A cooperative roll and move stacking game
Playtime: 15 minutes
Designer: Kristin Mückel
Artist: Stephanie Roehe
Publisher: HABA
Unicorn Glitterluck: Cloud Stacking is a dexterity game for ages 4+. It’s one in a series of games in the Unicorn Glitterluck world, all centered around the unicorn Rosalie and her friends. In UG: Cloud Stacking, Rosalie invites her unicorn friends to her castle for her birthday party!
Unicorn Glitterluck: Cloud Stacking was generously provided to us by the publisher for an honest review. Please see our review policy [HERE].
Gameplay Overview
UG: Cloud Stacking is a co-op game, meaning everyone wins or loses together. Setup is quick, with individual spaces set in a circle around the central castle. Players take turns rolling a dice and moving Rosalie to the spaces around the circle, taking the action shown on the space.
There are two types of spaces: stacking actions (dark clouds, light clouds, and unicorns), or take a crystal.
For the stacking actions, players take the indicated wooden game piece and stack it on or next to the central castle.
If anything gets knocked down, the pieces are returned to the general supply. Players then choose one cloud spot around the circle to flip and remove from the game. If the opposite side is sunny: no worries and the game continues. If it’s a thunderstorm: be careful! Three revealed thunderstorms and the game immediately ends.
If a player rolls a star, they can move Rosalie to any space.
Everyone wins when all 10 crystals are collected and all 5 unicorns are stacked on and around the castle with baby Rosalie on top.
Everyone loses if 3 thunderstorms are flipped.
What do we think?
This has quickly become one of Rowan’s go-to games when we ask what he wants to play. It has the stacking mechanism which has been a winner in our house since Rowan discovered his love of Animal upon Animal. But it combines stacking with other elements of board gaming: cooperative play, goal-oriented decision-making, moving pieces around. The game pieces are the same high-quality wooden pieces that HABA games are known for.
One thing we like about HABA games is that they’re pretty easy to modify slightly based on the needs of the kid. UG: Cloud Stacking is a bit too long for his attention span right now, so we play a modified version where we just try to get 5 crystals.
If we’re comparing the stacking mechanism, Animal Upon Animal is a bit more interesting since the pieces are all such different shapes.
Moms Take
The quality pieces and cooperative gameplay make this an easy go-to for us. It’s actually fun for grownups too, since there are clear goals to work towards.
It can get a bit repetitive since there aren’t many decisions to make, but that also means it’s approachable enough for our 3.5 year old to be able to make his own choices on his turn.
We do like that there’s a lot of teachable moments. We’ve had some great conversations about how to keep playing when you get frustrated from knocking over the stack (collapsing dramatically to the floor is only an option if we use “inside” screaming).
Rowan's Take
I like the unicorns. I like their tails. The blue one is my favorite.
You have to get the crystals, that’s just how it is.
(sing-shouting voice): Crystals, crystals, crystaaaaalls!
We get the clouds too. We put them on the castle. They are not easy to stack sometimes.
Rating Breakdown
Rulebook
In typical HABA fashion, the rules for Unicorn Glitterluck Cloud Stacking are simple, easy to understand, and well laid out. We were set up and playing in just a few minutes.
First Play
On our first play, Rowan was really curious about what was going on. He knew “the unicorn game” was similar to “the animal game” (Animal Upon Animal) but the additional restriction of not always being able to choose whatever piece he wanted to stack threw him off a bit and he routinely sought reassurance that he was doing the right thing.
Subsequent Plays
Rowan very quickly learned that the key to winning was getting crystals and unicorns. As a parent it was a really fun experience to watch him work through a bit of strategy when rolling a star (wild) and when stacking.
UG Cloud Stacking requires more set up than the other HABA games we’ve played so far. Rowan picked up on the setup within the first 3 or so plays.
Aside from his attention span occasionally running out, Rowan needs no help from us to play this game.
Mom note: We are pretty sure his favorite part of all games is doing the set up and UG Cloud Stacking is the perfect amount of repetition and variability for him.
Parenting note: It’s hard to watch your kid make sub-optimal plays. We explain the pros and cons of each option (when multiple options are available) but let him make the final decision. Allow your kid the dignity of making a mistake and learning from it.
Gaming Skills (for the budding boardgamer)
- Dice rolling, applying results
- Playing independently
- Goal-oriented decision making
- Losing/Winning with grace
Life Skills
- Taking turns
- Teamwork
- Counting
- Dexterity
- Overcoming adversity (pieces falling down)
- Losing/Winning with grace
- Bonding with friends & family (we’ll just keep this here for every game)