Game: Zoff in Buffalo

Thread: Simple mechanics but plenty of tension and a fun theme

sbarrera — 2008-08-12T20:31:59+00:00

Review after one play.

Zoff in Buffalo is a clever game with bluffing and timing elements.

From 2-5 can play. Each player gets a bunch of cows and two sets of cards. One set of cards has numbers, each such card being used only once in the game. The other set has the names of different pastures on them; these cards are reusable. Players will be placing a pasture card and a number card face down together, indicating that they want to put that many cows on that particular pasture.

Now, everyone's set of numbered cards is identical. So, over the course of the game, everyone will be trying to bring out the exact same number of cows, though they get to decide how many into each pasture on each round. The winner is the one who brings out the most cows.

So, wait, doesn't that mean every game is a tie? Not at all, because of a couple of little twists. For one, there is a rule that no two players can have the exact same number of cows in a pasture. If a player's placement would tie another player in number of cows, that player must place one fewer cow! If bringing out one fewer cow would tie a different player, it's two fewer, and so on. They might not even get to bring out any cows at all, thus wasting a card!

The other twist is that, when a placement fills up a pasture, that triggers bonus placements for the players with the most cows in the pasture. These happen immediately, subject to the restriction on tieing numbers of cows, but are a way to bring out more cows than the total of the numbers on the cards. You pretty much have to get in on this action to have a chance to win.

The pastures come in different sizes, from very small to very large. So some are trickier to place into, since they fill up fast. Others are larger and safer, but you won't be triggering those bonus placements in them until the very end.

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A shot of some of the components

There are some details I skipped over, but this pretty much sums it up. It's a game of calculating odds and trying to second-guess other players' card choices, so you get the most bonus placements and the least times where you get screwed by the "no ties" rule. A little bit random, but lots of fun!

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olavf — 2008-03-26T13:53:20+00:00

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olavf — 2008-03-26T13:52:37+00:00

Open box

Thread: Where can I get this game?

benwang — 2007-12-30T23:59:46+00:00

I've heard this is a short version of Vino. However, where can I get this game?

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Toynan — 2007-03-31T13:55:25+00:00

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Toynan — 2007-03-31T13:54:24+00:00

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hinj — 2003-04-23T13:22:14+00:00

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hinj — 2003-04-23T13:22:12+00:00

Thread: Session Report

PBrennan — 2002-05-27T10:32:30+00:00

A quirky majorities game from Conrad (Medieval Merchant) from 1998 where we’re competing to place cows in pastures before they fill up. The pastures range in size from 6 cows to about 28 cows. They all have fun wild-west names, and each player has one pasture card for each. You also have 10 cow cards that allow you to place 2, 3, 4 or 5 cows and these are one-use only.

On a turn, you secretly choose 2 pastures and allocate a cow card to each (ie you’re nominating how many cows you want to place in each pasture). Simultaneously reveal. Now the (good) pain starts. Going from smallest to biggest pasture, each player places their cows. However if more than one player has nominated the same pasture, whoever’s already got the most cows there goes first. Then whoever’s got second most cows and so on. If they don’t have any, then whoever wants to place the least cows goes first.

The winner is the person who places the most cows out to pasture. Given you all start with the ability to place the same number of cows, the game devolves to:
- there can never be a tie, because you’re NEVER allowed to end up with the same cows as someone else in a pasture, so try and pick a number that avoids you ending in a tie with someone else, otherwise you don’t get to place all your cows!
- when each pasture fills, bonus cows are awarded to first, second and generally third. 1 bonus cow to first, and generally more bonus cows to second and third. The fight to be second therefore is the key. You must get more bonuses than the other players to win.

What results is a fun game with lots of changes of decisions, cards going up and down before the final revelation, trying to outguess who is going to go where based on their position in the pastures.

In our game, I was pus’d from the start making bad decisions going into two small pastures that others got into before me. Warwick seemed to earn the most bonuses along the way, and that’s the way it turned out.

Scores: Warwick 43, Rob 42, Craig 38, Pat 34

A rating of 7 after 2 games; good game, usually happy to play. It’s light and fluffy due to the simultaneous play and 30 minute timeframe, but it has good decisions to make each and every round. With good artwork and sturdy components, it’ll come out every now and then for a change of pace. Mooooo.

Thread: Session Report

ssmooth — 2002-05-11T14:44:46+00:00

After that Ward and I tried the two-player rules for Zoff in Buffalo. Now, having played this with three, four, and five, we have already observed that it seems to be more fun with more players. But we like the game so much that we wanted to see it in action for two.

