1. What You Need
LaddersUp! must be played with a minimum of two packs combined. The game does not work with a single pack.
Each pack contains:
- 5 colourways of 11 animals (A–K)
- Unicorns and Unicorn + cards to help build Ladders
2. Set-Up
- Shuffle all cards thoroughly.
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Deal each player:
- a Personal Stack of 15 cards, face down, with the top card face-up
- a starting Hand of 5 cards
- Place the remaining cards face down as the Draw Stack.
- Leave space for a Discard Stack and the central Ladders.
3. Building Ladders (Animals Edition)
A Ladder may only be started with an Antelope, or a Unicorn / Unicorn + acting as an Antelope.
Ladder order:
Antelope → Bear → Camel → Dolphin → Elephant → Fox → Giraffe → Hippo → Iguana → Jaguar → Kangaroo
- When a Kangaroo is played, that Ladder is complete and placed on the Discard Stack.
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If Unicorns or Unicorn + cards are used as stand-ins:
- You may reclaim them before playing the Kangaroo by swapping them with the correct animals from your Hand (if you have them).
- Once the Kangaroo is played, any remaining Unicorns or Unicorn + cards are discarded with the Ladder.
4. Unicorn + Cards
Unicorn + cards behave exactly the same as Unicorns, with one bonus.
⭐ Bonus Draw
- Immediately after playing a Unicorn +, draw one card from the Draw Stack
- The drawn card may be played immediately if legal
If the Draw Stack is empty, the Unicorn + is played as a normal Unicorn and no bonus card is drawn.
5. Your Turn
- Draw from the Draw Stack until you have 5 cards in Hand (not required on your first turn).
- You may play any number of legal cards — or none at all. Tactical restraint is allowed.
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If you play the face-up card from your Personal Stack:
- Flip the next card immediately
- Continue your turn as long as the new top card is playable
- End your turn by discarding exactly ONE card.
- Exception: If you finish your turn with no cards in Hand, you do not discard.
6. Endgame
Once your Personal Stack is empty, your goal is to empty your Hand.
If you still have cards after your discard, your turn ends and you must wait until your next turn to draw again. Many games are won or lost right here.
7. Gazumping
You Gazump an opponent by playing a card that exactly matches the animal and colourway they need next.
- Their Ladder is reset to Antelope
- They must rebuild it in the same colourway
- Unicorns and Unicorn + cards may not act as Kangaroos for Gazumping
Gazumping is legal. Complaining about it is traditional.
8. Winning
The winner is the first player to empty both their Personal Stack and their Hand.
Second place is a social construct.