Piepmatz- Little Songbirds

Piepmatz- Little SongbirdsThere is something wonderfully British about Piepmatz. Designed by Ben Pinchback and Matt Riddle, this is a charming set collection card game about garden songbirds and queuing. The artwork by Klemens Franz and Mike Langman is classically beautiful, with the illustrations looking like they've flown straight out of a 'Know Your Garden Birds' book from the 1970's. In Piepmatz Little Songbirds, two to four players aim to acquire songbirds and seeds that

There is something wonderfully British about Piepmatz. Designed by Ben Pinchback and Matt Riddle, this is a charming set collection card game about garden songbirds and queuing. The artwork by Klemens Franz and Mike Langman is classically beautiful, with the illustrations looking like they've flown straight out of a 'Know Your Garden Birds' book from the 1970's.

In Piepmatz - Little Songbirds, two to four players aim to acquire songbirds - and seeds - that have congregated around a garden bird feeder. Points are calculated at the end of the game once the deck has run out. Only players with the majority of a bird species will score that family of bird - each card has eggs on it, which are worth points. Managing to collect a male and female pair of the same bird type scores you points though, as do any seed cards (all of which also have eggs on them).

Each bird has a numerical value from 1-6 - there's definitely a pecking order in Piepmatz! Set-up sees randomly drawn birds sitting either side of the bird feeder, and above it four seed cards in a vertical row. On their turn, players place a card from their hand into a queue behind a bird of their choice. If the number of the bird's (or birds') value(s) in the queue totals more than the single bird's value at the feeder, that player will collect the bird at the feeder to sit face-up in front of them.

Also, the difference in value between those two (or more) birds is the seed card that they acquire. So if you play a six-value bird behind a four-value bird, you'll claim the four-value bird at the feeder; the difference is +2, so you'll claim the second seed card in that vertical column.

Now the remaining bird with the highest value flies to the front of the queue. If the total value(s) of the remaining birds behind it is larger than its own, you repeat the process above, possibly gaining that bird for your collection too, as well as another seed card. Chain-reaction moves can and will occur and they can be so satisfying, especially when you've got your eye on collecting, say, a male and female Yellowhammer within the same queue!

However, like in every garden, there are some risks... In the seed deck, there are also some mean crows and pesky squirrels! When drawn, these sit 'attached' to seed cards and are obligatory when player players earn that seed card. These are both negative cards that result in the player losing either seed cards (which are guaranteed points) or losing a bird from their largest set of birds (potential points).

With its wonderful thinky options and delightful artwork for you to muse over, Piepmatz is a clever card game that will leave you wanting to reach for a pair of binoculars to observe the avian activity in your own garden...

Player Count: 2-4
Time: 20-40 Minutes
Age: 12+