The trend toward inexpensive games with a cute aesthetic is continuing this summer, with the release of Squirrels: The Card Game and 13 Beavers, two new games featuring cute furry animals.

Squirrels: The Card Game is the first game from Friendzy Games, the new game publishing division of Goliath Coins.  In this family card game, players try to discard cards each round.  Special cards can be used to push cards to other players, skip cards, or use squirrel cards to clear the pile.  The game is for 2-8 players ages 6 and up, and lasts from 15 to 45 minutes.

The Squirrels: The Card Game box includes 162 cards and rulebook at $21.99 MSRP.

In 13 Beavers from Format Games, distributed by Asmodee, players navigate a board by predicting if the next card is higher or lower than the previous one.  If the guess is correct, the player advances forward, and if it’s wrong, the player is sent back to their dam for another attempt.  Players encounter fishing, rapids, lava, and wolves in their attempts to advance their Beaver.

The box includes board, 52 Number Cards, 3 Danger Cards, 6 Beaver Meeples, 8 Dam Meeples, 1 Fishing Rod, 8 Magnetic Fish, and 5 Wolf Tokens. 13 Beavers is for 2 to 6 players ages 7 and up, and plays in around 30 minutes.

Asmodee USA General Manager Julien Sharp identified 13 Beavers as an Asmodee release with big potential for 2024 and a great reception at Toy Fair, in our October 2023 interview (see "ICv2 Interview: Julien Sharp").

13 Beavers will be released on June 14 at $19.99.