The best games set on the continent of Africa 🌍 2025

All the animals are thirsty after an adventurous day in the savanna, so they've all wandered to the watering holes. Each animal wants to drink first, but beware! The elephant frightens the lion, the lion scares the zebra, and the zebra startles the antelope. Anything can happen, as even the antelope can scare the elephant. The player who scares away the most animals wins.

Today, you embark on a long journey through the valley, seeking to uncover the cause of a great drought. Choose carefully whether to be Maïlune, the brave huntress; Issa, the shepherdess; or Sumai, the little hobby collector. This adventure in Ochre Land is part of the "My First Adventure" series, where every choice you make alters your story.

Wildlife Safari, originally introduced as Flinke Pinke and later reissued under various names such as Quandary, Loco!, and Botswana, is a deceptively simple yet strategically rich card game designed by the renowned Reiner Knizia. This game, through its various iterations, has maintained its core gameplay while adopting different themes and presentation styles to appeal to a wide audience.

Players manage their own wildlife parks with the goal of grouping animals by species. Each begins with the same set of 33 unique animal tiles placed randomly in their park, while certain spaces remain unoccupied throughout the game. Players take turns choosing tiles to place in their parks, and the game ends when all tiles are moved, leading to a scoring round based on the size of animal herds and proximity to water holes, with various game modes to enhance replayability.

Players build a large wildlife park without fences or cages. Animals need their natural habitats like grasslands, bushes, rocks, or lakes. Each player starts with an entrance tile and will take turns selecting animal tiles while adding the corresponding landscape to their park. Achieving the landscape needs for various animals becomes increasingly challenging as the game progresses through three seasons, with bonus points awarded for objectives met during each season. The player with the most points at the end wins.

Jambo is a strategic card game that immerses players in the role of traders in Central Africa, competing to become the most successful merchant through savvy buying and selling. Set before colonization, the game captures the essence of traditional trading practices and market competition, with players aiming to earn wealth by dealing in various goods.

You have 10 days in Africa to travel by plane, car, and on foot. Chart your course from start to finish using destination and transport tiles. The first traveler to successfully make all the connections for a ten-day journey wins the game.

Carcassonne: Safari ventures into the wild landscapes of the African savannah, offering a standalone experience within the "Carcassonne Around the World" series. This edition invites players on a safari adventure, where the goal is to spot as many animals as possible. Animals can be found hiding in the bush, roaming the savannah, or gathering near watering holes. The game maintains the essence of Carcassonne's tile-placement and meeple-deployment mechanics, while introducing new elements tailored to the safari theme.

Bumúntú is a lightweight strategy game inspired by the culture and folklore of the Bakongo tribes. Players assume the role of tribal leaders navigating the jungle, seeking the favor of wise animals that teach moral lessons. Each animal on the board has unique movement abilities, allowing players to earn their favor while making strategic decisions as the game progresses and the number of animals dwindles. The player collecting the most favor points wins the game.

Santiago is a strategic board game centered around the cultivation and irrigation of fields. Players engage in auctioning plantation tiles, each representing different types of crops. The game involves careful planning and negotiation, as players vie to effectively water their plantations and maximize their yields.

The Atiwa Mountains in southeastern Ghana are characterized by steep hills and flat peaks, home to a vital evergreen forest reserve. This region faces threats from deforestation, bushmeat hunting, and mining activities. Players will build a community near the mountains, create housing for new families, and balance environmental concerns with resource management, aiming to harmonize the needs of both the community and nature for victory.

"Asante," Swahili for "thank you," reflects the gratitude of an African trader after a successful deal, which players may earn by outmaneuvering their opponents. It is a two-player game set in an African marketplace where players buy and sell furs, silk, jewelry, fruit, tea, and salt to amass wealth. Players encounter individuals with special abilities and can strategically disrupt their opponent's business, while visiting sacred sites grants access to unique actions beyond their standard moves.

Anansi is a trickster known as both a spider and sometimes a human. He aims to collect all the world's stories to become the wisest, but discovers true wisdom comes from sharing them rather than hoarding them. Players must carefully choose which tricks to play, as each trick represents a story, and those not told offer little value. Gaining followers can inspire others and earn favor, while the changing trump suit adds to the challenge of adapting to new situations.

Welcome to a fast-paced game of ostrich racing set in the African savanna. Players can choose to race as one of several characters while navigating the dangers posed by cheetahs, crocodiles, and other wildlife. The game features 25 unique track sections, including special challenges like a rope bridge and quicksand. A limited edition of 1,000 copies will be available for the 2009 Essen release.

Players travel through Africa, participate in expeditions, and strive to reach various destinations first. They can buy adventure cards with the money earned, which bring valuable antiques. The game features a board divided along the equator, with different cities marking purchase locations for adventure cards. Each player has an explorer token and can take one of three actions per turn, including drawing travel cards or purchasing adventure cards. The game ends when all expedition cards are used, and players score points based on completed expeditions, sets of adventure cards, and currency on hand. The player with the most points wins.

