Kavango Lodges Expansion Board Game Review

Kavango Lodges

WBG Score: 9/10

Player Count: 1-5

You’ll like this if you like: Card games with interesting layers and scoring.

Published by: Mazaza Games

Designed by: Matt Brown, Zara Reid

This is a free review copy of the pre-production version. The box art will change, and some art and components may change a little. See our review policy here.

Kavango is a beautifully made game that encourages players to think about the environment whilst they play, but not in a preachy or guilt-trip way. No, this game shows you the complex majesty the wildlife of Africa can bring, and delicately points you in the direction of wanting to preserve that. The game is a little light, but offers a wonderful card drafting game mechanic along with a satisfying engine-building experience that has kept me coming back to the table game after game. I did feel it could do with a slightly more complex angle though, and a reason for placing cards in certain places. That was the only major criticism of the base game. Here is what I said about this is my main review:

The lack of relevance to where you place the cards is disappointing. I would like for additional scoring to be made available based on specific groupings or placements on the board. But you can place cards anywhere on your board and this does not affect anything.

You can read my full review here for the rules on how to play and my other thoughts. Which are all a lot more positive! I mention the above, because...

The new upcoming expansion, Lodges, fixes this problem in a beautiful way. It also brings in some other wonderful new elements. So, let's get it to the table and see how it plays.

How To Set Up Kavango Lodges

When each player takes all their game components, also collect the Community Protection markers and Lodge pieces in their chosen colour as well. Place the Community Protection markers onto the final two rows on each column, with an extra three on the top and bottom rows on the fourth, fifth, and sixth card post as well. This should leave you with five on the top and bottom row, and two on the middle. Then, separate the Lodge cards into their three separate decks. Shuffle each one and deal three cards from each deck to each player, so that each player has nine Lodge cards in total. Place all remaining cards into the small card tray. Each player then chooses two cards from each level, placing the unchosen card from each level back into the box. Each player should now be left with six cards each. Along with the usual set-up, you are now ready to play.

How To Play Kavango Lodges

The game is played as usual but with these two main changes.

1. When you want to place an Animal card down on the play mat where a Community Protection marker is present, you must first spend money equal to what is shown on the marker to remove it. The marker is moved into your possession, and the space becomes free to use. You can invest as much as you like each turn to remove as many markers as you desire. The markers that have been removed can then be used to gain you extra income. This is done by placing them onto other spaces with markers already present. That space is then locked for the whole game, but money equal to the total value of markers on that space is gained.

2. When placing Animal cards onto the player boards, players will now want to try and complete the requirements as shown on the six Lodge cards kept during setup. These cards will show four symbols that represent certain types of animals that need to be placed next to each other on your player mat in a two-by-two grid. You can do this in any way possible, and if you have two Lodge cards with matching symbols, you can use an Animal card more than once to fulfil more than one Lodge card. For example, if you had a bird requirement on two Lodge cards, and you placed a card with a bird symbol on the top right of a two-by-two grid, you could then use that same Animal card again for the second Lodge card now in the bottom left with three other cards building from that.

   

When you complete a Lodge card, you will place one of your Lodge tokens on the four cards you used for this to show it is done, and move that Lodge card to the side. You will immediately gain money equal to the lodge's level, either one, two, or three million. At the end of the game, you will score an additional eight points for each completed Lodge card.

Is It Fun? Kavango Lodges Expansion Board Game Review

Kavango was already a brilliant game that I very much enjoy. This expansion does exactly what I want it to do. It adds no more complication or game length. It doesn't slow down turns or make it harder to teach new players. It simply means that where you place your animals now matters. This, in turn, creates more money in the game, as you gain extra cash from completing the lodge requirements, as well as the cash on hand from placing previously removed Community Protection tokens down. But you need a bit of extra cash to remove the tokens in the first place, and also develop your habits faster, so you can place the exact animals down to meet the Lodge requirements. So it all flows together perfectly.

The focus that comes from placing your animals down in a specific order and group really does add the cherry on top of this very gorgeous and enriching cake. It is exactly what I wanted from an expansion and fixes the only flaw I saw in the game before. The placement of animal cards before just felt futile. If you were simply collecting cards in a pile, then fine. But as they were placed in an eight by three array, it felt that the order or precise location of each card should mean something. The fact that it didn't just confused me. It wasn't like it made it a bad game, or worse for the lack of meaning in card placement; it was more that it just felt off.

Now, though, we have a reason for getting certain cards as well as a reason for placing certain cards. It boosts your income as you go, which in turn accelerates your engine and ability to get better cards and achieve more Lodge requirements in later turns. It all works so well and addresses this specific concern.

The Lodge tokens themselves are beautifully chunky and work sat up or placed face down. The colours are vibrant and match the existing players' colours, and it all fits nicely in the box with no worries. The tokens for the Community Protection could be nicer, though. They feel rather mechanical in comparison to the highly thematic and well-produced Lodge tokens. Although that said, this is a prototype and everything is subject to change. Hopefully, there could be a stretch goal or some kind of upgrade options to make these Community Protection tokens a little more interesting. I know there are plans to make them double-sided with solar panels on one side, to represent their permanent placement when you make that choice. I just hope the overall tokens get a little zhuzh.

But that is being very picky. This overall is a must-buy expansion for me. If you have the base game, get this. If you didn't like the base game as the card placement felt irrelevant, try this; it fixes that issue for me! It's a wonderful production, from a wonderful team, who are doing wonderful things. And the game is great fun too. Easy to teach, great fun to play, and stands up to multiple games as two years of gaming has proven for me. My first game of this was September 2023, and I still love it now. Just that little bit more now I have this expansion! If you want to follow the Gamefound for this crowd funded expansion check here.