Zoff is an interesting twist on the majorities-in-areas games in that you don't actually score for being first or second in an area; what you score for is your total number of cows on the board. Yes, we may as well get that point clear right now: the pieces you play are little cows, and the areas you place them in are little cow pastures, each of which holds a different number of cows. One important constraint on placement is that there can never be exactly the same number of two different colors of cows in the same pasture.

In the two-player version, each player plays two colors of cows and must play two cards, one for each color, on each turn, declaring them for different pastures. This declaration, as in the game for more players, is simultaneous. You have a hand of 12 cards, played out two cards per round, so just six rounds to get you to the end of the game.

When a pasture fills up, it pays bonuses. With the smallest pasture, only first and second place will get a bonus (one cow each, played anywhere, but remembering the constraint against having the same number of two different colors in a single pasture). As the pastures get larger, there can be bonuses for first, second, third, and even fourth, but instead of the bonus for first being biggest, as you might logically think, it is usually 1 while second may pay 2 and third may pay 3. (Each pasture is a different size and has a different bonus scheme.)

Anway, it's a very cool little game, offering roughly the same amount of challenge and reward as Kardinal & Konig, and as we learned, it is in fact playable by two players! Having two herds each put enough complication into the thing that it wasn't just straightforward and no strategy. I even have an idea or two about a different tack to take if I try it again. But... I still like it better with more players.

Ward beat me soundly in tonight's battle of the pastures, edging me out in a couple of places (for example, placing his sixth cow in a pasture where I'd been hoping to place my sixth, forcing me to use my proffered card for one fewer than the number printed on it) and getting the best of the bonuses in the big pasture at the end.

Thread: Session Report

ssmooth — 2002-04-19T13:46:44+00:00

Next out was Christwart Conrad's Zoff in Buffalo, a game which has many similarities to Vino but does not have Vino's dense economic system. This was my first time to play with five players, and it had a bit different spin from the four-player version. I'm really impressed with this game, which I find roughly the same weight and complexity as Kardinal & Konig. Except no kings or cardinals -- just cattle. Get as many of your cattle into the different fields as you can, picking only two fields to play in on each turn, simultaneously declared. Ward won, delivering the cow de grace in the 8-field (where the rest of us found the lighting a bit tricky).

Thread: Session Report

dougadamsau — 2001-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

Dey Alexander writes:

Players: Moray, Liz, Roger, Doug, Dey (Doug had played one two-player version of the game; the rest of us were newbies).

Despite having two cattle farmers in our midst (Moray and Liz), poor Doug whose voice was rapidly deteriorating (suffering after-effects of Die Macher Day?) had to explain the rules for moving cows into the various pastures that comprise the game.

The game consists of five rounds where each player (erm, farmer) is required to move cattle from his or her holdings into a particular paddock area, using sets of cattle cards (numbered 2 to 5) and pasture cards (one for each area). The winner is the farmer who puts most of his/her cattle out to graze.

The game seemed simple enough.

Each turn, a player selected a cattle card (showing how many cows were to be moved) paired with a pasture card (showing which paddock the cows were to be placed in). All farmers played their cards simultaneously and movement of cows began from the smallest paddock moving on through to the largest. Placement within a paddock was done in order of stock holdings: majority stock holder placed first, second-largest stock holder next, and so on. If a paddock was empty, or where placements were to be made by farmers holding no stock in that paddock, the farmer moving the smallest amount of stock placed first (with ties being broken by the cattle card with the lowest letter).

Bonus placements were awarded once a paddock was filled with stock. Majority stock holders might be awarded 1 bonus placement (though in larger paddocks there was no bonus); second-largest stock holders got a bonus of 1 to 2 (depending on the paddock); third-largest bonus was from 0-3, and I think some of the larger paddocks had a bonus for the fourth-largest herd too.

One important rule was that no two herds within the one paddock could be of an even number. So if you played a 5-cow card to enable you to place 5 cows into a paddock where another player already had a herd of 5, you would be restricted to placing 4 cows, thus wasting your 5-cow card.

The strategy seemed simple enough too.

I played my biggest cattle cards early in the game into paddocks where I was pretty sure I'd get full placement. From about turn three, I started to think about playing into paddocks where I could maximise my bonus cow placements. Some, I'm pretty sure Doug was one, got caught out playing 4- or 5-cow cards late in the piece and weren't able to place all the cows. And Liz seemed totally distracted by her discovery that the cow chits were actually arial views--a unique vantage point for an ex cattle farmer, she assured us.

Results:

Dey - 7
Moray - 8
Liz - 10
Roger - 11
Doug - 14

Dey's rating: 6 (5 points for the cute cows)

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2000-09-21T05:10:26+00:00

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2000-09-21T05:10:16+00:00