Camel Up

Camel Up is an engaging, fast-paced betting and racing game for 2–8 players. Instead of directly controlling the camels, players act as gamblers trying to predict the outcome of a chaotic camel race. Players can place bets on which camel will win a “leg” of the race and which will come first or last overall.

The race is driven by a unique pyramid dice shaker: on a turn, a player shakes the pyramid and a die comes out, indicating which camel moves and how far. When camels land on the same space, they stack, and moving a camel in a stack carries all camels on top with it.

On their turn, players can choose one of four main actions:

1. Take a leg bet tile to wager on the current leg’s outcome.

2. Roll the pyramid to move a camel and earn a pyramid tile.

3. Place a desert tile (oasis or mirage) on the track to affect camel movement.

4. Bet on the overall winner or loser using a finish card to secretly predict the race’s final outcome.

Each leg ends when all five dice have been rolled, at which point leg bets are scored. The game concludes when a camel crosses the finish line, and final bets are revealed and resolved to determine the winner.

Why Camel Up is Fun and Strategic:

• Predictive betting: Balancing risk versus reward — deciding when to place bets is key.

• High player interaction: Stacking camels and dice-driven movement create tension and excitement.

• Accessible gameplay: Easy rules for families, but with strategic depth in betting choices.

• Thematic and visual appeal: Colorful wooden camels, desert tiles, and the dice pyramid create a charming and immersive experience.

Things to Consider:

• Luck plays a significant role due to dice rolls, which can overturn even careful bets.

• Limited betting options per camel per leg make timing important.

• Higher player counts increase chaos, making it harder to predict outcomes, which may frustrate more strategic players.