YORKTON – One of the coolest things about reviewing games, and one of the most challenging, is when a prototype arrives and hits the game table.
The ‘cool’ comes from getting an early look at a game – knowing you are among the first to play it.
The challenge comes from rules which might still need some finalizing, smoothing and organizing in a better way.
And so it was as The Sheep from designers Jeremy Stark and Kyle Talbert and publisher Zero Strategy Games arrived.
This is a game which is generally in the wheelhouse of The Meeple Guild. We generally like co-operative efforts – players against the game, and that is what The Sheep is.
And it is also a game with a great theme. Sheep are mutating into dangerous beasts and attacking humans. Players take on the role of shepherds who must guide a number of caravans across the board to safety. That is the lone win condition.
You can lose in a number of ways however, as is usually the case in such games.
So what did we think of The Sheep?
Well let’s start with the art, which is great although we would have opted for a mutated ram on the box front over the rather sedate sheep they used.
Inside the box – remembering prototype so things may change – quality was very good, although the really great mutie sheep art maybe doesn’t get ‘seen’ enough as you play.
And the player character and caravan standees, at least in the prototype, were too dark to easily differentiate on the board. It is note worthy in the Kickstarter campaign there is an add-on to get printable stl. files for the characters and sheep (the sheep are wood in the proto and work fine).
Our biggest issue was the printed rules which were a challenge to follow and a bit confusing which we recognize as rather normal for an early look edition, but frustration steals some initial thunder from the game experience.
Each player gets a board which lays out the various things they need – lanterns, levels etc. Everything has a place although the cube that marks curses and ‘points’ didn’t fit well (nudge board and they’d move), while everything else was fine.
Now there are a lot of stacks of cards and cubes, and sheep, and other stuff that spread across the table, so not everything is easy to read from where you may be sitting. This is not exactly a table ‘hog’ but certainly a table ‘piglet’.
Once into game play, after those initial proto-rule bumps, The Sheep works smoothly enough. The player’s get a card with what happens on a turn nicely detailed which keeps the game on track.
The sheep of course spawn at sites across the board in a hurry and like good zombie-inspired woollies frolic merrily toward the travelling caravans to graze on some human flesh.
The players need to coordinate what they will do, different skills and items help at different times, if they want to win.
Like any good co-op winning is hard-earned here, and that is as it should be.
But, is The Sheep a good co-op overall?
The simple answer is yes.
The off-beat theme, and cool art catch attention initially, and game play doesn’t let the game down at all.
It’s also good to get a new co-op game – at least The Meeple Guild thinks that – and The Sheep might be the best of 2025 at least to-date.
Check it out at zerostratgames.com
