Wolf & Hound is a partnership game by Ninja Star Games that is a remake of Japanese game designer Fukutarou’s Tamamoool: Defend the Egg.
New to Kickstarter? Check out our crowdfunding primer. This post was sponsored by Ninja Star Games.
Wolf & Hound is a casual two vs two partnership game for ages ten and up that plays in about 10 to 20 minutes. The basics of the game are really simple–save your and your partner’s sheep from the wolves while also trying to cause your opponents to lose all of their sheep first.
Game Contents
- 32 Number Cards
- 16 Wolf & Hound Cards
- 4 Player Cards
- 1 Center Board
- 4 Pasture Boards
- 4 Sets of Pasture Fences & 16 Sheep Tokens
- Rule Book (Draft Rulebook Available Here)
Game Setup
The Center Board is placed in the middle of the table. Each player gets a Pasture Board, four fences (to make a square pen), and three sheep tokens. The player cards are shuffled and randomly dealt to each player. This determines teams and play order and players should sit clockwise in the order of play.Each player is then dealt four number cards. The remaining cards are placed in the middle of the Center Board as the Main deck. Lastly, Wolf & Hound cards are selected (start with the 01 of each for beginners) and placed in front of Player 1 on the main board. It’s that simple!
Game Play
Game Play is also fairly simple and straightforward, especially when using the beginner Wolf 01 and Hound 01. There are four phases of game play.
- Wolf & Hound Phase
- Check game end condition
- Play Phase
- Draw Phase
Wolf & Hound Phase
This phase is skipped on the very first turn of player one. If there are any Wolf or Hound cards in front of you at the start of your turn, they activate. In general, a wolf card reduces your sheep (by scaring them away) and a hound card increases your sheep (by herding scared sheep back to your pen). This is one of the things that makes this game fairly all-ages–your sheep are not eaten but simply scared away and awaiting rescue by the hound. Though the game’s stated age is ten and up, I think at least the most basic version can be played by any player young enough to be able to count and think a little strategically.
Check game end condition
When a player’s turn is done, a check is made to see if any player has zero sheep. If so, the game ends.
Play Phase
A player must choose and play one card face up. A card will either have a black or white number on it indicating whether it moves the wolf or hound, respectively. All Wolf & Hound cards that match the movement cards value move clockwise around the board the indicated number of spaces. All cards played are kept face up in front of the person who played it so everyone can see which cards have already been used.
Draw Phase
A player draws a card from the main deck to replenish the card played and play continues to the next player. If the draw deck is empty, play continues to the next player without a card being drawn.
Pretty simple right? The game ends when either one person has no sheep left in their pasture, or when a person has no cards left in their hand. In the latter scenario, the team with the most sheep remaining wins.
The basic game is very simple and easy to learn and play and the artwork is very whimsical which makes this a perfect game for kids, the family, or casual gaming sessions.
However, there are plenty of advanced cards and rules to make the game go from extremely simple to extremely difficult. There are both various Wolf and Hound cards with special abilities and modifiers as well as blue cards that make things even more challenging (like skipping your turn if it’s in front of you).
Wolf & Hound would be a great game to have around the house to play with your kids, your non-gaming friends and family, or even as a quick and easy palate cleansing game. Be a part of the Kickstarter project and back the game here!
