The whole of the stack being moved must be kept together and can only stop once they reach the last unoccupied pasture (hex) in that straight line (without jumping gaps or other sheep!). Then the game itself can begin.Įach player, in turn, takes some of the sheep tiles from the stack (they must leave a minimum of one behind) and moves them all as far as possible in one direction. Once all pasture tiles have been laid, each player places their stack of 16 sheep into one of the perimeter hexes of the play area. Players take turns to place one tile on the play area, adjacent to the others - leaving gaps is permissible, as long as the newly-laid tile joins on one side. Each player is given four identical pasture tiles, each made up of four hexes. The pasture area is assembled by the players at the start of the game. However, so are the other players, and at the same time, the other players (shepherds?) are trying to scupper your plans to spread out. In Battle Sheep, designed by Francesco Rotta, players are trying to spread their flock as wide as possible into a limited space. Battle Sheep is a relatively simple game, which can have some real face-palm moments, all in the name of fun. They may look chirpy and fun, but those sheep can be evil. In the case of a tiebreak, the player who has placed the largest contiguous (touching) flock of sheep wins!

Player elimination can – and will – occur if players can no longer move any of their stacks. It’s all-too easy to get hemmed in, if you’re not careful! The aim is to spread all 16 of your sheep out. Sheep chips are literal barriers, meaning your stacks cannot pass through them. On later turns, you can then split any of your stacks.Īs Battle Sheep progresses, the pasture becomes more and more congested with sheep. It has to travel as far as it can go, in that direction. You move the split part in any direction leading out of that hex. On your turn, you have to split your stack (so leaving at least one sheep behind, or moving at least one sheep from it). You stack them on any one of the pasture’s edge hexes. And when you do, it opens up some devilish strategy options!Įach player starts with a stack of 16 sheep, in the form of plastic ‘poker’-sized chips. If you want to create awkward gaps in it, you can. Meaning you’ll create a unique, giant, wacky modular board layout every time. The next player places another tile adjacent to this, and so on and so forth. You begin by placing a tile – consisting of four hexes, interlinked – onto the table.

Setting up is part of playing Battle Sheep, itself! Games of Battle Sheep are easy to teach, and there’s no dull waiting while someone sets up the game. Battle Sheep is an abstract strategy game by Blue Orange Games that takes things to pastures new! This is a wonderful tactile game about managing your own rival flocks of sheep using grid movement.

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