Chickapig?

Chickapig looked cute when I bought it, but it sat on the shelf for a while because it also looked a bit dopey.  So, when we finally sat down to play we figured what the heck, it could be fun.  And fun it was.



It's an abstract game where you try to get your little animals across the board.  There are chickapigs, hay bales, and a cow that poops when it moves.  Haybales can only move one space orthagonally, but your chickapigs can move in a straight line until they hit an obstacle.  They cannot stop halfway.  You roll a die to see how many moved you get, and you can choose any combination of pieces to move ... so you can smack into another piece then change direction, shoot all the way across the board and bonk into something else.

If you roll a one, you have to move the cow instead.  In this case, you can move it to any other space, but it leaves a poop behind.  If you roll a two, you can either make two moves or take a card you can use now or later.  Your chickapigs can move through a space with a poop, but then you get a poop card, and none of those have positive outcomes.



You can also choose to move the cow as one of your regular moves, but then it only moves one square and does not poop.  Or you can use one of your moves to move a haybale one space.

Yes, it sounds a bit silly.  But it's hilarious.  You can score a chickapig all the way from the back row across to the distant goal post in a single turn, bouncing off things like you're in a pinball machine.  Maybe there's a poop in the way of your goal, and you score anyway, only to draw a poop card that sends one of your pigs back to the starting point.



Here is a shot from one of our games.  That green chickapig at the bottom, just left of the red line, can move up one, then right 2, then shoot all the way across the board to score ... I picked up the die and rolled a 4, so I got enough moves to pull it off.  There are a unexpected twists, and a lot of cases where the other player will point out some cool move you missed.  And poop cards.

Here is a video from an energetic family game night where they show how much chaos and fun this game has to offer.

This is a keeper.  It has the right blend of strategy and chaos and funny stuff for us.

 


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