Vier zu mir! (1996)

Overview

Vier zu mir! (Four to Me!) is an award-winning children's memory game in which the goal is for players to find sets of four animals that match those shown on their search cards. Once a card has been matched, it scores a point for the player, and the one with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

The game includes a set of 24 unique plastic animals, 24 green tubes (film cannisters), and 24 search cards. One animal is hidden in each tube, and these tubes are then distributed evenly among the players. Each player is also given two "search cards"; each of these cards depicts a set of four of the animals. Players try to locate all of the animals on one or both of their cards by asking other players for the ones they need. If the acting player asks someone for an animal they are holding, that tube is passed to the acting player; as a reward, they can continue asking for more animals. However, if the player they asked DOES NOT have the animal, the player's turn ends. Once a player has all the animals needed to complete one or both of his search cards, he can reveal the card(s) and the animals to score 1 or 2 points. Completed cards are set aside and replacement cards are drawn until no more remain. The game ends once all 24 cards have been matched.

Vier zu mir! was originally published by Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken (ASS) in 1996, and won the Kinderspiel des Jahres in that same year. In 1998 it was reprinted by Schmidt Spiele, and recently (2002) it was published again in a French edition by Tactic as "Animazoo".

Ages 5 and up