The Albino Cub Challenge was introduced on December 13th 2019 as part of December 2019's development update.
It is the first challenge of its kind to be presented on Lioden.

Want to find out more about it? Let's read on below!

What is the Albino Cub Challenge?  

The Albino Cub Challenge is a community challenge that was inspired by all of the albino and winter-themed animals, decors, and encounters that can be found during the December event on Lioden.

There are two parts to this challenge: the Community Goal, and the Personal Goal.

The Community Goal requires a total of 2000 Albino cubs to be born between the start of the challenge and December 31st. The faster the total is met, the longer everyone gets to enjoy their rewards!

The Personal Goal requires a total of 3 Albino cubs to be born on your own account between the start of the challenge and December 31st.

Where can I find the challenge?  

At the start of the challenge, a persistent quest counter will appear on your sidebar panel.

Hello LION. Would you help us by breeding Albino cubs this winter? A special reward is up for grabs! 0 / 3 albino cubs bred. Visit The Gorillas' Quest.

Clicking The Gorillas' Quest → text will take you to the Gorilla Enclave, where you can see all data pertaining to the challenge at the top of the page!

Albino Cub Challenge. The enormous gorilla looms over you, clutching a rather flustered looking cub in his hands, stroking its fur. 'It's winter. You can tell. From the snuh. We heard that you have a way of sourcing some snowy cubs. We want to see them, running around. No you don't have to give them to us.. this time. The gorilla council requests that all lions breed a total of 2,000 Albino Cubs. We only ask that you breed at least 3 yourself, and for this we have rewards ready and waiting.'  Your personal goal bar is displayed below, with the global bar to the right.

How do I participate?  

By breeding cubs with the Albino base! Note that only cubs born with the Albino base count towards this. Cubs born with the Achromia mutation do not count unless they happen to be Albino-based; even then, they only count towards the goal due to their base, not their mutation.

You must breed these cubs. You cannot buy preexisting Albino-based cubs and have them count towards either goal. You cannot change a preexisting lion's base and have it count towards either goal, as well.

Only cubs bred within your own pride will count towards this challenge. You can use your own pride leader and breed to lionesses within your pride, or you can send stud requests to other pride leaders using your own lionesses. The reverse breeding feature is not compatible with this challenge, so any Albino cubs that are reverse bred will unfortunately not count towards the goal. Any Albino cubs that your pride leader produces from stud requests will also not count towards your own goal.

Any cub born with the Albino base after the challenge began will count towards the goal, even if they were conceived before the update was released!

How do I breed Albino cubs?  

Albino is a unique base in that it has a random, low chance of appearing in any breeding pair. This means that you could breed together two lions with Red genetics and end up with an Albino cub. You can rely on RNG and luck to produce Albino cubs...

...Or you can go the easy route and try to breed lions together that have genetics similar to Albino's base!

Albino is a Black Light Solid Common base, meaning that any pairing of Dark x Light, Medium x Medium, Light x Medium, and Light x Light bases (so long as at least one parent has a Black colour group base if you are not relying on the random appearance factor) can result in an Albino-based cub being born.

Your best chances of producing Albino offspring are to breed to an Albino-based lion—even better if you can breed two Albino-based lions together!

What are the rewards?  

2019 Rewards  

The rewards for reaching the Community Goal is that everyone has a 5% chance to breed a Snowflake-based cub from a pairing of Albino x any parent for the rest of December! An additional benefit is that the Gorilla Enclave will ask for more Albino-based cubs for their requests.

The rewards for reaching the Personal Goal are a little more, well, personalised. Reaching this goal unlocks the Special Snowflake title, the Albino Cub Challenge achievement, and a background that is based on your pride leader's karma at the time that you redeem your personal rewards!

The possible background rewards are Challenge: Winter [Cub Cave] for Evil karma, Challenge: Winter [Pelt Cave] for Neutral karma, and Challenge: Winter [Fur Cave] for Good karma.

Challenge: Winter [Cub Cave]
Challenge: Winter [Pelt Cave]
Challenge: Winter [Fur Cave]

2020 Rewards  

The rewards for completing the Albino Cub Challenge in 2020 are the same as the rewards listed above, with two fun additions.

New 2020 Community Reward: Everyone has a 5% chance to breed a Hoarfrost-based cub from a pairing of Interstellar x any parent for the rest of December!
New 2020 Personal Reward: A new marking applicator - Hoarfrost Markings! The applicator is not tied to karma whatsoever.

Hoarfrost Markings
Hoarfrost Markings applicator.

Hoarfrost Dust
Hoarfrost Feline
Hoarfrost Hyena Unders
Hoarfrost Vitiligo

2021 Rewards  

The rewards for completing the Albino Cub Challenge in 2021 are the same as the rewards listed above, with two fun additions.

New 2021 Community Reward: Everyone has a 5% chance to breed a Rime-based cub from a pairing of Orchid x any parent for the rest of December!
New 2021 Personal Reward: A new marking applicator - Rime Markings! The applicator is not tied to karma whatsoever.

Rime Markings
Rime Markings applicator.

Rime Feline
Rime Marbled Undercoat
Rime Points
Rime Reverse Vitiligo Mash

2022 Rewards  

The rewards for completing the Albino Cub Challenge in 2022 are the same as the rewards listed above, with two fun additions.

New 2022 Personal Rewards: A new Mistletoe Markings applicator and a Sculpted Ice Armour set. The applicator and decor set are not tied to karma whatsoever.

Mistletoe Markings
Mistletoe Markings applicator.

