WILD: Serengeti Why I Backed It
“Film wild animals in the Serengeti and direct your own inspiring wildlife documentary in this beautiful board game.”
by Bad Comet $242,388 raised 4,937 backers
Billed as a game combining puzzle-solving, set-collection, and engine building, WILD Serengeti seeks to capture the majestic beauty of the African savannah in an accessible, detailed board game.
What attracted me to this Kickstarter campaign?
- Cute “animeeples” by the end of the campaign Bad Comet had added a total of 21 different wildlife species to the game including the “Serengeti Big 5”! (Lion, Rhino, Leopard, Elephant, and Cape Buffalo)
2) Lower weight/complexity than most of the games in my collection. I imagine the barrier to entry on a game like this being quite low. Easy to teach, easy to play, nice to look at, not leading to an excessively long playtime (45–90 minutes).
3) The Bad Comet campaign team was very responsive to backer feedback which helped lead to WILD Serengeti dominating Kicktraq Hotlists. The comment section was active, lively, and funny!
4) Replayability — I get the feeling that this won’t be a game that feels “samey” too quickly. Lots of specialists and scene cards to mix things up.
Wild: Serengeti is a type of Action Selection game in which players place and/or move animeeples onto the main board. Players win by gaining the most Documentary Points (VP) and this is primarily achieved through acquiring and completing scene cards and in the advanced mode through the use of your specialist card.
The game is kept fresh and variable between rounds by playing Great Migration Cards which change the number and position of animeeples on the board before the next round of play. This mechanic is both thematic and welcome to shake up the game state.
In the Advanced mode, players choose from asymmetrical “Specialist” Cards to start the game with that will push play strategies in different directions and add to the game’s replayability.
Game Modes include Competitive (standard and advanced), a Cooperative mode that was unlocked as a stretch goal during the KS campaign, and a basic Solo mode.
Price: Base Game Pledge $52 (a bit pricey)
Add-ons: $14 wooden token component upgrades, $8 extra set of animeeples (21!) a good value but no added gameplay effect, $12 card sleeves (230 sleeves/100 microns) a great price!
I’ve mentioned many of the things which have drawn me to WILD: Serengeti. Now, let’s take a look at reasons backing WILD: Serengeti might not be for you.
The Price. At over $90 for the game, upgraded components, sleeves, and shipping cost this game will be much cheaper at retail. The Solo Mode is rather bare-bones and plays along the lines of “try to beat your own score”. There is no Automa AI to battle against. Take that into consideration if Solo mode is important to you. Uncertainty. What will the Cooperative mode be like? What does the double-sided board add to the game? Will the Rock of the Ages fall apart like the similarly produced tree from Everdell did? Will the unlocked Specialist Cards + animeeples be interesting and balanced? Are the Specialist Cards different enough? Many seem quite similar and the designers only seemed to explore a very narrow design space with these cards. Some don’t make thematic sense. When has a Museum Curator been needed on a photoshoot of a safari? Why isn’t there a Park Ranger? They are the lifeblood specialists of the Serengeti Wild Animal Park. Will Bitey art make it onto the inside of the box? These are all important questions we still don’t have answers to. Fulfillment Date July ’22 is a long way off.
I backed WILD: Serengeti and I look forward to introducing it to the players in my local board gaming group.
What do you like best about WS?
-the BoardGameNerd
