Game Like a Mother

Quick Take: Never underestimate the power of a good theme. Move piles of sheep in order to block your opponents and control the most pasture. Teaches a lot of the same principles as chess or checkers but with fun sheep tiles, so your kid will want to play. But it's not too cutesie for adults. Solid game! 

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How to Play: The goal of the game is to capture the most pasture spaces. Each player begins with four pasture land tiles and a stack of 16 sheep of a specific color. The youngest player goes first, they get to place a pasture tile and then the other player gets to place a tile until they have laid out the pasture land that makes the game board. The game board is different each time you play, depending on how you place your pasture tiles. Gaps in the board are okay. Players place their entire stack of sheep on one spot on the side of the board and then take turns moving stacks of sheep in order to strategically control the most pasture spaces on the board. At least one sheep must be moved per turn and at least one sheep must be left on the stack that has sheep moving from it. The stack of sheep you are moving travel in a straight line until they are stopped by the end of the board or other sheep. Sheep cannot skip over other sheep or be added to another stack. The game ends when no sheep can be moved. At this point each player counts up the number of spots their sheep occupy, whoever has the most wins. In the case of the tie the player with the most connected pasture spots they control wins. 

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Variations: I found a variant where taller sheep stacks get to ignore shorter ones in their way and continue to the end of the board if they so choose. The idea is the top sheep on the stack can see over the short one in their way and continue on past them. Fun option for more advanced players!

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Similar Games To Check Out: Blokus, Labyrinth, Kingdomino, Latice, Tsuro