Animal Upon Animal

Plays: 4Px1.

The Game

This is a dexterity game. Everyone starts the game with the same set of animals. To win the game you need to get rid of all your animals. On your turn, you roll a die and then try to add one or two of your animals to the stack of animals at the centre of the table (which starts with a crocodile). If you cause the stack to topple, you pick two of the fallen animals to add to your pool, setting you back. The die roll determines how the animal is added, whether to add one or two, whether somebody else picks the animal for you, whether you get to force another player to add the animal for you (if the stack crashes he gets penalised), etc.

The Play

Aaron, Chee Wee, Chong Sean and I played. This is yet another quick game that we pulled off the shelf at Carcasean, Kota Kinabalu. We had few crashes. Once a crash happened, especially a big one, the tension was suddenly diffused, because it became much easier to add pieces to the stack, now that the stack was smaller. So it became easier for the leading player to cruise to a win. I think the main tension is in the first build-up towards the first crash.

Everyone played the sheep first, the biggest piece.

Other animals.

One of the die roll results allow you to place an animal on the table next to the crocodile, as opposed to being stacked upwards. See those two small penguins.

The Thoughts

I wouldn't call this a children's game, because Jenga is not considered a children's game. It's a very simple game, not something hardcore gamers can play repeatedly, but it is something non-gamers (and children) can easily pick up. I guess there can be some strategy in how you place your animal, so that the next player will have fewer options. Overall it's a light game.