The internationally renowned, lightning-fast card game from Asmodée Editions, Jungle Speed, is coming to WiiWare on January 12th. It’s fun for the entire family, where quick reflexes and a keen eye will put you on top. Flip your cards, pay attention and grab the totem at the right moment to win the game.

Jungle Speed is a twitchy, fast-paced WiiWare game that’s fun for all ages. It’s also the first Wii game to offer simultaneous play for up to eight players. Each remote and nunchuk pair can support two players at a time, making it a great game for get-togethers. Just watch the elbows!

Available for 1000 Wii points, Jungle Speed is not for the faint hearted. Players must watch carefully and react quickly. With a jungle character seated comfortably at the game table, players are each dealt a pile of cards. Play starts when the first person flips their card. Moving around the table symbols are revealed until two of the exposed cards match. Players with the matching cards must then scramble to grasp the totem in the middle of the table. The faster player then gives their cards to their unfortunate adversary. With paws flying, the first person to get rid of all their cards wins the game.

To add to the difficulty, certain cards are almost identical, which can trick a hapless player into grabbing the Totem by mistake - a grave error. Other cards force all players to make a grab at once, change the method of play, or otherwise add to the difficulty. And just when you think you’ve got it down, a special card can change the rules and keep you on the edge of your stump. Every game is an exciting new experience.

It’s been said that Jungle Speed was invented by the Aboulou Tribe in subtropical Spidopotamia. The Aboulous used eucalyptus leaves as cards for the game, which was played to determine shares in the spoils of a hunt, but the leaves were identical and no one ever won. This simple error almost drove the tribe to extinction. Jungle Speed remained unknown to the outside world until two clever gamethropologists, Tom and Yako, invented the modern day playing cards that spawned the WiiWare version.

Jungle Speed is being published by Playful Entertainment Inc. and was produced with the financial participation of Telefilm Canada.