Oh My Sheep! Preview

Quick Look:

WARNING: This is a preview of Oh My Sheep! All components and rules are prototype and subject to change.

In Oh My Sheep players take command of one of three races in a fight over snagging the most sheep for their lunch. The player with the most sheep at the end of the game wins!!!

To set up Oh My Sheep each player will take one player mat and a Race deck of their choice. The remaining player mat(s) and Race deck(s) are removed from the game. The flock mat is placed in the center of the table and the Flock deck is shuffled and placed face down on that mat. The dice is then placed in reach of each player. Players will now shuffle their Race decks drawing five starting cards and place the remainder face down on the “deck” position on their player mat.

Three player set up.

Players roll the dice to determine who goes first (high roll wins). On a players turn she will do the following steps:

1. Draws two cards from Race deck and adds them to her hand.
2. Move creatures from the traveling position into the hunting position. When a Creature card is played (see step 3) it is placed sideways on the “creature” space on the player mat. This indicates the creature is traveling (on the way to go get lunch). During step two the traveling creatures are turned 90 degrees into the hunting position (time to hunt).
3. Play up to three cards from her hand. Race decks are made up of three types of cards (and combinations of those three types):
1. Creature cards. These cards represent creatures of a race and are used for hunting. Creature cards are played into the “creature” position on the player mat as stated above (in step 2).
2. Skill cards, which are special actions your creatures can take, are played to assist your hunting creatures or hamper your opponent’s.
3. Trap cards are played into the “trap” position on the player mat and used to hinder your opponents.

The hunt is on. Sending in 3 goblins with the Bless skill card (plus 1 to die roll)

Three Race decks and Flock deck.

Cyclops deck

Orc deck

Goblin Deck

Flock deck

Review:

Rules and Setup:
Learning and setting up Oh My Sheep is a breeze. It only takes minutes to set up and about the same amount of time to learn how to play. Teaching others to play is also quick and players of all ages are able to pick it up.

The rule book I received is still a little rough but I am sure it will be ironed out during the Kickstarter campaign. Actually it’s not bad for a company not located in an English speaking country.

Theme and Mechanics:
The theme of Oh My Sheep is super fun—Orcs, Goblins and Cyclops fighting over a flock of sheep. Each deck of race cards really helps build the theme with special powers that match perfectly with the races. Cyclops have a big stomp and a big swing while the crafty Goblins can catapult, rocket, and steal sheep away from other players.

While very simple, the mechanics, work really well with the theme. Players are basically drawing cards and playing cards to gain points. But the “take that” element in the mechanics really gives you the feeling of fighting for these sheep.

Game Play:
The game play of Oh My Sheep is quick and smooth. Player’s turns generally move quickly as you aren’t doing a lot and you have thought before hand what your next move is. So down time is minimal.

The box says the game is for 15+ however my 7 and 9 year-olds easily picked up the game (and won). I would say the age range should be 8+. The box also has the play time at 20 – 30 minutes. I would say 20 minutes is closer to the reality with three players. Maybe the fourth player would bump this time up.

There is great player interaction with a lot of “take that”. I normally don’t enjoy games with a heavy “take that” element unless that is what the game is about. Similar to Killer Bunnies, you just go into it with the mind set of that is how it is going to be. There is also a fair amount of luck with the drawing of race and flock cards and dice rolling, but it is still very enjoyable as it stays somewhat balanced.

Artwork and Components:
The artwork on this one is AMAZING! When I first saw it I was immediately drawn in. There is a huge variety of cards for each race each with it’s own artwork. So there is a ton of art in this game and it all looks great. Hopefully I have done it justice with the photos I have included.

The copy of Oh My Sheep that I received is a prototype and thus the components are not final. I am hoping to see some high quality cards in the final version to really make this game solid. A custom die would also be a great touch.

The Good:
The artwork, as mentioned above is fantastic, and really ties the theme and mechanics together. The game play is smooth and fast and super easy to learn. The theme is well integrated and the mechanics really emphasize the feeling of fighting for your lunch.

The Bad:
My only gripe would be that occasionally you can get a combination of cards that are over powered. I had one turn where I had three double Orc cards with the Big Hand skill card (which lets you take an extra sheep) and ended up getting 12 sheep on a single turn. My opponents had no traps which they could play that would stop this from happening. I was easily able to win that game. The great thing is the games are so short that we quickly set up and played again.

The dream team!

Final Thoughts:
Oh My Sheep is a great quick game for just about any game group. It works really well with younger kids and they will love the artwork. Quick enough to set up and play this makes for a great filler game or single game with multiple rounds. I am so excited to see what they do with the Kickstarter campaign with the stretch goals and add-ons. I am hoping to see a few more races come into play along with more cards for each race (as indicated).

This game will definitely be on my shelf and I may have to back the campaign to get the final version with all the goodies.

My 9 year-old had this to say “I really like the powers each race has and I love the artwork”. And my 7 year-old said “The artwork is fun and I love grabbing the different sheep and playing the different skill cards”.

Players Who Like:
Players who like fast paced card games like Munchkin, Killer Bunnies, and Fluxx will love Oh My Sheep.

8.5

10

      

About the Author:

My name is Dane Trimble I am the Advertising Manager for a national magazine by day and a husband, father of four, and board gamer by night (and mornings). I have a passion for board games as I believe board games help bring families closer together while providing kids a unique way to learn many diverse skills. And they are down right fun!!!