points wins and becomes the zoo’s new mascot, but in order to do so you have to play politics with other players.
Gameplay
During a turn, a player can perform 1 of 4 actions. Players can place one of their animals in the zoo. Players can move their animals, but there are some rules associated with this. Players can also choose to move the zookeeper or one of the – somewhat – neutral peacocks.
To move an animal from one enclosure to another, players need the majority vote of the enclosure. They can bribe any peacocks present or see if other players want to vote for them. To do this, you need to negotiate. You may offer coins, but also make promises. And not all promises a player has to keep… Players may move without a majority vote if they zookeeper is present on the next path.
A nice change from the original Quo Vadis, is the addition of special properties. Players all chose an animal, and all animals have a trait that other players may use. So using this trait is also a nice means of negotiation.
Verdict
I really think Zoo Vadis is a delightful game. The production quality is great, the game components are beautiful, the illustrations colorful and characteristic. The design combines illustrations of animals with a political edge that is obviously a nod to the original theme, but also offers a nice nod to the proverbial political jungle.
The game revolves around promises, suspicion, bluff and betrayal and this makes for an interesting dynamic at the table that is tactical, but also razor sharp and above all hilarious as players betray each other or inadvertently help each other rise higher.
