Moa

About this board game

Moa is a strategy game for 2–5 players, playable in about 60 minutes, inspired by the settlement of New Zealand and its remarkable native wildlife.

In this imaginative setting, the island’s inhabitants are represented by giant birds, including the moa and kakapo. Settlers from the west appear as anthropomorphized mammals such as dogs, rats, possums, and weasels.

Players take the roles of defenders of the land, competing with one another for control of the island’s regions while attempting to stave off the mammals’ advances. Victory is not simply a matter of standing together, however. A cunning bird may decide that selling land to the mammals is more appealing than fighting to defend it.

• Compete with fellow players for control of regions.
• Resist the advances of the invading mammals.
• Choose whether to defend the land or sell it to the mammals.
• Play with 2–5 players, including a dedicated 2-player variant in the rule book.

This combination of shared danger and individual competition gives Moa a distinctive strategic identity. The mammals threaten the defenders collectively, while each player must also consider how their fellow birds are contesting control of the land.

Designed by Martin Wallace and inspired by his stay in the Land of the Long White Cloud, Moa recasts historical events through a playful world of birds and mammals. Released in 2018, it offers a thematic contest where defending the island is only one possible path.