Animalicos - Strategy is back

Welcome to Animalicos, a strategic game of collection, pushing, and adorable animal chaos. The meadow is in dispute, and each player will try to gather the largest groups of different species to dominate it. Forget endless turns and lucky dice rolls; hereyou push, you calculate, and you betray with a smile.

Animalicos is a 2-player abstract strategy game that combines a strong, cartoonish aesthetic with deep, original mechanics and a contained playtime of just 15-30 minutes.

The game is played on a central 5x5 grid (the meadow) formed by randomly drawn cubes representing the "Animalicos". Each player sits on one side of the meadow, which is considered their personal farm. The core mechanic is a unique and intuitive systemof pushing and sliding these cubes.

On your turn, you perform a single action. The basic move is to take a cube from your farm and use it to push any row or column in the meadow. This shifts all the cubes in that line one space, and the cube that is pushed out from the opposite end is collected:if a player is on that side, they get to keep it. If that side is empty, the active player decides who receives the cube. Additionally, if your push creates a line of 3 or more identical cubes, the active player collects that entire line.

Cute but Brutal: The Soul of the Game

The true strategic depth unfolds through the unique special abilities of each cube, which you can use as your turn's action instead of the basic push. These abilities completely change the tactical landscape:

• The Pig pushes with extra force, moving a line two spaces instead of one.
• The Crow flies from your farm to replace any animalico on the meadow, which you then capture.
• The Wolf enters from the side and eats the first animalico it encounters, causing the rest of the line to flee.

Other animalicos like the burrowing Mole or the position-swapping Duck add even more layers of tactical possibilities.

Animalicos is a game built with clear intention, minimizing luck and maximizing skill. While the meadow's initial setup is random, once the game begins there are no cards to draw and no dice to roll. Everything is based on your decisions, reading youropponent, and building mental patterns. It is designed for players who enjoy strategic titles like Chess or Hive but want a more visual and fun touch; for parents looking to connect with their children through critical thinking; and for core gamers who valuemechanical elegance over bloated production.

Visually adorable, but with the soul of a tough-as-nails strategy game. The battle for the meadow awaits.