Cool Animal Facts is an interesting release from Level 99 Games. Known for titles like Bullet and the Exceed Fighting System, the publisher proves that it makes games for everyone. This is a simple card game that uses a bluffing card mechanic to its fullest, and is an affordable treat for all ages.
What is Cool Animal Facts?
To put it simply, the premise of the game is to get rid of all your cards. At the beginning of play, each player gets seven cards, each highlighting a fact. You have cards like, “This animal has scales”, “This animal is hunted or fished”, and so on. During a player’s turn, they place one of their cards onto the table.
Play continues until someone challenges the stack. The challenged player needs to call out an animal that fits all the criteria. If an animal cannot be named or is incorrect, the challenged player gets a card from the challenging player. However, if the challenged player successfully answers, they give a card to the challenging player. The stack gets discarded and play continues until someone gets rid of all their cards.
What’s so Cool About This Game?
The game has a rudimentary doodle aesthetic to it all, and the animals are super cute! Each of the written fact cards (some are blank for your own use), has a little animal on them. This gives hints to what you could also say for a descriptor (and helps younger players if they can’t imagine an animal for a challenge). A small tuck box packs the game for convenient gameplay. (I honestly just put it in my coat pocket, it’s that tiny!) Portability is something I look for in a party game; being able to lug it wherever is a huge plus for me.
I also liked the deceptive simplicity of Cool Animal Facts. It’s a push-your-luck bluffing mechanic that has a lot of depth for what it’s worth. While you want to get rid of your cards in early rounds, you notice that there’s a stack of cards that aren’t compatible with each other. Because of the variety of cards used, each stack can vary in difficulty as well. Putting something that contradicts another card is a surefire way to get called out too!
Do you challenge the next player to watch them squirm, or do you wait until the stack goes to you? It’s also a good strategy to try and challenge before a large stack comes to you unless you’re very confident in your animal recall.
Who is Cool Animal Facts for?
Cool Animal Facts is a game that’s squarely in the all-ages territory, though admittedly it does skew younger. I played most of my games with the local youth group I lead. The group ranges from high school teens to those in their 20s, and they all had a good time. In terms of player count, the recommended player range goes from 3 to 8. Now, you theoretically could add more people as well, but I noticed a sweet spot with 5 to 7 players. With this player count, there’s enough people playing cards where it’s a strategic gamble to challenge. Having more players incentivizes challenging every few turns rather than building up tension. So if you have a small to midsize player count, I would recommend it.
All in all, I just loved the pick-up-and-play nature of the title. Rounds lasted surprisingly long for a game with one main mechanic (around 15-20 minutes). While it won’t have the meat of bigger party games, I think this is perfect for very casual gatherings, especially if you need to break the ice. It’s also an affordable title, retailing at $14.99.
The general knowledge of these animal facts means that you don’t have to have a degree in zoology to have a good time. Just make sure you know when to bluff!
A huge thanks to Level 99 for providing us a copy of the game for review! You can purchase the game on their website for $14.99 USD. Like our card game review? Sound off in the comments below. Stay tuned for more gaming news here on Miso!