Mistletoe Debris
Mistletoe Mesh
Mistletoe Nuzzle
Mistletoe Reverse Indri
Sculpted Ice Armour Set
Sculpted Ice Armour [Back]


Sculpted Ice Armour [Front]


Sculpted Ice Armour [Gauntlets]


2023 Rewards  

The rewards for completing the Albino Cub Challenge in 2023 are the same as the rewards listed above, with four fun additions.

New 2023 Community Reward: Everyone has a 5% chance to breed an Esker-based cub from a pairing of Reindeer x any parent for the rest of December!
New 2023 Personal Rewards: A new Esker Markings applicator, an Albino Dwarf Cub, and an additional decor that is based on your pride leader's karma at the time that you redeem your personal rewards. The applicator and Albino Dwarf Cub are not tied to karma whatsoever, but the other three possible decor rewards are.

The possible decor rewards are Albino Primal Cub for Evil karma, Albino Leopon Cub for Neutral karma, and Albino Tigon Cub for Good karma.

Esker Markings
Esker Markings applicator.

Esker Dinictis
Esker Frosty Roan
Esker Indri
Esker Snuggle
Albino Dwarf Cub
Albino Primal Cub
Albino Leopon Cub
Albino Tigon Cub

2024 Rewards  

The rewards for completing the Albino Cub Challenge in 2024 are the same as the rewards listed above, with four fun additions.

New 2024 Community Reward: Everyone has a 5% chance to breed a Gleam-based cub from a pairing of Dawn x any parent for the rest of December!
New 2024 Personal Rewards: A new Gleam Markings applicator, a Playful Gleam Cub, and an additional background that is based on your pride leader's karma at the time that you redeem your personal rewards. The applicator and Playful Gleam Cub are not tied to karma whatsoever, but the other three possible background rewards are.

The possible background rewards are Challenge: Winter [Night Glacier] for Evil karma, Challenge: Winter [Sunset Glacier] for Neutral karma, and Challenge: Winter [Rainbow Glacier] for Good karma.

Gleam Markings
Gleam Markings applicator.

Gleam Ardeida
Gleam Crackle
Gleam Undershine
Gleam Vitiligo
Playful Gleam Cub
Challenge: Winter [Night Glacier]
Challenge: Winter [Sunset Glacier]
Challenge: Winter [Rainbow Glacier]

What are the karma thresholds for receiving backgrounds and decors?  

Evil Reward: -400 or lower karma
Neutral Reward: Between -399 and +399 karma
Good Reward: +400 or higher karma

A great way to tell if you're within the range of the karma threshold is to check your pride leader's eyes in Explore. The karma thresholds for receiving a certain background are the same thresholds that determine how your pride leader's eyes appear in Explore!

Good (400 or Higher)

Neutral (+399 to -399)

Evil (-400 or Lower)

Can I complete the personal goal more than once in the same year?  

No. The personal goal is a "one and done" deal, meaning you can only complete it once per account per year.

What is the time limit?  

The challenge and any in-game rewards (barring the title, achievement, and items) end on December 31st 11:59pm LDT. This means that after December 31st 11:59pm LDT, Esker, Gleam, Hoarfrost, Rime, and Snowflake will go back to being combo bases that can only be bred from pairing specific factor bases together.

Want to know which bases must be combined in order to breed Esker, Gleam, Hoarfrost, Rime, and Snowflake? Check out the Combo Bases page!

If you reach the personal goal, you must collect your rewards prior to the challenge ending, otherwise you'll lose out on the title, achievement, and items.

Will this repeat next year?  

Yes! The development update for December 2020 confirmed that the Albino Cub Challenge is going to be a recurring annual event, though its requirements and rewards may be adjusted through the years.

Do I have to participate?  

Not at all! Unfortunately, you cannot disable the quest counter on your sidebar panel, so you'll have to tolerate seeing that grumpy Gorella De Vil until the challenge ends.

Do I earn the community reward even if I don't breed any Albino cubs?  

Unfortunately, no. The community reward is only unlocked for players that complete the personal goal of breeding 3 Albino cubs.

Do I have to keep the cubs that I breed?  

Nope! Once the cubs are born, you can safely abandon, chase, freeze, kill, nature reserve, raffle, trade, or transfer them as you please. Your personal counter and the community counter will not be affected.

Do the boosted breeding chances only apply for specific times of day?  

No, they do not! Time of day is irrelevant for boosted breedings. The boosted 5% Esker, Gleam, Hoarfrost, Rime, and Snowflake chances are separate from the actual breeding mechanics for these combo bases, meaning the bases can trigger on cubs even if it's outside of the required time of day for them to show up. Essentially, once the boosted chance is triggered, you can breed a Hoarfrost cub during daytime, and a Rime cub during nighttime! This is only true for December once the Community Goal has been reached. Breeding for these bases once the Albino Cub Challenge ends will still require the correct season and time of day.

Do the breeding chances stack if pairing two combo factor bases together?  

Yes, they do! If you breed Albino x Interstellar parents together, you can get Snowflake and Hoarfrost cubs in the litter; similarly, Albino x Orchid can result in Snowflake and Rime, and Interstellar x Orchid can result in Hoarfrost and Rime.

The boost chance can also overwrite bases, so if you breed Albino x Interstellar and the boosted chance rolls for Snowflake on one cub, there is then a 5% chance that it could be overwritten by Hoarfrost on the same cub. Breeding Albino x Orchid runs the same risk of Snowflake rolling, then being overwritten by Rime, and the same is true for Interstellar x Orchid with Hoarfrost being overwritten by Rime. Thankfully, the boost applies to multiple cubs in the litter, so it's definitely a risk worth taking!