Zooloretto: The Dice Game

On your turn, you choose from two actions: take two dice from the supply, roll them, and distribute them among the transport wagons on the board, or take all the dice from one wagon and mark the corresponding spaces on your score sheet. Each wagon has a maximum of three spaces. The round ends as soon as each player has taken dice from a wagon. The first player to fill an entire animal enclosure receives a bonus; too many animals of the same type go to the barn and cost two negative points each. Coins can neutralize penalty points. The player with the most points at the end wins.

Zooloretto The Dice Game cleverly translates the proven push-your-luck mechanism of Zooloretto and Coloretto into a dice format: the core dilemma — take it now or wait for more? — remains just as keenly present, but the game plays faster and is easier to take with you. The score sheets make the whole experience pleasantly tangible and ensure that everyone stays involved with every roll. Reviewers describe it as a successful, more compact version of the original that sacrifices some strategic depth but gains in accessibility and speed of play.