Three ways to play, the full emotion-pairs reference, and how to adapt the game as your child grows — straight from the official instruction sheet.
📄 Download the Instruction Sheet (PDF)Goal: the player with the most pairs wins. Setup: lay all discs face down in a 10×6 grid.
Turns: each player flips two discs. Same emotion (e.g. Angry Ant + Angry Ant) — keep the pair, score 1 point, take another turn. No match — flip back, next player's turn.
Variation — Spaghetti (Difficulty 3 of 5): same rules, but scatter the discs randomly on the floor instead of a grid. Harder to remember, more fun.
Instead of matching identical pairs, match each emotion with its counter-emotion (Angry Ant + Calm Chameleon). Builds emotional reasoning, not just memory.
A correct opposite-pair match scores 2 points. An identical-pair match still scores 1 point. Emotions with no listed opposite (see reference below) match with their own duplicate for 1 point.
Same matching rules as Classic (identical pairs), but brings the emotion cards into play. When a player matches a pair, they find that emotion's card from the draw pile, read the feeling on the front, then act out the coping strategy on the back.
Acting it out earns a peek: quietly look at two face-down discs, one at a time, while the other player closes their eyes, then flip them back. Turn ends either way.
The full parent's guide to every emotion in the deck — useful for Counter-Emotion play, or just for talking through a match.
| Emotion | Animal | Counter-emotion | Animal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happy | Hamster | Sad | Sloth |
| Angry | Ant | Calm | Chameleon |
| Brave | Bear | Scared | Squirrel |
| Bored | Badger | Curious | Cat |
| Confident | Crane | Shy | Sheep |
| Proud | Panda | Jealous | Jaguar |
| Relaxed | Rabbit | Anxious | Alligator |
| Tired | Tiger | Energetic | Eagle |
| Hopeful | Hippo | Disappointed | Donkey |
| Overwhelmed | Octopus | Focused | Fox |
| Generous | Gorilla | Selfish | Snail |
No fixed opposite — encourage your child to name one themselves, there's no wrong answer:
| Emotion | Animal | Emotion | Animal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excited | Elephant | Silly | Seahorse |
| Grumpy | Goat | Loving | Llama |
| Hungry | Hedgehog | Thankful | Tortoise |
| Hurt | Horse | Surprised | Seal |
This game explores emotions, moods and feelings broadly — including physical ones, like Tired or Hungry. Use these as a springboard to help your child notice and name what's happening in their body and mind, not just the "big" emotions.
Emotional learning isn't just about matching — it's about talking, feeling and connecting. A match is a natural pause point: ask what made the animal feel that way, or when your child last felt it themselves.
Recommended age: 3+. Suggested players: 2–4.
For children under 5, we recommend playing alongside a parent or grown-up, who can help name emotions, act them out, and talk through how each animal might be feeling.