Animal Upon Animal

To set up Animal Upon Animal, place the snowy mountain base piece in the middle of the table. Each participating player takes a matching set of seven different wooden figures, which typically include animals like reindeer, squirrels, penguins, bunnies, and festive objects such as a star, sled, and christmas tree. If playing with fewer than four players, you can optionally distribute the remaining unused pieces among yourselves to make the game last longer.

The main goal of the game is to be the first player to successfully stack and get rid of all the wooden pieces from your personal supply onto the growing animal mountain without knocking anything over.

On your turn, roll the red die and perform the action dictated by the resulting symbol. Rolling a single dot requires you to place one piece onto the mountain using only one hand. Two dots mean you place two pieces sequentially. A hand symbol lets you choose one of your pieces and force an opponent to stack it for you. A question mark lets opponents choose which of your pieces you must stack. Finally, the mountain range symbol allows you to add your piece directly to the base to expand the platform.

The game does not use a complex point-tracking system. Success is measured entirely by how quickly you can empty your personal reserve of wooden pieces onto the central structure.

The game comes to an immediate end as soon as any player successfully places their final piece onto the mountain without causing a collapse. That player is declared the winner.