Gamebox author Ralf Togler writes:

To say it right at the beginning. The game has nothing to do with the theme Yellowstone Park - with the exception of the design. On the cards you can find different kinds of animals which are beautifully illustrated, and the gameboard represents the Yellowstone Park. But that are the only connections with the real park and neither the types of animals nor the landscape on the board has any real influence on the game play.

What are really important are the colour and the number on each card. The board is divided in a 7x7 grid. The number on the card dictates the row in which the player has to put the card and once a card is set in a column, only cards with the same colour may be played in this column. During their turn the players have to play at least one card and may play another card. These should be part of a 3x3 grid, because otherwise the player has to take all cards on the board, which are outside of this grid. So it may be possible that the player has to place a card, which is completely outside of the existing 3x3 grid. Then he has to collect all cards on the board and there is a new 3x3 grid developing.

The cards, that a player has to take are put aside and are minus-points (one card equals one minus point). However there is one chance to improve this score. Whenever the player has 0 cards at the end of his turn, he may draw 6 from his cards if this is possible, otherwise he has to draw 6 new cards. Besides, he may fill his cards up to 6 if he has played two cards during his turn.

The game ends if a player reaches 35 minus-points after an evaluation (whenever there is no more new card to draw). If no player reaches the minus 35 all these cards are mixed and are the new card pile for the next round of play.

Yellowstone Park is a nice little game if you do not except too much strategic and tactical elements in a game. Once one has understood the game mechanism the decisions are more or less limited on playing one or two cards and the game is mainly won by luck. But for families with children it could be a nice occupation on a rainy afternoon, especially because of the really funny drawings of the animals.