Food Chain

Despite the Food Chain name, in this game animals don't eat one another, but they do take actions depending on their place in the predator/prey menu chain.

The 36-card deck in Food Chain consists of six animals in six colors with each color having 1-6 animal icons on it. At the start of a round, each player receives a hand of six cards. In the first round, each player simultaneously reveals a card and places it in the center of play. For rounds #2-4, players then do the following: Simultaneously reveal one card from their hand, take turns claiming one card from the center of play in food chain order (tigers, wolves, raccoons, snakes, frogs, butterflies, with more animals of the same type beating fewer), then they all place their cards in the center of the table.

After each has claimed three cards, they use their final two cards in hand to try to make poker combinations using either animal type, number of animals, or card color. Players score 1 point for a single pair up to 15 points for a five-of-a-kind. The best combination earns 3 bonus points, and each butterfly card is worth 1 extra point. If someone has reached fifty points, the game ends and this player wins; otherwise shuffle the deck for a new round.