Review by Spellenwijs

Short review

Sheep Showdown radiates humor. And if your group enjoys this kind of games, you will undoubtedly have a fun evening.

“Uh, ‘this kind of’ games? What do you mean by that, Hans?”

Well, short games with ‘Take That’. Games where you can take actions to the detriment of another player. Games where you deliberately try to thwart each other. The best comparison I can make is Exploding Kittens.

Do you like that one? Then this one will suit you well too.

A friend of mine even said during the game: “oh, this is a party game!” but I do not assign that definition to it. A hilarious or funny game. That is it.

But a party game feels a bit lighter to me. With Sheep Showdown, you still have to think quite a bit.

Or well, you can try ;). Usually, you lose track of the chaos on the board or you just get totally screwed over by your opponents. And with the right group, that will lead to funny situations.

Moreover, Sheep Showdown includes player elimination. Players can be knocked out in a round. Also relatively early. But you don't have to wait long. At most a few minutes. I just don't think this is a feature for a party game.

In terms of production, it is neat. It is a eco-friendly game, which means that the environment was taken into consideration during production. Even the bag that the wooden dogs were in, I could throw in the green waste.

A critical note is in the game rules. First of all, I don't like long, fold-out leaflets – but okay, that can be a cost-conscious choice. Secondly, I missed some explicit explanations on a few matters. I have submitted those to Growly Games. Below you can see their answers:

• Question: What happens if you move a dog with the wolf to a green field?
• Answer: Then the owner of the dog receives the respective card.

• Question: Are you allowed to rocket over a field with another dog?
• Answer: Yes

• Question: Only dogs allowed on cards dead next to Kowalski or all dogs?
• Answer: All dogs, including the dog on Kowalski.

• Question: Are you blocked if you play action cards a loop can keep making, but cannot pick up new sheep?
• Answer: No, as long as you can reach a different field than your starting field with a move, you will not get stuck. You might not collect anything anymore, but you also won't be blocked and no card can be stolen from you.

In terms of gameplay, it can go in any direction. Sometimes you perform poorly in the first 2 rounds, but flourish in the 3rd, resulting in you still winning.

Personally, I always wonder what I'm playing for in the first 2 rounds… on the other hand, the game remains interesting for everyone – even those who start poorly – until the end.

Finally, I want to say that the downside of the wolf feels somewhat negligible. Sometimes you can really take points away from someone by moving his or her piece. And that in exchange for just 1 wolf. Which – if someone steals from you – can also be taken away from you. Often, that is really worth it.

My point is: just grab that wolf, because that usually creates the best moments!