THE BIG FIVE
Publisher: MNKY Entertainment | Co-author: Arjan van Houwelingen | Illustrations: Sabrina Miramon | Ages: 8-99 | Players: 2-5 | Playing time: 60 min.
Links: BoardGameGeek.com
Step into the shoes of a safari guide and discover the magnificent animals of the Big Five! In a safari truck, you drive around the park with tourists to discover stunning landscapes and beautiful views, but most of all to spot the Big Five! Your task, together with the other guides, is to have all tourists spot all the animals.
But beware! All kinds of setbacks lurk that make it difficult to find the animals: heavy thunderstorms, extreme heat, a flat tire, a herd of hippos in the middle of the road and running out of petrol or provisions. Each guide has their own abilities. Help each other, because if not all the animals are spotted, you will lose the game. Will you manage to spot all five animals?
The Big Five is a cooperative board game with a modular board in which all players drive their own safari truck, and have their own skills, but have to work together to spot all five animals of The Big Five in time.
Game rules
In The Big Five, you all drive a safari truck through all kinds of landscapes in the safari park. It’s the last day for your tourists, but they haven’t seen a single animal from The Big Five yet. This is their last chance, so you make every effort to satisfy everyone. Now and then, animals pop up in different places on the board.
The safari car that spots the animal first passes on which animal it is, so that other safari cars can spot that animal too. Each turn starts by turning over an event card; this card gives you benefits or misfortunes to consider this turn. After that, a player has 4 actions to spend. These can be used to drive, repair, refill provisions, refuel, spot animals, extinguish fires and influence the next event.
Each player also has their own unique skills. One can spot animals at long range, another can drive through bushes, repair free safari wagons or entrance gates, or carry more provisions.