Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Every player starts Life Is Life with five life cards, and things only go downhill from there. To set up a round, shuffle the sixty-card deck, deal ten cards face down to each player, then place ten cards face up on the table in four rows, with the rows holding 1-4 cards.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Set Collection
Gather related items that become more valuable when scored together.
Memory
Remember previously revealed information, positions, or sequences.
Player Elimination
Players can be removed from contention before the game ends.
Read the full game description
Every player starts Life Is Life with five life cards, and things only go downhill from there. To set up a round, shuffle the sixty-card deck, deal ten cards face down to each player, then place ten cards face up on the table in four rows, with the rows holding 1-4 cards. The deck consists of animal cards, with nine giraffe cards, eight bear cards, seven each mole and goat, and so on down to three mouse cards. On a turn, a player either swaps 1-4 cards in hand with the face-up row that contains the same number of cards or knocks on the table to signal the end of the round; when a player knocks, each other player can make one final swap or also knock. Players then compare cards in hand to see who holds a majority of each type of animal. If a player holds more giraffe cards than each other player, for example, then that player keeps one giraffe card (worth 9 points as nine such cards are in the game) while all other giraffe cards are discarded. (A player can hold a majority by having one card and no one else having any cards.) After all animal types are compared, whoever has the most points loses no life cards; whoever has the fewest points loses two life cards; and whoever has a total between these extremes loses one life card. Alternatively, if during a round a player collects all four cats or all five rabbits or pigs in hand, that player can end the round immediately, with all other players losing one life card. If a player runs out of life cards, they're out of the game. At the end of a round, shuffle the cards and play again. Whoever last clings to life wins!