The animals in the barnyard are ready to be brought in from fields. However, the mischievous black sheep also wants to sneak into the corrals in order to let other animals out!

Black Sheep pits 2-4 farmers against one another as they attempt to build up the best stable of animals. This game by renowned designer Reiner Knizia, and featuring adorable art by artist Ursula Vernon, brings home fun for the entire family. 

 

Players take turns playing cards from their hand to make combinations of animals following a barnyard hierarchy: Horses are ranked the highest, followed by cows, then pigs, then sheep. Roosters are at the end of the line, followed only by the mischievous Black Sheep himself!

 

Check out the graph below for the list of livestock combinations!

Play begins by mixing up the small plastic animal figures, then drawing the top two cards off the animal deck. Place one of each animal shown on the cards in the first field. Repeat this for each field. Each player then draws three cards, then moos! The player with the loudest moo goes first.

 

The game proceeds when the first player places a card on a field. After playing each card, players draw back up to a hand of three. Once each player has placed three cards on a single field, the player with the best combination wins (see the chart above). That player takes the animals from the field and places them on his corral! Once a field is cleared, draw the top two cards of the animal deck and place the corresponding animals on the now empty field.

The game ends when two different types of animals can not be placed, as they are all in someone's corral. The players add up the points on the bottom of the animal minis and the highest point total wins. But be careful! When adding up points, the black sheep counts against you!

 

Black Sheep is accessible enough for the whole family to enjoy, but hides deep strategy behind a seemingly simple concept. And with the official variants included in the rules, you’ll enjoy plenty of replayability. Pick it up today, and take your family on a fun-filled trip to the farm!