Night at the Zoo — GOTTA FIND ’EM ALL (SPIEL Essen 2026)

Description provided by Luzapalooza on YouTube:

Night at the Zoo is a tile-drafting puzzle where you’re building paths on your own private board to lead escaped animals back home — and after one play, it’s sitting in my top 10 games of the year. This video is part of our Essen Countdown on Luzapalooza: every day until SPIEL Essen 2026, we spotlight one game worth putting on your radar — from the big anticipated releases to the tiny games you could easily miss in the crowd. Night at the Zoo on BGG: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/457412/night-at-the-zoo Full solo playthrough and rules explanation: https://youtu.be/5xByKSxaebY?si=MsIst51sjiTE_nIi Unicorns — Mini Expansion How do the unicorns work, and what do they add to the game? https://youtu.be/ro7IfL9f1NE Variability Cards — Mini Expansion How do the variability cards change your game of Night at the Zoo? https://youtu.be/_2ibXvqWg9Q Latecomers Expansion — The Animals A look at the four new animal types included in the Latecomers expansion and how they change the way you play. https://youtu.be/A7aXa1sLjyI The real hook for me is the combo potential: store bonus tiles in your reserve, chain them together, and you can set up a single turn that cascades into a huge swing. The game only runs three rounds, so you’ll never finish your whole zoo — which forces you to actually commit to a plan instead of trying to do everything. This is designed by Tomáš Holek, who also co-designed Kingdom Come: Deliverance — The Board Game with Vlaada Chvátil, and it shows: this is a genuinely clever, well-made puzzle. Go check out the Albi booth at Essen for this one. The Meet & Play will take place at Saal Essen on Saturday, October 24th. We'll be there starting at 3 PM — here's a link to the event with a photo showing exactly where to find the room: https://meet-and-play.de/en/about/ If this is your third video on the channel, maybe it's time to subscribe. :-) Luzapalooza on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/Luzapalooza This Game Is Broken — the board game comedy podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GXyynkXltlLY3hGNoYtnB Thanks for watching, and check out the rest of our Essen Countdown for more games! BOARDGAMES · GOOD TIMES · HUGS #Luzapalooza #SpielEssen2026 #SpielEssen #BoardGames #BoardGameGeek #TabletopGames #NightAtTheZoo #Albi #TomášHolek #BoardGame #TabletopGaming #EssenSpiel