High Rise Penguins asks you to get rid of your hand and keep a flimsy iceberg tower from collapsing at the same time. Alley Cat Games publishes the English-language edition of Yura Yura Penguin, a Japanese-designed dexterity card game by Ryoko Yabuchi that first appeared in 2019 and later saw releases through multiple publishers. Alley Cat’s own pitch is blunt: “Uno meets Jenga.” You match color or symbol, but your card also tells the next player what physical problem they have to solve—add a new iceberg level, drop in ice crystals, or move a wooden penguin into a precarious “apartment” on the tower.
What’s in the Box?
High Rise Penguins leans into tiny, tactile components. The publisher lists: 48 sea/ice cards, 14 iceberg cards, 18 ice crystals, 4 penguin meeples, 1 starting card (plus an optional promo pack with more penguins). The physical design of the game sets the mood. The core deck uses round cards, and the game often asks you to place pieces inside the tower rather than on top of it, which keeps hands hovering over the danger zone.
How the Game Plays
Setup starts with a shared “sea” of face-down cards around a central starting base, then each player takes a hand (the hand size scales with player count in most rulesets and teach videos). On your turn, you do two linked steps:
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Resolve the action symbol shown on the top card of the tower. That icon dictates the physical challenge—adding crystals or penguins, or growing the tower higher.
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Play a matching card from your hand onto the tower. “Matching” works Uno-style: match either the color or the symbol. If you can’t, you draw from the sea.
When your hand hits one card, the official “how to play” graphic encourages some table theater: shout “Penguin!” then try to stick the landing with your last play.
The Cards You’ll Learn Fast
Most explanations break the deck into a few functional families:
Iceberg cards trigger new levels, extending the tower upward.
Crystal (gem) cards force you to place one or two ice crystals before you even get to shed a card, which turns “I’m almost out” into a hand tremor.
Penguin cards add a penguin piece to a higher tier (often the second-from-top platform in the original rules).
Aurora cards act like wild/special cards and introduce the familiar “skip / reverse / draw” friction.
That structure explains why High Rise Penguins feels sharp in short sessions. You aren’t just choosing what you can play; you’re choosing what problem you hand to the next person.
What Counts as “The Tower Fell”?
This part matters because different write-ups describe the end condition in different ways. Alley Cat’s product page says: if someone knocks over the tower, the game ends and the player with the fewest cards left wins.
Some coverage of the game’s earlier editions describes a stricter collapse test (for example, calling the iceberg “broken” when multiple cards fall free). If you’re teaching new players, set the collapse rule early and stick to it. High Rise Penguins thrives on clarity because the physical comedy arrives on its own.
Design Lineage and the Second Life of Yura Yura Penguin
Yabuchi has described Yura Yura Penguin as “a card game and a balancing game,” built for “kids and adults alike.” She pushed an international edition through crowdfunding with updated English instructions and wooden penguins. High Rise Penguins delivers a compact, travel-friendly dexterity game that reads instantly across languages, then creates tension and/or laughter when your hands go near the tower.
Tips for First-Time Players
Treat your next card as a weapon. Color-matching keeps you honest, but symbol-matching lets you pick the nastiest action for the next player.
Play crystals when the tower already looks stressed. A gem card doesn’t just add weight; it forces a fussy placement before your opponent even gets to slim their hand.
Keep your fingers slow and low. Multiple reviewers note the small scale can punish big hands, especially when you’re placing penguins into tight openings.
Call your table shots. Decide whether you allow “recovery” if something slips. The original rules discourse often allows minor saves; strict tables create quicker, harsher endings.
Quick Facts about High Rise Penguins
Designer: Ryoko Yabuchi
Publisher (English edition): Alley Cat Games
Players / Time / Age: 2–6 players, ~15–20 minutes, 7+
ore mechanisms: Hand management + stacking/balancing
