UKGE has been and gone for 2026 and what a weekend! I was invited to work on the Mazaza Games stall and jumped at the chance, working the Friday and Saturday for them. I love Kavango, we all love it in our home and I was so excited to be able to demo the game to visitors of the UKGE 2026 and hope to make it a highlight of their weekend as it was for me in 2023. What an exciting prospect.
So the morning of the Expo comes and we’re still getting the stall set minutes before doors open and Matt and Zara ask if I wouldn’t mind demoing their new prototype game, Scavengers. I hadn’t even read the rules so the adrenaline pumped and to say I was a touch anxious would be an understatement.
Thankfully, Zara led the first game and I muscled in on the play to pick up the rules in preparation for taking over the running of the table from there. I was so relieved I got it because I’ve not been known to be the quickest learner. Here’s what the Scavengers is all about.
Rules overview
Fans of Kavango who know what that game is all about will be interested to know this is nothing like that game. This is a game of bidding and bluffing.
Players take on the role of the scavengers (Vultures and wild dogs) in an effort to compete for pots of meat laid on the carcass card in the centre of the table. A game for 2-5 people taking approximately 30-40 mins.
Play is broken down into 3 rounds, with each round being broken down into 5 feeds. Players have a chance in each feed to compete for a pot of meat, 6 points in the first feed, 7 points in the second up to 10 points in the 5th feed of the round.
In order to win the pot players bid a value and highest bid will take the pot, there is a poker-like element to play here. Players use a hand of 16 cards to manage their way through the 5 feeds, which is a challenge. A hand is made up of possibly 6 different types of animal valued 1-6 as well as the black action cards.
Players when making a bid can only play animal cards of the same number value, so for example 2 animals of 3 value made a bid of 6. Animals cannot be mixed in a bid. Players can use their action cards in support of a bid or play the action only.
Once the bid is made, play passes clockwise and the next player has to pass (they are out of the feed), bid to equal or bid to raise. Once all players have passed the remaining player wins the pot. If 2 or more equal the final bis the pot is split and rounded down. The winner of the feed starts the next bidding for the next feed pot.
If players play all their cards then no problem, but they cannot compete for the rest of the round. If players have cards left at the end of the 5th feed then they lose a point per card left (animal or action). A fresh hand of 16 cards is provided for each round. Hand management is critical.
120 possible points available in this game fought for over 3 rounds. Most points take all. There’s a couple of nuances in the rules which come through in the play. This was a working prototype so I did spend a lot of time noting feedback down for Mazaza to further develop and refine the product. There were many good ideas so this is far from complete.
I felt privileged.
I couldn’t have imagined I would have spent all day Friday and a large chunk of Saturday demoing this game to fans of Mazaza. It was my privilege to do so and the game really is fantastic.
I got to see so many different people playing and in turn so many different styles of gamer at work. There was no real way for me to advise people on strategy as I might in another game because it is down to the individual and their views on risk and reward. Do they see value in smaller pots or gamble on the bigger, as well as not knowing the hands their opponents have and how they weigh up the odds there. It was so clever. So after a few feeds and when the players are in a flow I was able to step back and just keep the game rolling as well as enjoy the entertainment of bidding results.
It felt like everyone that got to try the game had a lot of fun playing it and the feedback was all great. There was so much interest from fans to try this new game and I can only hope my demonstration did the game justice and those people left the table very satisfied looking to pick the game up when it is released (most likely straight to retail, keep an eye on their emails and socials). As already noted, this was a prototype so I am so excited to see the end result. What was great to see is the game worked well with 2, 3, 4 and 5 players.
My particular highlight of this was a young girl with her dad who absolutely tore up a 5 player game, bearing in mind there are only 40 points available in a phase she scored 23 in one round and 28 in the next. Lions also ate 6 of this 40 meat. Matt noted this should not have been possible and yet she achieved it. She is a frighteningly good gamer and everyone else couldn’t help but applaud her effort. For me, whilst this was a highlight it was also a treat just to speak to so many other gamers in demonstrating as well as see so many fans of Kavango, a game which we all love.
I could understand why Matt and Zara brought in help to demo the games. I observed how they have so many fans from what they have created with Kavango and they got the opportunity to speak with so many more people than they could if they were playing and demonstrating games. There is a lot of love in the board game world for them and it is easy to see why. This game, The Scavengers, is only going to build on their amazing reputation.
I cannot wait to get my hands on my own copy, hopefully very soon.
