Zoo Vadis FAQ
57 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Voting and Advancing
- How many votes does an animal need to leave an exhibit, and do my own animals count?
- Can a lone animal leave a five-space exhibit?
- Does the animal being advanced have to vote for itself?
- If I can't gather enough votes to advance one animal, can I move a different animal or take another action?
- If my animal is alone in an exhibit without enough votes, is it stuck there?
- Do I have to say where my animal is going before I ask for votes?
- How do tunnels work, and can I ignore them if no Armadillo is in play?
Making Deals
- Can players who are not taking the turn make deals with each other?
- Are deals that can be carried out this turn binding?
- Are deals or promises about a later turn binding?
- Can players pay each other to take or not take a specific action, such as moving the Zoo Keeper?
- Is there a rule against giving away my laurels to block a rival from winning?
- Can I threaten to donate laurels to a rival if the move fills the last Star Exhibit space?
Laurels and the Supply
- Can I break a laurel token into smaller ones or make change from the bank?
- What happens when a path needs a laurel token but the bag is empty?
- Is a laurel token replaced after a player collects it?
- Do other players' extra votes earn laurels when the advancing animal already has enough votes?
- When more votes than needed come in, who gets paid, and are conditional votes locked in?
Peacocks
- With six players, do peacocks start on the spaces labelled 6/7?
- Can a peacock move backwards, out of the Star Exhibit or down the hierarchy?
- Can I save the bonus from a special peacock token for a later turn?
- If no peacock can move, can I still take a special peacock token that also gives 2 points?
- Can I bribe a peacock to block another player's move on their turn?
- Can one coin bribe several peacocks at once?
Zoo Keeper
Animal Abilities
- When can I use an animal ability tile?
- Can my ability tile be used on my own animal?
- Can an animal ability be used on a peacock?
- Can I use my own ability tile on my own turn, even to help another player?
- Can I refuse when another player asks to use my ability tile on their turn?
- Can I give or sell my animal ability tile to another player?
- Can an ability tile move another player's animal?
- Can the Crocodile let my own animal advance again after it enters a one-space exhibit?
- If a same-turn deal uses another player's Crocodile ability on a different animal, can I back out?
- Can I use other animal abilities when advancing a peacock from the special peacock token?
Ending and Winning the Game
Animal Ability Clarifications
- Can a Rhino bring a peacock along as the first animal moved?
- Does advancing through a tunnel with an Armadillo ability use my main action?
- Can the Ibis ability be used to place an animal into a starting exhibit?
- Can the Rhino ability bring a second animal into the zoo when an animal enters?
- Can the Ibis ability alone put an extra animal into the Star Exhibit?
- Can Marmoset be used when an animal advances over the Zoo Keeper?
- Can Marmoset let me collect the laurel hidden under the Zoo Keeper?
- Which laurel does the White Tiger collect when an animal passes the Zoo Keeper?
- Can the Crocodile let the same animal advance twice in one turn?
- When Crocodile, Rhino and Ibis are combined in one move, does each use its own tile, and does a Rhino or Ibis effect last the whole turn?
- Can the White Tiger let a peacock collect the laurel under the Zoo Keeper?
- Can Marmoset be used when a peacock advance pays from the bank, or when the mover collects no laurel from the board?
- Can the Hyena owner offer both uses of their ability on the same turn?
- Must I announce an Ibis move before gathering votes, and is the Ibis tile lost if the votes fail?
- Does an animal placed by Ibis change the votes needed to leave an exhibit?
- When the Rhino takes a second animal along, must it come from the same exhibit, need a free space, and can it take a different path?
- Does the Rhino give the moving animal votes, and does the Rhino owner earn laurels for helping?
- Can the owner of the second animal refuse to let the Rhino take it along?