United Kingdom
Halesowen
West Midlands
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Ever wished you were an ostrich? Ever dreamt of tearing across the savannah plains with the wind rushing through you tail feathers?
If you have, well frankly you are a bit weird and should maybe consider having a lie down in a darkened room for a while.
Savannah Tails is a card based racing game for two to five players that takes around half an hour to play.
The ostrich (Struthio Camelus) is a large flightless (probably because they are made of wood) bird native to Africa (Image by Kurosawa)
About 14 of the 25 double-sided track tiles are used to create a racetrack. Some of the tiles have various hazards to contend with:
Lion: ostriches cannot enter or pass through a space that contains a lion.
Cheetah: An ostrich that passes through a space with a cheetah permanently discards one bonus card.
Porcupine: The ostrich stops moving immediately and spends the rest of the turn removing spines from its feet.
Ostriches do not play ‘this little piggy’, since they only two toes on each foot.
Crocodile: Never smile at a crocodile just run along its back. Ostriches cannot end their turn on a croc space.
Warthog: apparently warthogs cause chaos; I was unaware of this fact until reading the rue book. If you enter a warthog space then the ostrich discards all of its movement cards and redraws.
Quicksand= slow ostrich, doubles movement cost
Dune: Dunes have arrows, illustrating if they are going uphill or downhill. If an ostrich ends a turn on a dune then they slide an extra space in the direction of the arrow
However, do not let this multitude of hazards cause you to bury your head in the sand because to balance things out ostriches also have bonuses.
Ostriches do not actually bury their heads in the sand, it is just a wicked rumour spread by the warthogs.
Each player has three double-sided bonus cards. Players decide which side of each card will be used for the race; all players will use the same bonuses. Before an ostrich can use a bonus it must be activated by entering a waterhole space.
Boinnnggg: Jump over a hazard or ostrich that is blocking your path
Leapfrog: if you finish your move directly behind an ostrich you can jump over any ostriches immediately in front of you.
Crazy wings: Counts as a movement card of any colour, and has a value of 4.
Bird Brain: increases hand size from 4 to 5 cards
An ostrich eye is about the size of a billiard ball, which is sadly larger than its brain (image by Kurosawa)
Déjà vu: Reuse the top card on your discard pile
Neck Stretch: The ostrich gets to move two extra spaces.
The ostrich can reach speeds of 200mph (when travelling by Japanese Bullet Train) (image by Kurosawa)
The rules are easy to grasp and gameplay is fast, I for one don’t want to play a race game where each player spends five minutes pondering their next move.
The player with the longest neck goes first.
Males have a harem of up to seven females, I'm surprised that they still have enough energy to race (image by Sentieiro)
The track has different coloured lanes that correspond with the movement cards. Each player has a set of 20 of these movement cards, four of which are dealt at the beginning of the game. The movement cards have different values, reflecting how far the ostrich can move. If the ostrich plays a movement card that matches the colour of their lane then they get to move two extra spaces. The ostrich must finish its turn in the lane that matches the colour of the movement card played. If an ostrich changes lanes then it must always move towards the lane that matches the colour of the movement card played.
The rulebook is clear and concise and written in a light-hearted way that reflects the game’s subject matter and target audience, although, it would have been nice if a few extra example tracks had been included. Having said that, designing your own tracks is a fun part of the game and adds plenty of variety whilst only taking a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, the card used for the track tiles is quite flimsy and the grey criss-crossing lines that show progression from one space to the next can be a bit confusing and difficult to make out.
If you are looking for a fun family game, with simple rules and close finishes then I am going to stick my neck out and suggest that you add Savannah Tails to your collection.
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Jeff Binning
United States
Rollinsville
Colorado
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I had to give you a thumb for the great subject line, even before I read your review!
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Samantha RD
South Africa
Harrismith
Free State
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Very entertaining review
Futsie wrote:
..apparently warthogs cause chaos..
Yes, it's a sad fact but very few people know this. I for one watch this drama played out nearly every day, with the poor ostriches being badgered and bullied about their movement choices, until they simply go in a different direction. A lot of people think that the warthogs are trying to protect their territories, but I think they do it just for fun.
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United Kingdom
Halesowen
West Midlands
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Thanks for the insight into warthog psychology.
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