Fight off pesky mammals with your army of birds to save New Zealand in Moa

Everybody loves dogs, right? Unless you’re horribly allergic or a cat in human form, there’s a good chance a wagging tail and the lick of a tongue will melt your heart – and convince you it’s worth picking up poop in a bag every day for the next 15 years of your life.

Dogs are rarely perceived as baddies – minus a few bad dogs in Up, All Dogs Go to Heaven and the robot mutt from Wallace & Gromit – but that’s not the case in Moa, a new game from Brass and Hit Z Road designer Martin Wallace. 

Actually, it’s mammals at large to blame, as pooches join possums, rats and weasels in their invasion of New Zealand, inspired by the real-life introduction of foreign species to the island nation.

Attempting to fend off the overseas attackers from their homeland are tribes of birds, including eagles, kakapos and, yes, moas.

Over two periods, players can lay down their bird cards to try and control territory around New Zealand, with the mammals attacking if terrain cards are drawn. The birds can also choose to sell the land to mammals if they see fit.

There’s also the presence of the island volcano, which can also be moved by drawing particular cards.

Moa is on Kickstarter and is sat at $11,000 of its $18,000 target with 22 days left to run. The first stretch goal, should the campaign hit $25,000, is a cute little volcano meeple.

The base game is $40 (£31), plus shipping to the UK, and is expected for release in October.