As soon as a player has no cards left in their hand, the current round ends. Other players have to place any cards that they have left in their hand into the discard pile. The cards laid in rows at the center of the table remain in place.

So while CuBirds is really uncomplicated mechanically, strategically it gives players a bit to think about. At the same time, the decisions are not complicated enough to invoke analysis paralysis and hinder the flow of the game. For a short, light game, that is a perfect combination. Add to that quirky cubic artwork, and CuBirds makes a great little warm-up game ahead of a heavier longer one later in the night. All of the remaining cards are shuffled to form a facedown draw pile b. This draw pile is placed near to the center of the table, accessible to all players. The dealer gives 8 facedown Bird cards from the draw pile to each player: this is their starting hand.A round ends when one of the players has no cards left in their hand. The remaining cards that players have in their hand go to the discard pile. The cards laid in rows at the center of the table remain in place. The player who ended the round becomes the new dealer.

According to BirdLife International, which has designated 28 Important Bird Areas (IBAs) in Cuba, “Over 370 bird species have been recorded in Cuba, including 27 which are endemic to the island and 29 considered globally threatened. Due to its large land area and geographical position within the Caribbean, Cuba represents one of the most important countries for Neotropical migratory birds – both birds passing through on their way south (75 species) and those spending the winter on the island (86 species).“ The first player to seven species of birds in their collection (or two species with three cards each) wins the game. Most games I have played have come right down to the wire as players can see what species everyone needs to win the game and they deliberately stop placing those birds, making for an exciting conclusion to the game. Who’s A Pretty Bird Each row must be composed of 3 different Birds. If the same Bird is present multiple times on a given row, discard the extra Birds and place new cards until each row contains 3 Birds from different species. On their turn, a player must lay one or more birds from their hand. All the birds of the chosen species that player has in their hand must be played. The player lays these birds (next to each other) on the left or the right side of one of the 4 rows at the center of the table. When a player places a bird in a row that already has one or more birds of that species, the player must take all the cards between these birds into their hand. Count the number of birds in your hand -- this tells you how many plays until you can trigger a new hand.If the draw pile gets empty, shuffle all the cards from the discard pile to form a new draw pile. The new dealer is the first to play in this round. Be the first player to gather seven different species, or two species with at least three identical birds in each, to end the game!

The player chooses a Bird from their hand and must play all the Birds of this species that they have in their hand. The dealer then shuffles the 110 Bird cards and lays out 4 rows with three cards faceup at the center of the table a.lays it on the right side. This means drawing 4 cards in total. If this would enclose Birds, RobinBird takes those in hand and completes the rows according to the normal rules. For me the game shines at the two player count. When you play at three, four or five the game becomes much more random with the table state changing significantly between your turns. At two players you have much more control over the birds and can play against your opponent as much as the table. I don’t mind playing it at any player count but would always prefer to play at two. Final Thoughts They lay these birds, each one next to the other on the left or on the right side of one of the 4 rows at the center of the table. They can choose their cards independently of the species of the Birds already present in the rows. The round ends when a player has no cards in their hand. At this point all other players have to discard their hand of cards and new cards are dealt. Knowing when to play cards to the table and which row, together with choosing the right time to end the round is where the tension and excitement comes from in CuBirds.