Haba's "Animal Upon Animal" Stacking Puzzle Game

Parents are increasingly turning to wooden toys since plastic toys often contain pthalates and detectable levels of lead. German toy company, Haba, is known for its high quality wooden toys for children. "Animal Upon Animal" or "Tier Auf Tier" in German, is a stacking puzzle game designed for two to four players, ages 4 to 99 (I'm sorry, centenarians).

The game includes twenty-nine animals and one die. One crocodile, and four each of penguins, monkeys, sheep, snakes, tucans, hedgehogs and collar lizards. It's quite an odd menagerie. The animal pieces are smaller than I had anticipated. They are not dangerously small by any means though, with the exception of the penguins. The penguins are approximately one inch tall so they are a choking hazard. The paint on each piece is brightly colored and durable. The animal shapes are easy for small hands to grasp and the red die is large for easy handling. The edges of the animals have been ever so slightly sanded so as to remove sharp edges. The die has also had its edges and points sanded down for safety.

The goal of the game is to be the first to stack all of your animals on the animal pyramid. Each player takes seven animals, it's up to the player to choose which ones. The crocodile is the bottom piece upon which all the other animals are stacked. Gameplay is simple: roll the die and do what each symbol stands for. If you roll a single dot, you place one of your animals on the pyramid, and two dots means you place two animals on the pyramid. If you roll the crocodile symbol, you place one animal against the nose or the tail of the crocodile, making the base of the pyramid larger. If you roll the crocodile symbol after animals have already been placed against the crocodile's nose and tail, you place your animal against that existing animal. Rolling the hand symbol means that you choose one of your animals to give to another player who then has to stack it on the pyramid. The "?" means that the other players choose which of your animals you have to stack. All animal stacking is done with one hand only. There are several rules regarding a pyramid collapse. If one or two animals fall, the player who tried to stack them must take them into their animal pile. If more than two animals have fallen, the player takes two and places the rest back in the box. If the entire pyramid collapses, the player takes two animals and the rest of the fallen animals go back in the box.

The instruction book is printed in German, English, French, Dutch, Spanish and Italian. I have found that there are some awkward translations from German to English (I can't attest to the translation accuracy in the other languages as I only speak English). The writing is refreshingly playful and charming. The game is described as "a wobbly stacking game for 2 - 4 animal piling players ages 4 - 99." The way to decide who goes first is to see who can stand on one leg like a flamingo longest. And the winner is "elected best animal stacker of the day." To extend the possibilities of game play, there are suggestions for ways to change the game if the players are good stackers. It even states that you can challenge yourself by seeing how many animals you can stack before the pyramid collapses.

Kids can come up with other creative ways to play with the animals. They are not specialized so they could be used elsewhere. While they are stylized, they are easily recognizable animal shapes that kids could use with a farm set or a Noah's Ark set. My daughter enjoys putting them together like jigsaw puzzle pieces. She also enjoys stacking them for the sake of stacking without following any rules.

Gameplay is very flexible and adaptable to the ability levels of the players. Haba's minimum age recommendation is 4, but I've easily adjusted the rules for my 2 year old. We only pay attention to the dots and the crocodile when we play with the die. She understands the symbolism of those simple icons. The hardest part for her to figure out is how to roll a die; the more difficult concepts of game play were easy for her to get.

Probably the best indicator of a good toy or game is how often a child asks to play with it. Going off that rule "Animal Upon Animal" is awesome because my daughter asks to "pay animals" many times a day. We haven't played with the die in a long time--we suspect its been taken hostage by the troll who lives under our couch. But even without the die, a simple game can easily be played by just taking turns stacking.

The game builds critical thinking and problem solving skills. It improves kids' hand-eye coordination, and that is especially true for the youngest players. I could even see the value of this game in the occupational and physical therapy worlds. Because the pieces are so durable, they would last through the heavy wear and tear of being in a daycare, preschool or elementary school setting.

For the high quality of the product and for the highly adaptable and flexible nature of the game, paying around $20 is a steal. I highly recommend this game to parents of preschoolers, just make sure the troll or gnome under your couch doesn't steal pieces.