Friday, October 01, 2010

Breaking News From Haba HQ

The juggernaut that is Tier auf Tier continues to grow... now, you Americans may well know this game as Animal Upon Animal, but regardless of the name, it's slowly becoming a dynasty.
  • First, in 2005, there was Animal Upon Animal, a delightful dexterity for kids as young as 4, complete with chunky wooden animals.
  • Then, based on that success, Haba released Animal upon Animal - The Duel in 2008, a two-player version of the game that involved a little more dexterity skills coupled with real-time competition and was more appropriate for ages 6+. (It's also known in the gaming community as "the expansion pack for Animal Upon Animal" - two copies of this give you enough new animals to make for longer, trickier versions of the original game.)
  • That was followed (also in 2008) by Animal Upon Animal: The Card Game... a nice portable dexterity game but probably the least successful of the series.

But wait! They're not finished... it's time for a big yellow box game in the series, entitled Animal Upon Animal: Balancing Bridge. Here's the description from their website:

Flamingo, giraffe, panther, bat and iguana start the adventure of their life and together set off on a big journey. But there is only a wobbly hanging bridge leading over the four valleys. Fortunately the strong crocodile helps. Each player gets three secret piling assignments. Your task is to pile the animals shown on your assignment cards on the hanging bridge. Whoever proves to be the most skillful will accomplish the assignments first and win the game. A stacking game with animals for 2-4 players ages 5-99.

As far as I can tell, it's going to be released at Essen in late October. As soon as I can, I'll try to scarf up a copy & give my loyal readers a review! (If you'd like to read my review of Animal Upon Animal: The Duel - which includes my "explanation" why the original game JUST missed the Kid Games 100 - you can do so right here.)

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