Big Five

About this board game

Big Five is a card game for 1–4 players that takes about 20 minutes to play. Players compete to get rid of their animal cards by adding them to a shared tableau arranged in rows and columns.

Build sets by grouping cards with matching colors or matching animals. Each set can contain a maximum of five cards, creating clear goals as the tableau develops and players decide where to place their cards.

The fourth card added to a set provides a bonus, while adding the fifth card creates a Big Five. In either case, the player receives a bonus that allows them to discard card or cards, helping them reduce the cards remaining on their pile.

• Play with 1–4 players.
• Arrange animal cards in rows and columns.
• Build sets based on matching colors or animals.
• Trigger bonuses by adding the fourth or fifth card to a set.

The first player to have no cards left on their pile wins the game. With its straightforward objective and set-building structure, Big Five centers every turn on creating matching groups and finding opportunities to reach a fourth or fifth card.

Released in 2010, Big Five offers a compact tableau-building challenge for players who enjoy organizing cards into sets while racing toward an empty pile.