The final and finished copy of the Scavengers game is ready, Mazaza Games' (creators of Kavango) 2nd title. The initial sets are circulating in the gaming community to get early reviews produced. I have been incredibly fortunate to have received one of these sets for review.
The most important news here is also the pre order launch date, going live on October 15th 2026! YES!
There is no kickstarter crowdfunding campaign this time as there was with Kavango. This is a straight to retail game and we do not have long to wait. So please follow Mazaza Games, sign up to their email listings on their site to get news of this for when it does go live.
The review of the finished game
I might have mentioned Scavengers once or twice here at Zatu and on my own personal social media pages, just once or twice...
I was fortunate to work on the Mazaza Games stand and demonstrate the prototype of Scavengers for them to the UK Games Expo masses at the NEC. The game was a huge hit and players' only frustration with the game was that there wasn't a copy for them to purchase and take home with them!
I actually wrote a preview for the game previously for Zatu following the UKGE this year so please scroll back to check that out as the basic core game play has not changed. Whilst demonstrating and watching the game I got to watch a lot of different people have a go. The mechanics of play are simple and people picked it up quickly. I then got to almost step back and watch the play unfold and I found the different approaches to the game fascinating. The game is a bidding and bluffing game and depending on how you, the player, values these factors will dramatically influence your approach and this is something I could not offer guidance on. The psychology of it was brilliant to see play out.
What I did have to hand though when demoing was a pen and paper and took notes and feedback from people who had a go at it. For Matt and Zara (Mazaza Games) they were very keen to gain feedback from people who tried it to be able to then improve the game, as this was only the prototype. There were many ideas pitched for them to assess and I am actually in awe of how many ideas they have taken on board and incorporated into the game, it's truly phenomenal and these fine refinement and detail changes have made an immense difference to the game I demonstrated at the Expo, for people wanting a copy I can only hope they are as pleased as I am.
So I had to take notes myself when playing this final copy of all the changes (that I picked up on, as I've no doubt I have not yet seen them all). Here they are.
- Updated art work. Improvements have been made to all the cards as well as box cover. It is also just all a lot sharper.
- A greater quality of playing card but I think that was always planned. They do feel lovely though.
The numbers printed on the scavengers for value also allow for a left handed card player. I never even knew this was a thing (as I am right handed). I never appreciated left handed players holding cards differently and so many games do not allow for this. Matt who does the designing has updated the cards to allow for both types of player. - • The feeding card. There was only one card type for the feeding pot that worked from 6 meat up to 10 meat across the 5 phases of the feed. There has been a different feeding card made for each feed (3 cards now) all with different pot values. Each card also has an A side and a B side with different pots again. This provides a lot of scoring variation which is brilliant. Just the change in approach to each feed and where players will place their priorities again really adds some more depth to game play.
- Enough meat counters to service the entire game. When demoing it was a pen and paper for tracking scores. So this was a must include. There are 1 point and 5 point meat counters now and more than enough to cover the 3 feeding rounds. The counters look quality also.
- The hands have a better balance to them now. The game is for 2-5 players and depending on the amount of players influenced the amount of cards dealt, from 14-18 cards. However, on occasions there was not a balance of action cards to scavengers and so on some hands players struggled. This has been rectified as each player will be dealt 4 actions cards and then depending on the players around the table, the remaining cards dealt are scavengers, so from 10-14 cards here. This worked well and I instantly saw a better balance.
- On the feeding card, the introduction of a little tracking token to clearly show all players at any given moment which phase within the feed the play is at. Not needing a question being raised, because it is right there.
- Noted total cards on all cards. In the prototype version the scavengers all had a little number under the Scavenger value telling players how many of that type of Scavenger are in the deck. The action cards didn't have this and it was asked for by many people at the UKGE. Mazaza have delivered also and now the action cards show the total of each action card in the deck.
- A clearer set of rules also, fully detailed.
I must confess that I am possibly the worst person to ask for feedback because I am generally easily pleased. All this feedback raised from people at the Expo and the detail now implemented on the finished game have raised the quality of this game enormously, and I already thought it was brilliant.
I know there will be plenty more reviews circulating on social media over the coming days, some are already out from in the social media community so there will be other opinions to learn from on this game.
I have only good things to say on this one and it comes from a great place where the creators have brilliant values and try to raise important issues through games they create, and I know there are other new games in the pipeline from them...
I would encourage all readers to visit Mazaza Games website and get on board with the pre order and support this one. It's worth it.
