Unexploded Cow

 

I have a confession to make.  I like exploding things.  Fireworks, kittens (no really, I’ll review that game when it gets delivered), and yes cows.

From the Cheapass Games Website:

“Europe. Summer. 1997.
You have discovered two problems with a common solution: mad cows in England, and unexploded bombs in France.
In Unexploded Cow, you play a savvy entrepreneur who wants to help solve the world's problems, by blowing up lots of cows. You'll round up a herd of mad cows, give them a stirring pep talk, and march them through the French countryside. In doing so, you will clear fields of leftover ordnance from long-forgotten wars. And you'll make a few bucks doing it.”

This is the brilliant concept first arrived in stores in 2001, and has since become one of Cheapass Games most popular titles, re-released in 2013 as a Deluxe Version.  While the original, like all Cheapass Games, was printed in Black & White, and came without the money, or dice needed to play, just the cards, and instructions.  The deluxe version, again like all of the newly rereleased deluxe versions, comes in beautiful full colour, high quality cardboard money tokens, and standard six-sided die (with a cool custom die available from the website)

The basic rules are as follows.  You play cow cards into your field, and role a die to see if it blows up.  If you blow up one of your own cows, on your own turn, you get the victory points for the city that you were in, and payment for the now deceased cow.  If it was someones else’s cow that goes boom, they get payment but not victory points and play continues with the next player.  There a several different types of cows, some good, some bad, and several variants to each type. My personal favorite is Kasper, the Fat Cow who's art is a homage to the great movie The Maltese Falcon.

It’s a simple enough game to learn, and it’s just strange enough to be a HUGE blast to play.  (heh heh see what I did there?)

You can download the free print-and-play version here: http://www.cheapass.com/freegames/uxcow but if you enjoy it, I strongly recommend picking up the full deluxe edition at your friendly local gaming store, or you can go here for a link to order it online (along with some other rare goodies) http://www.cheapass.com/games/uxcowdeluxe

Whether you are playing the original, free, B&W edition, or the beautiful rereleased deluxe edition, you are sure to have a great experience with this game. I don't know ANYONE who hasn't.