There are four animals in the game. All the players are responsible for the bird, mouse, and chipmunk's safe journey to their home in a tree at the end of the gameboard path. Unfortunately the tomcat "Max" is a natural hunter and chaser (he can't help himself) and is a continual threat. The goal is for the players to work together to get the three animals to the safety of the tree. All the animals move based on the roll of two dice, each containing three black pips and three green pips. A black pip moves Max one space, while green pips can be distributed by player consensus (teaches logic, consultation and decision making) among the other animals to move them. Max moves more often and further than the other creatures who share the green pip rolls. The players can opt to move their animals before or after Max; they may also use four cat treats to call Max back to the starting position, allowing the other animals to escape possible capture or lengthen their lead. Each animal has their own special short cut on the game board to speed their journey or dart from Max; if they end a turn on their shortcut start space, they may immediately move to the other end; if they overshoot the entrance, they miss it. However if Max ends a turn on any short-cut entrance, he takes it immediately (but will not eat any animal on the shortcut start. Max can end up between or even ahead of the other animals as they advance down the path together. When Max reaches the base of the tree, he camps out and can't be returned to the start with a cat treat. The other animals will have to risk a final leap on and off Max's back to get to safety. The players all win or lose depending on how successful they are at saving the bird, mouse and chipmunk from Max.