Be on the prowl in Ecosystem: Savanna, a Serengeti-inspired card-drafting game. Players choose, pass, and arrange cards representing a diversity of organisms found in an African grassland, including zebras, elephants, cheetahs, and lions. Earn points by aligning herbivores with habitable landforms like watering holes or placing carnivores to devour nearby prey. Diversify your food web to maximize your bonuses. Each time you play, you build a one-of-a-kind ecosystem as you strive to balance the delicate connections between all living things.
Ecosystem: Savanna is the third standalone game in the Ecosystem series, featuring a new lineup of organisms, including powerful scavengers.
Players take turns drafting organism cards and arranging them into a 4x5 "ecosystem" in front of them. Once all players have completed their personal grid of 20 cards, players score their ecosystems using the rules for each card type. Scoring rewards players for building cohesive food webs and exploring the diversity of the Savanna ecosystem. The player with the most points wins!
Includes rules for solo play.
—description from the publisher
Images
- Strong ecosystem theme
- Visible cause-and-effect in scoring
- Compact footprint with good replayability
- Some players may prefer a more explicit chain reaction
- predator-prey dynamics and species relationships
- savannah ecosystem
- Ecosystem
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Drafting — play cards to activate animals and predator interactions.
- flip-and-score — certain cards flip when events happen, influencing scoring
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's not tranquil I'd say six by six grid
- it's a really satisfying little puzzle
- the ecosystem theme comes across best in this version
References (from this video)
- Accessible teach and quick instruction
- Strong group and club suitability
- Clear how decisions shape outcomes
- Ecosystem dynamics and animal roles shaping scoring
- Savannah ecosystem with regional animal species and interactions
- Integrated theme guiding actions and understanding of scoring
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Drafting — Players draft animal cards to build their ecosystem, with each card contributing to scoring in interconnected ways.
- Scoring via aid and card interactions — A player aid card helps players see scoring connections and how their choices add up.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the teach is quick and intuitive, even with my students
- Based on this experience alone, Ecosystem Savannah came across as a strong, accessible drafting game
- Theme is the first filter for consideration
- Theme helps lighter games feel engaging instead of repetitive
- The theme can explain why rules exist in a game instead of just saying what they're going to
- A bad insert doesn't just not help. It actively makes the game worse to own
- keep your tables full, your rules clear, and your inserts optional