This game is supposed to be for younger children ages 6 and up. As in all games, the parents have to explain the game to their children before they can play properly. The directions to this game were very hard for me to understand at first. This seems to be a German game translated into English, which might account for the misunderstandings. I still don't have a clear picture of how this game is to be played, but I can try to go through the directions and maybe you'll understand it better.

The game consists of four animal pieces (a bear, a raccoon, a hare, and a bird), 48 cards with tracks on both sides, and the instructions. The object of the game is to move your animal piece on its own tracks until you reach the end of the tracks. A little story goes with the game. The little animals have lost their parents and can find them again when they reach the end of the tracks. The directions say the animal pieces are picked out by the players and then each player picks out one track that matches the tracks their animals make. The animals are placed on their tracks. The rest of the track pieces are laid out randomly in four columns (you have to make sure that no two tracks that are the same follow each other in any column. There also shouldn't be three or more tracks in the same column). Play begins with the smallest animal going first. The player with the smallest animal turns over the track in front of their animal and places it in front of them. Then they look over in another column and turn over that track as well. The second track that's turned over gets placed in front of their animal, and the track in front of the player gets put where the second track used to be. If the track in front of the animal matches that animal, the player can move ahead one place. If the track does not match the animal, then the player has to wait for another turn to find a match. If the second track now matches the animal in another column, that animal can move ahead one place. Play continues in this way until an animal reaches the end of their tracks and finds their parents.

As I said before, this game was a little bit confusing with all the extra directions following the initial ones, but I think I finally understand it after going over them a few times. If you don't want to have a game like that for your children, then don't buy this game. If you like a challenge (as well as the challenge of playing the game), then this game is right up your alley! It seems this game is quite fun after the directions are figured out.

Product review by Lyria Moore, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, October 2006