Making Cozy Homes for African Wildlife with Habitats
Create a nature preserve for African wildlife with the careful selection of new additions and matching areas in Habitats.
It was rather surprising to discover that I first played Habitats nearly a year ago, and never brought it back to my solo table… Until now! The concept of driving around to choose the order of tiles is a fun one, as are the challenges in meeting requirements and connecting terrain. Time to bring out all the animals and get that little jeep moving!
Game Overview
Game Name: Habitats
Publication Year: 2016
Designer: Corné van Moorsel
Artists: F. Gavril, D. Profiri, and D. Ramsey
Publisher: Allplay
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
A small preserve takes shape with the addition of tiles that might include animals, flowers, camps, tourists, or more. The trick is to find tiles that work well next to each other and carve a path through the market with a delightful jeep! Making homes for animals is both fun and quick!
First Play
August 4, 2023
Complexity
2
Latest Play
August 2, 2024
Expansions
0
Setup Time
Almost None
Lifetime Plays
8
Play Time
10 Minutes
High Score
83
Game Area
16" x 22"
Low Score
47
Expanding a Preserve
I forgot how much fun it is to place these tiles! The choices are made even more interesting with the way the jeep moves through the market and picks up new options.
My skills were still in pretty good shape as I found ways to make nearly all of my animals happy. Only the dwarf crocodile was missing its preferred habitats. Not bad!
I got better about placing scoring tokens on all of the tiles to look at, too, which helped final scoring tremendously.
Although I have the large set of wooden animals, I didn’t bring them out for this play. But animals were near…
Wild Calico Critters
A-ha! I didn’t have a ton of matching Calico Critters, but when the call went out to stop by, there was a stampede!
This is how you fill in a nature preserve in style. Ha ha! I heard rumblings of discord over the delay of the village taking shape over here… I’ll get there soon enough!
The artwork is adorable on its own, of course, yet a few animal visitors seemed like the perfect way to enjoy this.
Maybe I needed a larger vehicle to make it more believable… I had a feeling they would overpower that tiny jeep if the Calico Critters had a chance to get too close!
Delightful Artwork
There isn’t a tile here that doesn’t look nice! Even camps, gates, and tourists provide nice breaks in the animal stars.
And don’t think that the reptiles and insects don’t look cute, too! Take a look at this bee and salamander. Just a wonderful assortment of bright colors and expressions!
I found a lot of depth in the tile choices, too, as my scores ranged from amazing to relatively uninspiring.
The puzzle is a neat one, though, as making sure every tile scores is not an easy feat. Often, it comes down to making some animals happy while others won’t settle in.
Evaluating Solo Scores
Only 4 pages make up the rulebook, which is excellent! The solo mode is contained on a single tile that shows setup, the number of tiles, and the scoring tiers.
I was surprised to jump out ahead with my best score yet initially! Happy animals were definitely my specialty!
Yet that didn’t last, which is a good sign that there isn’t a solvable formula. I probably could have gone in different directions with my jeep for better tile decisions.
At least I had enough skill to be above the novice ranger level every time. But it was just barely. Ha ha!
Finding Fun Already Lurking on the Shelf
If there’s anything I’m learning these days, it’s how much fun is waiting to be discovered in my existing collection! I still love new arrivals, but there have been so many delightful experiences I wasn’t expecting. For this game, I figured it would be mildly enjoyable… Yet it went above that with so many aspects to love about gameplay!
Although I continue to joke about my title as the Breaker of Wallets, know that you likely have many hours of fun just waiting to be found in the games you already have. Maybe they’re not the shiny, new games everyone is talking about, yet the important thing is that they offer you something great. Have fun finding those wonderful moments!
Don’t Feed the Animals
And here we see the violence inherent in the system when you feed wild animals. Notice what rolled on by? Yeah, you just can’t set up popcorn tricycle expectations like this!
The small jeep worked its way into the preserve, only to be swarmed by a horde of adorable Calico Critters!
Their demand for popcorn was great, and I think the giraffe assumed the yellow color meant this thing was made out of butter. A valuable lesson to be taken home.
I am pleased to report that the jeep made it out, but the popcorn tricycle has been banned from the preserve. Ha!
Beautiful Tableau
It can take a little effort to keep track of the different animals, yet the scoring tokens help out immensely.
After an animal’s requirements were met, I added a token and didn’t need to think about calculating them again. My focus shifted to animals who still needed a home.
Making huge, connected habitats wasn’t as helpful as I originally thought it would be. This led to even better decisions as I picked up tiles I didn’t expect to want.
Each play felt very different and it was such a joy to think that my preserve was the home of so many species!
Session Overview
Play Number: 5-8
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Outcome: 83, 51, 60, 67 (3 Wins & 1 Loss)
Such a fun time! I made sound effects for the jeep every chance I got and thought through a lot of interesting turns. This was a lot of fun! Animals and tiles are some of my favorite elements in board games, but this one definitely earned itself high marks. I loved it! The simplicity of the rules should make it easy to play again, and I love how the preserve is never the same. Just keep the popcorn tricycle away from the wildlife. Ha ha!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
9
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Gameplay is quick and simple, with meaningful choices that are forgiving with no way to truly do poorly.
- The artwork is unique and adorable with plenty of unique animals and lots of vibrant colors.
- A preserve takes a different shape each time with lots of tile variety and different synergies to think about.
- Small details, like curved edges to differentiate the starting tiles and a lovely tile draw bag, add to the quality.
- Finding ways to score every tile is quite the challenge, yet those decisions lead to very satisfying moments.
- Play time moves quickly with the ability to partially plan multiple turns ahead with the jeep market movement.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Planning to drive into corners creates forced tile draws at times, which aren’t always ideal or desirable.
- High scores often come down to lots of excellent luck with the drawn tiles, rather than better choices.
- It can be easy to forget to mark a tile with a scoring token, which can add a little extra time at the end of the game.
- Keeping track of the number of drawn tiles can be easy to forget with the round tracker that only goes up to 10.
Victory Conditions
Score 60+ Points
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Score at least 50 points.
Score at least 60 points.
Score at least 70 points.
Score at least 80 points.
Continue the Conversation
What do you enjoy about Habitats? Have you managed to create a preserve where every animal’s requirements are met? I had such a great time finding the joy with this one again! Although it’s been awhile, I can see this one attempting to make a more regular appearance. It’s just the right amount of complexity, quickness, and cuteness for lots of fun!
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