Row Your Goat

NEW

We had a lot of fun with this deceptively simple looking game! The ever-growing piles of goats and the pressure of waiting for a set to come up made for a manic intensity that we didn't expect! This would especially be a good game for younger players, given the excitement and need for quick reaction time! A set coming up would always be such an event that we pretty much always forgot whose turn it was after!

There were a few quality-of-life style things that we do wish the game had. The card design, while super cute with all the different goats and floats, would benefit for being more mirrored so that seating orientation didn't matter as much for spotting sets - we also wondered if someone color blind might struggle with this game. And while this is more of an issue of our table, for a huge table with only 4 players we all had to sit next to each other in an L shape at a corner, which made things a bit easier for those sitting on the end with only one floatie to go for. Despite these issues, we had a great time!

Row Your Goat is another example of what Exploding Kittens does so well: elevate a really simple idea into an incredibly compelling, ever replayable and snappy party game. It does a great like magic trick of keeping your focus constantly moving so you miss the sneaking aspect that makes the game really riotously fun.

It’s not going to be for everyone. I played with a friend who has trouble tracking patterns and he got a little frustrated with the game (and kind of us). Also, like a lot is Exploding Kittens games, it says for 2+ players but it really sings at 4 or 5.

Ideal as an amuse bouche for a game night that might have headier stuff once you’re tired of stealing away life savers.

The game is indeed easy to learn and fast paced - which makes for quick games. It reminds me a lot of "Slap Jacks" but with life preserver rings instead. I think the rules need a bit of modification though. On our very first game playing (only 2 of us playing the game), we actually "broke" the game where no one was a winner...

The rules state that "When you have only 1 card left in your Deck, you must shout "Row my goat!" (in the instructional video it says "I'm the goat!", so there's a bit of discrepancy on what to say) to let the other players know. Now you must do two things to win: 1) Place your last card in the Grid as normal (then, the other players will keep flipping cards without you). 2) Grab a lifesaver the next time you, or anyone else spots a Set. The first player who has no cards and grabs a lifesaver wins the game!"

In our game, I had one card left, yelled "I'm the goat!" and then waited for the other person to play their cards. My opponent kept playing their cards until they had 1 card left and yelled "I'm the goat!". Then they played the last card. There were no sets on the board and neither of us could grab a lifesaver. I think there should be a rule here that we both grab a stack and continue playing, or there is another rule that could help settle the tie. Ending in a tie is kind of deflating and takes a bit of the fun out of the game! I'm sure this scenario is a lot harder to achieve if there's more than 2 players, but I'm sure it could still…