Unexploded Cow Card Game

What is it with Cheapass Games and their love of all things French? Three of their recent games --  Veritas , Fish Cook , and this one -- are all set in France, and UXP Cow, besides featuring spiffy new color artwork by Cheyenne Wright and a generic six-sided die, now includes cardboard money tokens in francs, rather than euros or dollars. Makes perfect sense as long as you're busy blowing up mad cows in Tommie uniforms inside a dozen Cordon Rouge zones.True to form for a game from this company, the object is to finish with at least a little more money than you started with, because both the players and the pot you ante into are prone to running out of cash. Opponents steal your most valuable cows, plant spies and other financial liabilities into your herd, and cheerfully dedicate their efforts to making sure that your broke ass remains that way. This is only slightly more absurd than some of the real life, cutthroat get-rich-quick schemes I've heard of, and it makes for one helluva funny filler game. (The one significant rules change from the 2001 edition is that rolling a six now obliges the player on your left to make a bomb roll on your turn instead of you.)UXP Cow was first released in the golden age of Cheapass Games, back when the bare bones packaging boldly stated that there were "two basic facts about board games: they cost too much, and they are at some level all the same." I kept buying them because Cheapass releases were the MST3K of the gaming world, making up in attitude and absurdity what they lacked in production values; nerdy but cool in their self-mocking displays of unfettered intelligence. (That they were easy on the wallet didn't hurt, either.) The production values are glossier these days. Who knows? They might even help Cheapass Games get noticed by a slightly wider public.

Initially, I just thought this was an amusingly quirky concept for a game and bought it on recommendation of a friend. It is, indeed, amusing, both in concept and the humorous artwork depicting each cow and scenario. However, it has also proven to be more challenging than I expected. Each time we play, we work out new strategies for manipulating scenario cards, perhaps more than the game inventor intended, but well within the parameters of the game rules. If you're bored with this game (and I admit, the premise is a simple one) it is only because you are not engaging enough of your entrepreneurial spirit. This is not strategic in a burdening way, but enough to make you think through your options for each turn and consider a few turns in advance. My international student is thrilled that we're on equal footing with a moderately strategic, not linguistically challenging, risk-taking, good luck vs. skill ratio, bountiful opportunities to mess with your game-playing partner(s) plans, properly paced at about 20 minutes for two people, "let's play just one more round" game! Compare this to a funny, faster-paced version of Monopoly. Have fun!

First let me say I am a bit of a game geek. I have gone from 0 board/card games to almost 100 in the last couple years. I love the state of gaming! I also love CheapAssGames (the creator of Unexploded Cows, Kill Dr Lucky, and many more awesome titles)!Unexploded Cows arrived in the mail this week, thanks Prime!, and I got to play it for the first time last night with my brother-in-law and nephew. It was a quick learn, and really well paced. We probably could have played it even faster if it hadn't been our first go. We played a whole game in under 30 minutes, and had way more than our share of fun doing it.The game is easy to learn. With up to 6 players this is one for the whole family.If you get this and enjoy it, I strongly suggest Kill Dr Lucky, or Dr Lucky's Island, both by CheapAssGames.

This is our new favorite family game. It's a little strange, but after the first game, you figure out how it works, and it's a load of fun. Our famly ranges from age 9 to mid-40'sThe premise: Youve set your cows out to walk around French cities, to detect landmines and explode them (the cows have no agricultural value, because they have Mad Cow disease). You "play" your cows, and can play other cards like spies, "pull out a favorite card from the discard pile," etc.There is definitely some strategy involved. You roll a die to count and see which of your cows have exploded.I know the game sounds dumb from my description. We usually play strategy games like Risk, Ticket to Ride, and Catan. This game only takes about 15 minutes to play, and we play the game a few times in a row if we have time. All four of us like the game. Highly recommend.I paid full price for this item.

Grew up playing the original game with my family after we got it as a gift. We loved the goofy doodles of cows on the cards and descriptions of what they did. As well as the fact we HAD to pilliage dice and money from our other games, so there was less pieces in this game to keep track of (my mom loved that part the most). So when I heard this new version was out I just HAD to get it. It does not disappoint! Wondeful new artwork, easy rules to learn, and a super addictive game to play! And with this one all accoutrements are included! No pillaging needed. My husband and I are currently getting all of our friends hooked on this game.

Great game for board game novices and experts alike. Not so great with 2 players, great with 3 or more.When explaining, take care to mention that gaining cities aren't the real goal, its all about keeping your money and making more. Some times not spending a lot of money while others waste theirs can be a good strategy!I played this with my 12 year old board gamer son, my non-gamer wife and it was good, and then again with my regular board gaming group - they picked it up in 10 minutes and we played a game in another 20-30. Quick 'filler' game and cute art and names. Although some of the bomber's eyes freak me out...

Funnest game ever! The rules felt a bit hard to understand on the first read but once we played a trial run and got a handle on the rules we had the best time!

Fun game with a twist! Love the different cards.

Super jeu, difficilement trouvable en France mais un peu cher pour le matériel dispo.Très agréable à jouer et bien délirant !!