Menagerie highlights the diverse range of New Zealand's wildlife and some of the threats to the survival of these animals. You are in control of a nature reserve, with three habitat types (High Country, Forest and Coastal) which will be filled with breeding populations of suitable animals. Each turn a player draws a card and must either play animals into their habitats or discard a card. The game ends once a player has been able to play all the cards from their hands.
With the introduction of Threat cards the games difficulty can be scaled for the level of the players (young or adult). Players are able to cast threats (e.g. fire, pollution, feral animals) that will knock out susceptible animals in play from the game. Players also have the ability to purchase protections from these threats before they come out.