E Lele!  

(Go Fly! ... pronounced eh-leh-leh)

Pāʻani Pepa o Nā Manu Kai Hawai‘i

Hawaiian Seabird Card Game

Copyright © 2022-2025 E Lele Games / Scott Crawford & Heidi Lea

Mahalo Nui to the Maui Nui Seabird Recovery Project for the bird and ecological data used to develop this game! 

This card game is meant to be fun, educational and support bird conservation!

House rules are encouraged. The point is to have fun and learn about seabirds. If you have ideas for improving the rules, please try them and let us know! 

Play Design

OBJECTIVE:  Play is similar to Go Fish (E Lele = Go Fly)  – ask other players for cards to make sets consisting of bird pairs (♀+♂)* in their nesting habitats, which are laid down in front of the player to create an environment of bird colonies. Each habitat has a capacity to host a number of nesting pairs, each representing a thriving colony. Nesting pairs are worth points. [* Mōlī (Laysan albatross) contain one ♀♀ pair.]

Each player can also play Threats that block other players’ colonies, and Protections that counter the Threats on their own colonies. 

The object of the game is to collect sets of nesting pairs (colonies) of birds in their habitats. The winner is the player with the most bird points at the end of the game. 

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3 – 8 (?) players

AGES: 7+

CARDS: Custom deck with 123 cards (plus two key cards and one cover card)

CATEGORY: Card Game, Educational, Animals: Birds, Ecology, Environmental

MECHANISM: Matching, Set Collection, Memory, Hand Management, Take That

AUDIENCE: Family, Educational

PLAY TIME: 60-90 minutes, with option to set time or turn limit for shorter game

LANGUAGES: English and Hawaiian