Chickapig
Chickapig Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Everything You Need to Know About Chickapigs
You want to get your entire flock of Chickapigs off the board by escaping through your goal, which is located directly across from your 6 Chickapigs.
Chickapigs move in a straight line (forwards, backwards, or sideways). They cannot move diagonally. Once they start moving, they can't stop until they encounter another Chickapig, a hay bale, the cow (and cow fence), the perimeter of the game board, or the sides of the goals. The Chickapig stops in the space adjacent to whichever object it has encountered. One move is counted every time the Chickapig moves to encounter an object.
You can only move your own color Chickapigs. You cannot move your Chickapigs inside the other players' goals.
Everything You Need to Know About Hay Bales
Hay bales are used offensively to help your Chickapigs find their way through your goal. They are also used defensively to block your opponents' Chickapigs from getting to their goals.
Hay bales may be moved one space at a time (forwards, backwards, or sideways). Diagonal movements are not allowed. One move is counted every time the hay bale moves one space. Hay bales can be moved to any open square on the board, including inside the goals.
You can only move your own color hay bales.
Everything You Need to Know About the Cow
If a player rolls a 1, they have the option to pick up the cow and place it in any open square on the board. When the cow is placed on an open square, it poops, and a poop is placed beneath the cow.
The first time a player rolls a 1 & chooses to move the cow, they must also remove the cow fence from the board for the remainder of the game.
Any player can still move the cow on their turn - even if they do not roll a 1. In this instance the cow moves one square at a time, just like hay bales. The cow cannot move diagonally. One move is counted every time the cow moves one space. The cow does not poop during this move; it only poops when a 1 is rolled and the cow is placed on an open square.
Everything You Need to Know About Poop
Cows like poop, Chickapigs do not! When the cow poops and then moves again, the poop stays in the square where the cow left it. When you pass over a poop with a Chickapig or hay bale, remove the poop from the board and take a Poop Card. The Poop Card is read out loud and enforced at the end of the player's turn, then is shuffled back into the deck.
All of the poop cards are bad because no one wants to step in poop.
Chickapigs do not stop at poops, but slip right through them until they hit another object.
The cow can travel back over its own poop with no consequence, but it cannot double poop in one square.
Everything You Need to Know About Daisy Cards
If you roll a 2, you have the option of taking a Daisy Card instead of using your 2 moves. All the Daisy Cards are good. Keep the Daisy Card a secret and use it at any point during the rest of the game (while it's your turn). You can only hold one Daisy Card at a time, and you cannot play a Daisy Card on the turn that you pick it up. After you play a Daisy Card, shuffle it back into the deck.
How to Play
-
Set up the board like the diagram on the right.
-
Roll to determine who goes first. Highest roll goes first and then play continues clockwise for the rest of the game.
-
On your turn, roll the die and move your pieces.
The number you roll represents the total number of moves you have on that turn. You are free to move any of your pieces, or the cow, in any order until you've reached your move limit. You must reach your total move limit. Coordinate your Chickapigs and your hay bales to quickly get all of your Chickapigs through your goal.
The first player who gets their entire flock of Chickapigs through their goal wins the game!
-
You may play defensively by blocking with your own Chickapigs, hay bales, and the cow. Whenever possible, poop in other players' goals and other areas their Chickapigs might have to cross over.
-
It is illegal to completely block another player's goal. There must always be at least one way through the goal for every Chickapig. An illegal block can consist of a combination of Chickapigs and hay bales anywhere on the board that completely blocks access to one's goal.
No illegal block exists if a player can access their goal by moving their own pieces, or the cow, no matter how many moves it may take to get there.
-
One slow Chickapig player can really slow down the fun. Whether you use the included sand timer, or set your own timer, feel free to impose a specified time per move to keep the game rolling along.
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 6 Chickapigs per color
- 4 Hay Bales per color
- 1 Cow
- 1 Cow Fence
- 8 Cow Poops
- 9 Poop Cards
- 9 Daisy Cards
- 1 Sand Timer
- 1 Chickapig Die
4 Players or 4 Teams
Ages 8 to Adult
Example of an Opening Move
See diagrams for an example of an opening move for Red if a 6 is rolled.
- Move your Chickapig into the open row.
- Move your hay bale into the row so your Chickapig will have something to bump into. (Otherwise it would run all the way to the edge of the board.)
- Move your Chickapig across the board.
- Move your hay bale so that your Chickapig can stop in front of the goal.
- Move your Chickapig into scoring position.
- Move your Chickapig through the goal and remove it from the board.
Notice how Red has now opened up the possibility for Green to score in only 5 moves. Do you see how?
2-Player Chickapig
Want to really test your skills? Try 2-player Chickapig, where skill will triumph almost every time no matter how good or bad your rolling is.
It's simple; all rules from standard 4-player Chickapig apply, but turn the board diagonally so that each player controls two adjacent flocks of Chickapigs. During your turn you may move either of your two colors in any order, but Chickapigs still have to go through their own color-coded goal.
First player to get 10 Chickapigs through their goals wins the game.
Player 1 plays with green and yellow flocks. Player 2 plays with blue and red flocks.
A Simpler Idea
Our official 2-player rules are explained above, but we are big fans of "house rules" and experimenting with new ideas. Here's an idea for a very easy 2-player variation that is great for beginners and younger kids. Set up the board with only two colors. First player to get 4 Chickapigs through the goal wins the game. These games will go by really fast and are a good way to get a feel for the mechanics of the game.
Player 1 plays with the green flock. Player 2 plays with the red flock.
© Chickapig, LLC. All rights reserved.