One of the main reasons I prefer board/card games to video games is the tactile sensation. I like to have things in my hands. It’s why I prefer reading a book to reading on a Kindle or why I prefer to browse an old-fashioned catalog over a website. There’s just something about touching pieces and seeing their shapes that I really enjoy. When I opened the box to String Safari and saw actual string in the box, a big part of me smiled and the other part was concerned. I was thrilled to see a unique component in there and intrigued about how that was going to fit into the gameplay. I was also a bit worried about the same thing. And more importantly, how would this work for kids since they’re the target audience for this game?
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The "board" at the start of the game |
Turns are very simple. First, you place your animal card on the board. Next, you use the Research String to lasso a group of cards on the board. You then place one of your cubes on any animal you’ve lassoed. Lastly, draw a new Animal card and choose a new Research card to play on top of your current card. That’s it! Just that simple.
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Research cards showing a variety of options |
Some cards also feature an icon at the bottom that tells you
how you have to interact with the play area.
Some cards specify that the Research string must touch the border
string. Others specify that you have to
enclose a rocky landscape card with your lasso.
To add just a bit more, each of the Research cards is worth points at
the end of the game. These things all
add up to create a nice layer of choice around which Research card you take
each turn. Your decision is also tied to
the Animals on the board and how they are laid out.
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There's only one animal left to put a cube on here. |
The name of the game comes from the Research string so I’d
be remiss to not talk about it. Each
turn, you use the Research string to lasso Animals that match your Research
card to score you points and also so you can mark Animals for end-game
scoring. There are a couple rules to
laying the string to make it a bit tougher:
You can’t touch any Animals or Land cards and the string can’t cross
over itself. Navigating this thing
between Animals can be really difficult so you have to carefully place it and
move it delicately. It definitely
doesn’t like to move how you want it to.
This is also one of those beautiful rules where kids can sometimes do
much better. Their little fingers tend
to work really well. Games like Gulo
Gulo also take advantage of that aspect. Here, it can often level the playing field
significantly.
String Safari has plenty of choices and fun to be good for adults, but this is
primarily aimed towards children and families so how does it work? In the games I’ve played with kids, I’d say
it works incredibly well. First off,
String Safari offers several learning opportunities. The Traits on the Animal cards are great for
teaching kids about different types of animal behavior. You can teach them about herbivores vs.
carnivores, diurnal vs. nocturnal, and about the different animal families and
how they act in the wild. There’s also a
lot of simple math with adding up points and some very basic multiplication so
the kids get some arithmetic practice.
Matching the animals to the research tiles will teach the kids about
pattern recognition and gives them “gaming 101” on the concept of goals. Maybe most important of all, manipulating the
string teaches them fine motor skill controls.
It’s all done smoothly and will leave them having fun without catching
on that they’re learning.
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Using the Research string to lasso 3 herbivores, giving me 6 points |
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The Research cubes along with the 50 point markers |
Don’t sell this one short as just a kid’s game, though. There’s enough fun here for adults to enjoy
themselves with or without kids at the table.
In fact, I’ve played this one with just adults and it can get downright
nasty. Since you can see other players’
research cards, you know what they’ll be going for and therefore you know which
animals to target with your research cubes.
It’s not super-cutthroat, but it does have interaction.
If you want a family game that the kids will really like and
won’t leave the adults bored, then String Safari is a great choice. It plays quickly, has wonderfully engaging
mechanisms, and looks great on the table.
There’s plenty of decision-making for old and young minds alike. The Research string can level the playing
field quite nicely and keep everyone in the game. Overall, an awesome presentation that could
very easily find itself on the shelves of big-box toy stores as well as hobby
game stores. It’s unique enough to
satisfy a wide range of players and that makes it a success.
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