Wooly Whammoth: Review

Wooly Whammoth: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Simultaneous Selection, Player Elimination, Hand Management

Player Age: 8+

Player Count: 2 - 4 Players 

Time to Play: 20 - 30 Minutes 
Designers: Rebecca Bleau, Nicholas Cravotta
Artists: Culpeo Fox

Publisher: Smirk and Dagger Games
Year Published: 2018

BGG Complexity: 2.00/5

Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

Objective:

Hunting season has arrived, time to gather your cave tribe and either kill mammoths to gain six mammoth meats or outlast the other cave tribes and have a surviving member while no other tribes have any surviving members.

Game Anatomy:

Cave People:

Each player will have a cave tribe of four cave people, all of which matching one colour.

Mammoths:

At the end of every hunting board there will be a mammoth waiting to either charge at the cave people or be pushed off the cliff by one.

Hunting Path Boards:

Each board has a top and a bottom part. The board will have a start position, the end where the mammoth sits, two locations at the end where if your cave person goes they will push the mammoth off the cliff and gain a mammoth meat, lastly there are tar pits, that if a cave person ends their turn there they will sink into the tar pit and die. Every time a mammoth is successfully killed, from your board, the board will extend one space introducing more tar pits and more distance from the mammoth.

Movement Cards:

There are eight movement cards for each player. Five of which have a movement number (one of which being a negative 3). Three of the movement cards will have a +1 or negative -1 on the right side of the card.  This can modify your movement once all the movement cards are revealed. One card will let the player take a break and not move that round, and one card will have the mammoths charge at the cave people.

Charge Cards:

If a player plays a charge card after every player has moved, the mammoth will move by drawing a card from the charge deck. If the mammoth runs onto the same space as a cave person they will squash the cave person and that player will lose one of their cave people. The exception is if that player played a duck and ambush card, which will result in the mammoth being pushed off the edge and the cave person surviving and gaining mammoth meat.

Mammoth Meat Tokens:

Whenever one of your cave people successfully push a mammoth off the cliff (even if your cave person goes with the mammoth) you will gain one mammoth meat token. Remember gain six and you have won.

Tribal Ability Cards:

These cards are optional adding more decision making to the game. Each tribe has a card that matches their colour and they can only be used once per game so choose when to use them wisely. Each tribe has two options but only one can be used.

Set up:

- Assemble the hunting boards for every player, by sliding the top board on top of the bottom board and have the start position on the bottom board revealed.
- Have each player choose a tribe colour and gain the matching movement cards (and give them the matching tribal abilities if they are being used).
- Every player will gather their four cave people and a mammoth.
- Every player should place one cave person at the start position and the mammoth at the last place of their board.
- Shuffle the charge cards and place that deck and the mammoth tokens within reach of all players.

How to Play:

Instead of individual turns wooly whammoth is played simultaneously.

Play Movement Cards:

Each player will place a movement card from their hand face down. Once every player has played a card all players cards will be revealed.

Move Cave People:

With most other games the player will now move equal to the value they played. In this game however, every player moves equal to the total value of all cards. For example, if an 8, -3, 5 and 4 are played every player will move 14 spaces. There are two exceptions to this rule if a player plays 'take a break' their character will not move this turn, the other exception is numerous cards have a +1 or -1 in the right-hand corner.

This allows that player to either add 1 or reduce 1 from the total movement. Remember if you push a mammoth off the edge (by stopping at the last two spaces or running off the edge) you will gain one mammoth meat. If your character stops movement in a tar pit, runs off the edge or is squished by a mammoth you will lose one of your four cave people.

Clean-Up:

This is when all the pieces will be cleaned up before the next round. The cards played this round will be discarded, If the mammoth charged or was knocked off the cliff they will return to their starting place if a cave person died their player will place another member of their tribe onto the starting location.

If the mammoth was pushed off the cliff this turn the cave person will reset to the start of the board and the board will extend by one space. If you ever need to draw your cards back into your hand (as you often will) discard one mammoth meat and redraw your eight cards.

If there is no winner (a player has six mammoth meat or only one player has cave people alive) the game will end else a new round will begin and this will continue until there is a winner.

Final Thoughts:

Pros:
- Fun with all player counts.
- As everyone has the same movement cards available it has an interesting level of guessing what cards the other players will play when.
- Great components that bring the game to life, with the extendable board and each cave person and mammoth having a name in their standee.
- Easy to grasp rules, with two methods of winning.

'Wooly Whammoth' is a great family weight and party game that will have everyone laughing as they strategically cause the extinction of other cave tribes and successfully ram the mammoths off the cliff. The twist on movement turns this from a fun casual game to a game that is party and family weight but has depth in what card should be played when to gain the most benefit. For example, should you play a charge card when your opponents are closer then you  to the mammoth or if you play a high number will you run off the cliff because your not the only one to play a high card this round. This is 100% getting a Silver Seal of Approval for its ease of play, fun and hidden depth.

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