As the Queen of Knizia here at Board Game Quest, it’s my duty to play as many Knizia titles as I can. Botswana is not only one of those titles, but a game I was quite looking forward to. So let’s see if this is a Knizia Classic, or a Knizia Cluster.

Botswana is a hand management card game published by 25th Century Games. It’s designed by Reiner Knizia and takes about 20-30 minutes to play.

Gameplay Overview:

In Botswana, players are dealt nearly all cards from a 30-card Animal Deck. There are five total species of animals, numbered from 0 to 5. A player’s turn is dead simple: play a card from their hand, and take an Animal Meeple. The card played determines the score for that animal species at the end of the game, and which Animal Meeple is chosen gives that player a chance to score that animal.

Let’s explain this more with an example: Let’s say I play an elephant with a value of 2. That means, if no other card is played with an elephant on it, then elephant Meeples will be worth 2 points at the end of the game. However, after I play my card, I’m not required to choose an elephant as my Animal Meeple: I could, instead, take a lion Meeple, as they’re currently worth 4 points apiece, as that’s the Animal Card currently in play for the lion.

The game ends once one species has all six of its Animal Cards played. Once the end of the game is triggered, whichever Animal Card is at the top of the stack for that species determines how much those Animal Meeples are worth. It doesn’t matter that the first card for the giraffes was the 5, because another player played the 0 on it right before the end of the game, meaning my 4 giraffe Meeples are now worthless.

Speculate carefully, count cards, and examine other players’ Meeples to win the game of Botswana.

Roughly a mid-game snapshot. Already you can see different strategies emerging.

Game Experience:

Botswana is one of the many small card games Knizia has designed, in the likes of Lost Cities or Battle Line. Unlike those two, however, Botswana can be played from two players all the way up to five, and that’s exactly why this game shines so much for me.

Botswana, with two players, is not particularly strong. Well, I suppose that’s not entirely true, but it’s certainly not as tight as the card games he has designed specifically for two. I feel like players have too much information at two, and scores are a bit too close for the speculation aspect of the game to shine. Conversely, after a few plays at two players with the same two people, there can be a sort of “meta game” formed where players are purposefully drafting Animal Meeples that are not “the best” choice to convince the other player into drafting them. The point stands, Botswana at two players feels wildly different from how it does at three to five players.

At higher player counts, even at three, the lack of information each player has adds so much tension to the game. Let’s set up another example: if I have the hippo 0 and the hippo 5, how do I want to play that? Do you tank the value of the hippo with the 0 early but still draft a few knowing what could happen with your 5? Do you play the 5 early to let other players draft hippo Meeples so you can ruin their dreams with a late 0? All of these scenarios and more are so simple and yet so juicy, but again, as the player count rises, so do the variables in the scenario. With four other hippo cards possibly in play, and no idea who has what, you could be setting yourself up for failure because of your arrogance and confidence in your two cards.

Look at these amazing Animal Meeples! So much detail, so cute!

While all of these unknowns may sound frustrating to some, it’s important to note that the game plays lightning fast. The box says 20 to 30 minutes, but in my experience, we can play five hands in 30 minutes, and that’s with shuffling, dealing, and resetting. If you have a particularly horrible round, it doesn’t mean you’re out of the “game”, assuming you’re playing more than one round at a time. And this adds a lovely layer to the game where the leading player gets an extra spotlight on their actions, and players may begin playing less-than-perfectly in order to deduct more points from the leader.

Honestly, my biggest complaint with the rules, at least as written, is that you’re supposed to play a number of rounds equal to the number of players. I know this is the softest House Rule of all time, but I believe that number could be literally anything, as long as it’s decided ahead of time. You could make this a one-round game after dinner, or play ten hands in a row to make this the length of an average game. And in my opinion, this game certainly has the meat on it to justify playing 10 times in a row.

Each animal has 5 Animal Meeples to grab for scoring, and 6 value cards to play. Each card has unique art, a totally unnecessary (but lovely) touch!

Final Thoughts:

Botswana takes the crunchy aspects of Knizia’s two-player masterpieces and expands it out to a full table’s worth of players without losing any of its bite. This is a modern classic that should be in any gamer’s collection, especially at this price point and especially with 25th Century Games’ fantastic production.

Final Score: 4 Stars – A Knizia game good at several player counts? Who knew it was possible!

Hits:
• Gorgeous production
• Crunchy, speculative gameplay
• Perfectly paced

Misses:
• Two player is middling
• Requires multiple rounds to mitigate luck
• Meerkats? I want penguins!