QUICK, EASY TO FOLLOW
RULEBOOK-STYLE LAYOUT
Game Objective
Each round, match your animal cards (from the white deck) with their matching animal cards (in the black deck) to make them worth POINTS.
Each round, be the first player to have POINTS for all of your cards.
The first player to reach 800 POINTS wins the game!
Players
Best enjoyed with 2–4 players, though more can play if desired.
Setup
Separate the white deck from the black deck and shuffle each thoroughly.
Place the black deck face down in the center of the play area to form the draw pile.
Choose a designated player to be the dealer of the white deck.
Dealing the White Deck
Cards in the white deck are always dealt face up for all players to see.
In the first round, the dealer receives the first card.
In following rounds, the winner of the previous round is dealt the first card. For fun,
let the player give the deck a “lucky cut” before dealing.
Going clockwise, the dealer places one card at a time face up in front of each player until everyone has a straight row of six evenly spaced animal cards.
These six cards are called your STARTING CARDS.
The remaining white deck cards are not used for this round—set them aside, out of play.
Cards in the White Deck (3 Types)
Category Cards
White borders.
Show an animal and its category at the top.
A small number in the upper corner indicates the card’s point value when matched.
Not worth POINTS until matched.
Lower Half Connect Cards
White-to-gray borders.
Show only the lower half of an animal.
Labeled CONNECT at the top.
Worth 80 POINTS when matched (connected) to
the upper half of the same animal.
Minus Cards
Red borders.
Show an animal and are labeled Minus at the top.
Display minus POINTS in the upper right corner.
Are already worth POINTS… minus POINTS (-75, -90 or -100).
Do not need to be matched to win the round.
Any Minus Cards that aren’t matched by the end of the round must be subtracted from your score.
Gameplay
The player dealt the first card begins.
Draw a card from the black deck.
If the animal illustration matches one of your starting cards, you have a MATCH.
Category Card or Minus Card: Place the drawn card completely over the matching starting card, face up.
Lower Half Connect Card: Align the upper half of the animal directly above the lower half to connect them (the image of the entire animal can now be seen).
Each time a starting card is covered or connected, it is now worth POINTS.
If you match a card from the draw pile, your turn continues — draw again.
If you cannot match the card, place it face up next to the draw pile to form the discard pile.
Discard rules:
A discarded card is available to the next player.
If the next player can match it, they must take it, along with any revealed matching cards underneath.
After matching from the discard pile, your turn ends (no additional draw — next player’s turn).
Winning a Round
The first player with all their starting cards worth POINTS wins the round.
POINTS include any positive POINTS, minus POINTS, and 0 POINTS.
Scoring:
Only the winner of the round adds up the total POINTS from all their cards.
All other players score only the POINTS shown on their Minus Cards and Side Bonus Cards (if any).
—CARDS IN THE BLACK DECK—
Upper Half Connect Cards
They complete the animal illustration displayed on Lower Half Connect Cards.
When matched, connect both halves edge-to-edge to form the entire animal.
Connect Cards are worth 80 POINTS when matched.
Draw again after matching an Upper half Connect Card with its Lower Half Connect card.
NOTE: Only Upper Half Connect Cards display an animal category at the top of each card (the Lower Half Connect Cards all say CONNECT at the top of each card)
ANTI-Minus Cards
ANTI-Minus Cards match to your Minus Cards (match the same animal).
When a Minus Card is covered with its matching ANTI-Minus Card, it becomes worth positive POINTS.
Wild Cards
There are 2 kinds of Wild Cards:
Four BEAST cards worth 0 POINTS, and one BEST BEAST card worth 50 POINTS.
When drawn, you must place a WILD card over one of your starting cards.
- Best starting cards to cover:
Cover a Category Card with the lowest indicated point value, or
Cover a Minus Card to avoid getting stuck with minus points at the end of the round.
The covered card is now worth the Wild Card’s points (0 or 50)
Once placed, Wild Cards cannot be removed.
Side Bonus Cards
There are 8 different Side Bonus Cards:
Each card highlights an animal category (e.g., MAMMAL, OCEAN, BIRD, MYTHICAL).
There are 8 different Side Bonus Cards:
When drawn:
If any of your starting cards match that same animal category, take the Side Bonus Card and place it to the side of your starting cards — draw again.
If no match, discard it — next player’s turn.
NOTE: Even if you lose the round, Side Bonus Cards are always guaranteed POINTS!
Dig In Pile Cards (MOLE Cards)
There are six MOLE cards:
Used to “dig” for missed cards buried in the discard pile.
Allow you to pick up the entire discard pile and search for:
Matching animal cards that cover or connect to any of your starting cards.
missed Side Bonus Cards that match to one of your animal categories.
There is no limit to the number of cards you can dig for.
Picked from draw pile:
If you choose to use a MOLE card - If you successfully retrieve at least one card, your turn continues, discard the MOLE card — draw again.
If you choose not to use a MOLE card - discard it — next player’s turn.
On top of the discard pile:
If you choose to use a MOLE card - Your turn ends after digging, whether successful or not, the MOLE card remains on top of the discard pile — the next player may re-use the MOLE card.
If you choose not to use a MOLE card — draw a card.
Specialty Cards
There are three different Specialty Cards, each with a special task:
· HYENA Card: Give one of your cards worth POINTS to another player (if you have POINTS).
· RACCOON Card: Take a card worth POINTS from another player (if they have POINTS).
· EARTHWORM Card: Switch one of your cards worth POINTS cards with another player’s card that is also worth POINTS (if you both have POINTS).
Specialty Card Rules:
You can give, take, or switch any POINTS (This also includes: minus POINTS, 0 POINTS, and Side Bonus POINTS).
If a card is covering or connected to another card, transfer both together — place transferred card(s) in player’s row of starting cards.
Picked from draw pile:
If you can use a Specialty Card, you turn continues after using it, discard it — draw again.
If you can’t use a Specialty Card, discard it — next player’s turn.
On top of the discard pile:
If you can use a Specialty Card, your turn ends automatically after using it. The Specialty Card remains on top of the discard pile — next player’s turn.
If you can’t use a Specialty Card — draw a card.
You MUST use a Specialty Card if you can.
Each Specialty Card can only be used once!
Specialty Cards cannot be dug for.
