Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
There was a moment during my second play of Frank’s Zoo (1999, with a 2025 reprint now available from HeidelBÄR and Czech Games Edition) where I found myself sitting quietly, waiting for someone to let me play my hedgehogs.
Frank’s Zoo is a climbing game. Similar to games like SCOUT or the recent addition Jungo, Frank’s Zoo is actually older than both games but feels out of place in a world where there are so many other climbing/shedding games in the marketplace.
This was on full display during this second play. I typically have a good feel for the best ways to shed a hand of cards, but Frank Zoo’s main twist is the option to choose to pass, to ensure you can set yourself up just right to play cards only when you can get rid of as many cards as possible. Usually I would vote to push hard to dump all your cards as quickly as possible, but in Frank’s Zoo it feels like it is situationally beneficial to pass and wait for the right moment to strike.
That’s because, unlike some games in this category, players can never add cards from the discard pile or acquired tricks to their hand. In Frank’s Zoo, a 60-card deck is evenly distributed across 2-6 players in a competitive or team format during setup. Then, it turns into standard shedding fare—play cards to the table, then watch as other players try to play more of the same card that was led or play an equal number of cards of a higher suit to surpass the leader.
But the fun twist with Frank’s Zoo—and it was more fun on the first few turns of my first game than it was any time afterwards—is that each suit here is an animal, from a common mouse (maybe it’s a rat?) to an orca that can’t be beaten by any other suit. Some suits can only be beaten by one other suit; lions can only be surpassed by elephants. Other suits, like that mouse, can be beaten by almost anything in the game.
This often led to chaos. Planning ahead is pretty tricky here, as players try to stay ready to play an entire raft of cards at just the right moment. But because you aren’t waiting for a numbered card, it’s hard to be sure when, or if, a player will be able to jump back into the game.
Which led to the moment described in my opening. I had shrunk my hand from 12 cards to three cards, so quickly that other players just assumed I was already out of the hand. Nope! I just sat there, waiting for my moment to strike—and then watched as the guy who had 10 cards whittled steadily reduced his hand to zero, going out first. Then another player, who had the nerve to apologize as he lapped me and also went out. With three players left at the table, I just assumed I would pass until I was the first loser, and the last person to go out of cards…before someone finally put me out of my misery and played two hedgehogs, allowing me to play my three hedgehogs to get out of the round.
Choices—real agency—feels exceptionally limited in Frank’s Zoo. Like the recent trick-taker Lunar Skyline, a poor draw can be fatal in Frank’s Zoo; being dealt just one or two of each suit will lead to a rough round. The format here allows for players to complete just one round, or play multiple rounds in either a free-for-all or a team-based format, so the flexibility is there to play Frank’s Zoo however you like.
The problem here is that I can’t recommend the game in any format. The turns aren’t thrilling. My family seemed to agree: after showing it to my family of four, no one, not even the person who won wanted to play it a second time. No one in my review group wanted to give it it a second try, including the two players who finished ahead of me. (I have always felt strongly that winner’s bias is real…and if those winners don’t feel that bias, we have a problem!)
That isn’t a good sign. From reviewing the comments on the game’s BGG page, there are some players out there who have a soft spot for Frank’s Zoo. Sadly, I won’t be one of them.
