Our Battle Sheep review, what we have to say about the competitive abstract strategy board game. After a board is formed of pasture tiles, players put their stack of angry sheep tokens on a remote space of the outskirts of the board. Their goal is to move across as many of the pastures spaces as possible before your opponents can do the same. The key to winning one of these quick 15 minute showdowns is to pin your fellow players in so their sheep are stuck and cannot move.
This is a great title that has an incredible amount of game shoved into a short time window of time. It has aggressive in your face play, but it is too fast moving to create any real life grudges. We took a look across fun, replayability, player interaction, quality and art & style to come up with the overall score for our Battle Sheep review. See the breakdown by category below.
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– CATEGORY BREAKDOWN –
Fun (9 out of 10)
For the fun section of the Battle Sheep review, we award a fantastic 9 out of 10. There is so much game crammed into a quick 15 minutes. This is an all out, screw over your neighbor type of game. Those typically come with the baggage of no one wanting to attack anyone or their being this animosity around the table. Well, in this case, the game goes by so quickly that there is no room for that.
You go all out for a quick run, some sheep are going to get hurt along the way but that is ok but it is over before you can blink. It is like the classic game of Connect 4, who cares if someone blocks you because you are already on to the next move. The game is also incredibly simple, there are about 3 rules – move one stack, move it in a direction and stop when you hit something. Everything together makes this a quickfire experience that is hard to beat.
Replayability (8 out of 10)
For the replayability section of the Battle Sheep review, we award a wonderful 8 out of 10. The games go by so quick and they are so easy to setup that you will be playing another game before you even realize it. As we have already said, there is so much game in such a small amount of time, it is hard to grow tired of. And it is so lightweight, that hopping into a game is one of the simplest things ever.
Just because it is quick and easy doesn’t mean you are sacrificing on gameplay. The strategy is tough and it is competitive. Every game is different because it is how players play off one another. This keeps things very fresh and games feel like they are brand new each and every time. There are also the terrain boards. With these changing every game, leaving gaps or making weird configurations, you have to change up your strategy and test players’ ability to adapt.
Player Interaction (9 out of 10)
For the player interaction section of the Battle Sheep review, we award a fantastic 9 out of 10. This is a simple game with simple rules because it is just a conduit for an all out showdown between players. Everything you think about and every move you make is in response to what the other players just did. The other players in the game dictate everything about how the game will go.
As previously mentioned, this is that cutthroat game that is short enough to not be the type of thing that will bother that casual player that doesn’t like taking negative actions against other players. This solves a big problem in the player interaction world. If you have a mix of these types of players, it can make for some awkward games. This, however, should be something that will satisfy everyone and really bridge that player gap.
Quality (8 out of 10)
For the quality section of the Battle Sheep review, we award a fantastic 8 out of 10. Whenever you can make an incredibly simple game that is rich and satisfying, you deserve a big round of applause. That is certainly the case here with what designer Francesco Rotta has created. The game three rules, yet it is deeply strategic and something you are going to want to play over and over again. It mixes all the right things to make a great experience for the time and setup needed to play.
There is not much to the components, but what they do have is some of the best stuff out there. The sheep tokens are these very heavy plastic token that are more satisfying to hold than Las Vegas poker chips, and they all have different sheep art on them instead of just one to boot. The other component is the game board pieces. They are just cardboard but they are thick and will certainly hold up.
Art & Style (6 out of 10)
For the art & style section of the Battle Sheep review, we award a solid 6 out of 10. There is almost no artwork to this game at all but you still have to artist Andrea Femerstrand credit for making all different kinds of sheep art for the tokens instead of just using one. Each and everyone one of their expressions is priceless, all looking like they are about to head off to some kind of battle and have a particular emotion about it.
– IN CLOSING –
Battle Sheep Review | Board Game Halv
Battle Sheep is so much game crammed into a quick 15-minute game. Picking it up is easy since there are about three rules, setup takes about 60s and every game is very different. And just because it is quick & easy doesn't mean you lose anything in the strategic gameplay department. This game is a simple one that allows for all out screw-your-neighbor showdowns that are so quick, the negative actions against one other do not spark any real-life grudges. This has been our Battle Sheep review, we hope you liked it.
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See the full explanation of the judging criteria here.
