Budapest Zoo

I had the honor of designing a board game for the 160th anniversary of the Budapest Zoo (with Máté Czakó).

The result is a family-friendly roll-and-write game for 2–5 players, recommended for ages 6 and up, with a playing time of around 30–40 minutes.

The box includes four dice: three numbered dice with values from 1 to 3, and one special die featuring custom icons. It also comes with two sets of colored pencils, because coloring is a central part of the gameplay and players often color simultaneously. Finally, the game includes 100 double-sided player sheets, ensuring plenty of replayability.

Throughout the game, you'll build your own zoo by acquiring animals—which you'll actually draw onto your player sheet. But collecting animals is only the beginning. You'll also need to take good care of them by feeding them, providing water, and cleaning their enclosures. And of course, no zoo is complete without visitors, so attracting and managing them is an important part of the game as well.

The dice are rolled directly into a dice tray attached to the inside of the game box lid, and the result determines the available actions for the round. The active player chooses first, while the other players select from the remaining actions.

When caring for your animals, what matters is how many dice land in each section of the tray. However, if you're organizing a visitor tour, you'll instead look at the values shown on the dice.

The rules are easy to learn, but mastering the game is another story. Well-planned bonus actions can give you a significant advantage, so discovering the most effective combinations and creating satisfying chain reactions is what ultimately separates the best zookeepers from the rest.

I rarely co-design games with other designers—although I've done it a few times before—so this project brought an extra layer of challenge. Fortunately, we quickly found ourselves on the same wavelength when it came to ideas and design decisions.

I actually enjoy working within constraints because they help shape the creative process. In this case, the game needed to be produced quickly in Hungary, using simple components and within a relatively modest budget. A roll-and-write game felt like the perfect fit for those requirements, and it had been quite a while since I'd designed one.

My daughter and I had spent a lot of time playing the kids' version of Ganz Schön Clever, so I knew firsthand that the genre works wonderfully with younger players. With that in mind, we set out to create a game with simple yet engaging rules. We constantly trimmed away ideas to keep the design from drifting toward a heavier gamer audience. In the end, I think we found the right balance: a game that's accessible and enjoyable for six-year-olds, while still offering enough meaningful decisions to keep adults entertained.

I think the game turned out beautifully, both in terms of its illustrations by Panna Kovács-Makó and its production quality, which was handled by TársasKészítés. It truly feels like a professionally produced game, made possible by the support of the Budapest Zoo Foundation.

So, if you ever find yourself in Budapest and decide to spend a day at the zoo, be sure to stop by the gift shop. The game is language-independent, and the box includes an English rulebook.

Happy gaming!