Zoo Vadis

Do you enjoy a little gentle politicking with your chums from time to time? I do. So when I heard that prolific boardgame designer Reiner Knizia was revisiting one of his lesser remembered titles, ‘Quo Vadis?’, my ears pricked up like Elmer Fudd’s, listening for Bugs Bunny. Quo Vadis? is a negotiation game set in Ancient Rome, published in the before times, a beat-up copy of which has been languishing in board game limbo (my cupboard) for decades. And now we have Zoo Vadis. But does this revamp inject some life into the old dog? And is Zoo Vadis for you? In short, “Yes” and “Maybe”. Let’s get into it.

We're going to the Zoo.

I preferred the original theme. We were powerful Roman patricians sponsoring grubby politicians in the Roman Forum jockeying for seats in the Senate. All for the glory of…well, us! In this context what we were doing in the game made perfect sense. And we had a wry smile at the irony of democracy, Roman style, into the bargain. In Zoo Vadis we are… actually I’m not really clear. The blurb says the animals are running the zoo and each species is lobbying for a position in the ... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I’m not a fan of the recent trend towards anthropomorphising the shit out of everything (although I love Everdell-yeah?). And anyway, if animals were intelligent enough to organise a take-over of the zoo why would they want to continue in captivity and not just eat the zoo-keeper? And those irritating peacocks! Anyway, just make it up yourself. “This evening we are aristocratic space lions, blah blah, blah…”

Theme aside, Zoo Vadis represents great value for money. The original was functional but extremely ugly. The update is well produced. The board is both functional and attractive, if not a little busy as it tries to reference both the current zoo theme and its Ancient Roman past life. Sarah said it best when she observed that the board promised us a colourful journey. The animeeples are nice and chunky and ‘stickered up’ they are easily distinguishable, even mildly amusing. The cardboard counters are somewhat Spartan but do the job. If you want to spend a little more moolah you can upgrade to wooden counters that feel a touch more satisfying and emit a pleasant ‘clickety-clack’ when shaken up in the bag.

So what about the game play? Let’s start with the rule book. It’s a well written, twelve page guide consisting of concise explanations, plentiful examples and an abundance of beautiful illustrations. It facilitates quick set up and supports learning on the go.

Dave felt that the simplicity of the mechanics was a strong feature. During your turn you will take one of four simple actions, three of which don’t directly involve other players, ensuring that the ‘art of the deal’ is front and centre. That’s what you’re paying for, right? Knizia added two mechanisms for this new version- animal powers and peacocks- increasing the levers you have to pull in negotiations with your competitors, adding a touch more depth to the wheeling and dealing.

Which brings me nicely to the all important question, is it fun? And if so how much fun? Of course ‘fun’ is utterly subjective so I can’t speak for you. For me, playing good negotiation games provides either a brief escape from who I actually am or an opportunity to break free from social constraints and be my true self-I haven’t worked it out yet, nor do I care to. And of course, what’s not to like about ‘kippering’ a rival while looking them in the eye and saying, with a shrug of the shoulders, “it’s nothing personal. It’s only business.” I can tell you that there are moments like these to be had when playing Zoo Vadis.

On Games Night everyone had fun with this. Sarah usually prefers a more gentle gaming experience so I was surprised when she enthused about Zoo Vadis. She liked that the game rewarded negotiating so that she didn’t feel like she’d been poked in the eye every time she made a deal. I like that everyone needs to stay sharp! You can’t allow anyone to get too far ahead early on or it’s ‘game over’ so players have to be ready to both co-ordinate their actions and intervene in negotiations with bribes when necessary, to stop a player running away with the game (metaphorically speaking of course). Peter always tries to bring a bit of rough and tumble to a negotiation game. He thought Zoo Vadis was fine, but he prefers Goodcritters, where ‘screwage’ is more prevalent.

So finally, it’s time to come on down and play the “it’s nothing personal. It’s only business.” game. I’m going to list some negotiation games in order of how many times your friends get close to losing their sh*t while you smugly fuel the flames of their fury. And you get to decide if Zoo Vadis hits the sweet spot for you.

1. Intrigue - just outright nasty. You have to ‘Kevlar up’ before you play this.
2. Nothing Personal - somehow, breaking your promises and whacking your partner’s gangsters is incendiary.
3. Dragon’s Gold - you can be an utter bastard playing this game.
4. Good critters/I’m the Boss/Junta: El Presidente - different games but all share a mechanic that allows you to ostracise your chums. And they never, ever like it.
5. Cash ‘n’ Guns - having a foam pistol stuck in your grill and then being ‘banged’ (and not in a good way) is triggering.
6. Zoo Vadis - rewards for negotiating take the edge off the screwage.
7. Moonrakers -negotiations never get to ‘road rage’ levels. Maybe I need to play it more.
8. Cosmic Encounter- fate decides who attacks who, so your apology for having a go is sometimes accepted- and you can share victories (yuk!).
9. Sheriff of Nottingham - I’m too busy laughing at the audacity/stupidity of some players to go nuts.
10. Chinatown (now Waterfall Park) - we were too occupied doing mental arithmetic to think about punching Rick in the face.
11. Bohnanza - bean farming is a gentle occupation.

Zoo Vadis is unlikely to be your favourite game of all time but if you’re looking for a negotiation game which isn’t too ‘hard nosed’ it might be ‘Goldilocks’ for you. Oh, and fun.