Leaping Lemmings - Game Review

You are a scientist who has bred lemmings that must race to throw themselves over a cliff while avoiding eagles and picking up food pellets on the way. This silly and family-friendly game plays up to 6 players, and the more the merrier.

Vital Stats

Players: 2-6
Time: 30-90 Minutes
Designer: John Poniske and Rick Young
Publisher: GMT Games

Components: Rulebook, mounted map board, 2 (high quality) wooden eagle dice, 101 die-cut cardboard counters, 6 Clan player aid cards, deck of 55 playing cards.

Each player chooses a clan, lines up the clan's ten lemmings on the starting line, and takes the special clan card. Each player is then dealt three special action cards, and the game begins.

On your turn, you first roll the two eagle dice. For each die that shows a number, you move that color eagle the appropriate number of spaces either clockwise or counter-clockwise in their circle of six hunting regions. If any unhidden lemmings are in the chosen region, you must have the eagle eat one of them, and scatter the rest to adjacent regions.

Then, the top card of the deck is flipped over, revealing a number from 2-5. This is how many spaces each player must move a lemming this turn. You may, optionally, play one special action card or your special clan card. Then, you must move one of your lemmings forward the appropriate number of spaces.

Moving into a brush space takes an extra movement, but protects you from being eaten by the eagles. Moving on top of another lemming will prevent them from moving, but also means if an eagle attacks the pile you will be the one eaten. And landing on food pellet spaces can net you extra bonuses if you are the first one to leave the space without being scattered or eaten.

All movement is forward, towards the cliff edge. When a lemming races over the cliff, any extra movement points are worth victory points. Somewhere in the last few cards of the deck is a game over card. When it is flipped, whoever has the most points wins.

NOTE: This is only a brief summary, with many details omitted.

Good Stuff

This is a really funny game. Almost everything about the game made me smile, from the stories in the rulebook (about scientists who genetically engineer suicidal lemmings, because in nature they don't jump off of cliffs), to the adorable artwork for things like eagles feasting on a lemming, to little touches like the fact that one of the eagles is named Stephen Jr., it all comes together beautifully.

The attention to detail isn't just in the comedy. The artwork is cute, but also really well done. There's lots of gameplay information right on the board, and the player aid cards with rules summaries are a model of how more board games should help the players. In addition, little touches like naming every single lemming, and making them double-sided so players can choose male or female lemmings, really show the care that went into this game.

Easy to learn, with plenty of room for vicious strategy. The rules for Leaping Lemmings are simple enough that anyone can sit down, learn the game, and be playing within five minutes. That's a great benefit for a game that plays best with lots of people, as you can drag a new fifth player to the table and start them right up. Once you've played a few games, you can start to strategize a lot more.

There's something inherently satisfying about being on the edge of your seat as the eagle dice are rolled and people are rooting for a red 2 to kill your lemming, and the red die is a 1 which means the red eagle moves one space instead and eats Bob's lemming from the top of the pile.

Fun and light theme, with plenty of room for vicious strategy. People drawn in by the hilarious theme and artwork may be surprised to find that Leaping Lemmings can end up being a fairly brutal game, especially as your lemmings are systematically annihilated by a succession of eagles. Can also bog down if players start playing it as a brutal strategy game and agonize over their moves (although this is true to some degree of all games).

Really best with at least 4 players. Our 3-player game left us feeling a bit "meh" about the gameplay (in spite of loving the theme), but 4-player was solid, and the 5-player game was a chaotic blast. With fewer players, it's much easier to fall into an overanalysis that changes the game from a hilarious beer and pretzels game to a plodding tactical game.

Leaping Lemmings is a fun -- and funny -- light game. It's also hiding a heavier game that's much more vicious and takes longer. But grab at least three friends and play Leaping Lemmings as a light and fun game, and you're in for a good time.