Botswana

About this board game

Botswana is a 30-minute game of placement and colored shares for 2–5 players, originally published as Flinke Pinke.

The game uses five colors, with six cards numbered zero through five in each color. After the cards are dealt, players take turns playing a card and taking any available chip, steadily building their collection while influencing the eventual value of every color.

The round ends as soon as all six cards of one color have been played. Players then use the last card played in each color to value their chips. The number of chips a player holds in a color is multiplied by that color’s final card value, and the player with the highest total wins.

• Simple rules: play one card, then take one available colored chip.
• Changing values: the final card in each color determines what its chips are worth.
• Meaningful choices: every play can affect both your shares and the value of a color.

Several editions present the same core game in different ways. Quandary uses heavy numbered tiles on tracks, while Loco! adds a rule requiring players to say “Loco!” when playing a zero or lose the chance to select a colored chip.

The 2010 edition introduced the safari theme, replacing chips with plastic animal figures and giving the cards matching animal fur patterns. In 2014, the same edition and artwork were released as Wildlife Safari. Botswana remains a compact contest of timing, placement, shares, and nerve.