Each year, millions of wildebeests, zebras, and antelopes cross the Mara River in Africa, where water signifies life but also danger from lurking crocodiles and lions. Fortunately, Tembo, the elephants, assist the animals in safely reaching the other side. The game is as exciting and magnificent as Africa itself!

Players compete in auctions to acquire African art using the local currency "Hongo." An innovative bidding mechanic prevents players from bidding a number that matches the unit digit of a card they previously won. In the game's Don version, players vie for control over neighborhoods in Chicago with a gangster theme.

Kalah, commonly known as a version of Mancala, is a classic strategy board game, part of a broader family of Mancala games. Invented in 1940 by William Champion Jr., Kalah gained popularity after Champion started selling it in 1944 and later patented its rules in the 1950s.

Players take on the role of Rangers managing a nature reserve. Each round, they must introduce a new animal while considering its specific habitat requirements and needs. The player who best accommodates their animals, maximizing the use of available conditions, will score the most points and win the game. Each card represents an animal belonging to a specific habitat, and players must ensure coexistence with existing animals to avoid losing points.

Mombasa is a deep and strategic Euro-style board game set in 18th century Africa, revolving around economic expansion and investment in trading companies. Players work to spread their influence across the continent by investing in companies based in key African cities and engaging in various trade activities.

In 1855, players explore the African landscapes alongside the Scottish missionary Dr. Livingstone, strategically setting up tents and collecting gems along the Zambezi River. Players roll dice to determine their actions, such as taking special cards or diamonds, exploring, and positioning tents to gain victory points. The game concludes when players can no longer advance down the river, and the one with the most points, while also having gained the favor of Queen Victoria, emerges as the winner.

Players aim to build a railway line from Cape Town to Cairo across various terrains in Africa. Each player starts with 100 pounds to bid on terrain cards and purchase necessary tracks. The game continues with a bidding phase for terrain cards, followed by turns where players decide whether to build or pass, until one player crosses over eight terrain segments to win.

Restore the glory of the Kitara Empire and expand your territories through savannas and ancient ruins. This strategy game blends conquest, movement, and combat. Manage your cards to plan your actions, as controlling more territories grants you greater options. Strengthen your army with hunters, cheetah centaurs, and heroes while protecting livestock and crops, moving troops, and waging war.

The Okavango River is nearly dry, leaving animals in the African savanna on the brink of thirst. As a ranger in a nearby wildlife reserve, your task is to form strong herds and lead them to the fertile river delta or one of the scarce waterholes.

Players are inspired by the endless plains of the Serengeti in this board game. It combines puzzle-solving with set collection and engine building to create a unique strategic experience. To earn victory points, players complete scene cards by placing animals on the main board in specified patterns, gaining rewards and symbols that provide ongoing advantages throughout the game.

Angola provides a glimpse into the violent decades of the Angolan Civil War, beginning in the 1970s with the overthrow of colonial power and influenced by Cold War politics. Players control different factions supported by the Soviets and the USA, competing for control from 1975 to 1976. The game features a unique command and activation system, allowing players to secretly order their limited units, creating a tense atmosphere similar to a poker game. With a well-balanced victory point system, players often find themselves on the brink of victory or defeat, encouraging strategic play.

Oware is one of the most played games in the Kalah family of pit and pebble games. Known as Ghana's national game, its name signifies a marriage and symbolizes a union represented by fields and seeds. Players aim to capture more seeds than their opponent by landing the last seed they "plant" in a pit on the opponent's side that contains one or two seeds.

Players take on the role of explorers in uncharted Africa. They place circular tokens upside down at random locations on various circles of the board. On their turn, players can either move their explorer to an uncovered location or move twice, shifting one or two neighboring revealed spaces. The explorer can then perform actions like revealing a hidden space or swapping uncovered tokens. The game ends when the eleventh monument is revealed, and players tally their points to determine the winner. Different methods are available for scoring revealed tokens, including immediate, delayed, opportunity, and endgame points.

"Waka Waka" means "to do" in Swahili, and players act as African traders buying goods like hides, salt, tea, textiles, jewelry, and fruits at the lowest prices possible. However, most goods are hidden, so players can send their monkey to inspect before spending money. Players must keep the village shaman satisfied, as he will aid in their trading efforts while also utilizing the special abilities of other villagers for support.

In the African wilderness, a pride of lions rules over the animals, but only one pride can dominate all lions. Three to six players compete for supremacy over the lion prides of Africa. Strategic planning is essential for managing food supply, expanding territory, and growing the pride with cubs, but plans can be disrupted by the secret goals of rival prides or a new, deadly threat.