How to play
Stacky Zoo
Welcome to the wild. Learn it in five minutes, master the betrayal over a lifetime.
The goal
Build the most valuable Zoo at the table. Your Zoo is the row of cards you stack face-up in front of you, that pile is yours alone, and its total value is your final score. Stack animal cards, double down, and sabotage everyone else, the highest total when the game ends wins.
Set up
- 1Shuffle the entire Stacky Zoo deck.
- 2Deal 5 cards to each player as their starting hand.
- 3Place the rest face down in the center as the Draw Pile, with room beside it for the Discard Pile.
- 4Choose who goes first. Play moves clockwise.
Your turn: Pick. Stack. Attack.
Every turn you do two things, in order: first Pick, then Play one card, either a Stack or an Attack.
Draw one card from the Draw Pile into your hand. This is always your first move.
Play a Animal Card (+1, +2, +3) face-up in front of you to grow your Zoo.
Or play an Action Card to sabotage, defend or boost. You play exactly one card per turn.
Building your Zoo
This is how you build your Zoo. Each Animal Card is worth +1, +2 or +3. On your turn you play one face-up on the table in front of you, and it joins your Zoo, growing your own personal pile (there is no shared board). Keep stacking them up: the higher the total value of the cards in front of you, the bigger your score at the end, and the bigger the target on your back.
Action cards
One card per turn can flip the whole table. Here is every action card and exactly what it does.
Mega Exhibit
- Play it face-up into your own zoo.
- Your entire zoo's total value is instantly doubled.
- It stays doubled as you gain or lose animals, even a Sick Animal.
- Only one Mega Exhibit can be active in your zoo.
Cage Break
- Play it into the Discard Pile on your turn.
- Choose any 1 animal from another player's zoo.
- That animal is removed and sent to the Discard Pile.
Blockable with Safety Net.
Animal Heist
- Play it into the Discard Pile on your turn.
- Choose any 1 animal from another player's zoo.
- Move it into your own zoo. It now counts toward your score.
Blockable with Safety Net.
Sick Animal
- Play it directly into any player's zoo.
- It stays there and permanently cuts their score by 2.
Safety Net cancels it to the Discard Pile.
Pandemic Alert
- Play it into the Discard Pile on your turn.
- Choose any 1 player's zoo. Every card in it is wiped to the Discard Pile, including Sick Animal and Mega Exhibit.
- That zoo becomes completely empty (score 0).
Blockable with Safety Net. 2 Safety Nets reverse it back onto you, and it can keep bouncing until someone runs out.
Ranger Shuffle
- Play it into the Discard Pile on your turn.
- Choose any one player and swap entire hands with them.
- Both players continue with their new cards.
Blockable with Safety Net.
Lost & Found
- Play it into the Discard Pile on your turn.
- Take any 1 card, animal or action, from the Discard Pile into your hand.
Cannot be blocked, it does not target another player.
Wild Chaos
- Play it into the Discard Pile on your turn.
- Everyone flips the top Draw Pile card, starting with you. Only animals count, actions are 0.
- Highest flipped animal wins, keeps any 1 flipped card, and takes the next turn. The rest shuffle back.
Safety Net
- Play it at any time, even during someone else's turn.
- Blocks any attack: Sick Animal, Cage Break, Animal Heist, Ranger Shuffle or Pandemic Alert. The attack is cancelled to the Discard Pile.
- Block wars: a Safety Net can block another Safety Net, back and forth, until someone runs out or gives up.
How to win
- The game ends the moment the Draw Pile runs out, or any player empties their hand.
- Everyone adds up the value of their Zoo: Animal Cards plus any Action Cards that score.
- Highest total wins. Tie-breaker: whoever has the most +3 cards.
Easy to play. Impossible to predict.