Animal Upon Animal is a dexterity stacking game in which players take turns placing wooden animals onto a growing pyramid. The base of the pyramid is a crocodile, and players must carefully balance their animals on top. The first player to place all of their animals wins.
Components
29 wooden animals (including 1 crocodile, and 7 unique animals per player for up to 4 players)
1 die with symbols (1 dot, 2 dots, crocodile, hand, question mark, and one additional face)
Set of game instructions
Setup
Play on an even, flat surface.
Place the crocodile in the center of the table as the base of the pyramid.
Each player selects 7 different animals and places them in front of themselves as their supply.
If there are 2 or 3 players, the remaining animals are kept in the box.
Turn Structure
Play proceeds clockwise. The starting player is whoever can balance on one foot like a flamingo for the longest time; if players cannot agree, the youngest player rolls the die first.
On each turn, a player rolls the die and performs the action shown.
Actions
Die Face
Action
1 dot
Take 1 animal from your supply and carefully place it (with one hand) anywhere on the pyramid.
2 dots
Take 2 animals from your supply and place them one after the other (with one hand) onto the pyramid.
Crocodile
Take 1 animal from your supply and place it next to the mouth or tail of the crocodile (touching it), thereby expanding the base. On future crocodile rolls, you may place an animal adjacent to any base-level animal.
Hand
Choose any animal from your supply and give it to another player, who must then carefully place it on the pyramid.
Question mark
The other players choose which of your animals you must place on the pyramid.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
The game ends as soon as a player has placed all of their animals (their supply is empty). That player wins and is the “best animal stacker of the day.”
Special Rules & Edge Cases
Collapse Rules:
If 1 or 2 animals fall off the pyramid, the player who caused the collapse must take those animals into their supply.
If more than 2 animals fall off, the player takes exactly 2 of them into their supply; the rest are returned to the game box.
If the entire pyramid collapses, the player takes 2 animals. The crocodile is placed back in the center, and all remaining fallen animals go back in the box.
If animals fall off without anyone touching the pyramid (e.g., they slide off on their own), all fallen animals are placed back in the box.
Stacking ends immediately when animals tumble down.
Expert Variation:
With fewer than 4 players, distribute the remaining animals randomly among the players (instead of boxing them).
If animals fall off, the stacking player must take up to 5 animals (instead of 2).
If a player is down to their last 1 animal, they skip rolling the die and must immediately attempt to stack it on the pyramid.
Solo Mode:
Try to stack as many animals as possible on the crocodile without the pyramid collapsing.