Chicken! is a new press-your-luck dice game from designer Scott Almes. This barnyard-based game is being published by Keymaster Games with really fun illustrations from Carpenter Collective. The goal is to collect as many chickens as you can before 3 foxes show up on the dice. 3 foxes will mean the player busts and loses any chickens that weren’t collected during that turn.
An Egg-istential Crisis
Like any great press-your-luck game, Chicken! is filled with tough choices. The game starts with 4 white dice that each contain 2 eggs, 2 chickens and a fox. When players roll the chicken or fox symbol, those dice are locked in. The egg symbol means that a new die will hatch and come from the chicken coop in the middle of the table. The player can re-roll all blank dice, eggs and any new dice that have hatched.
There are 2-tiers of dice. The yellow dice are the first to hatch and each have 3 chickens, 1 egg and a single fox. Players have to pull the yellow dice before the red dice hatch. The 3rd tier of dice (red) lean heavier with 2 foxes but have a single side that has 2 chickens on one face.
As the egg symbol appears, new dice are added to the players hand. At any point, players can choose to end their turn and collect the number of chickens they rolled. For example, a player who rolls a total of 5 chickens (without busting) will add these to their victory points.
It’s not uncommon to end your turn with 8 to 10 dice in your pool. The next player at the table will inherit all of these dice and then decide if they’re going to roll all of them OR “chicken out.”
Are Ya Yella?
If a player “chickens out”, they place all the extra dice back into the coop in the middle of the table and go back down to the original 4 white dice. You also lose a single victory point for being a chicken. This eliminates the high risk of rolling 3 foxes on your first throw. It also means you probably won’t see those elusive double chicken heads during your turn.
When 3 foxes appear during a players turn, all extra dice go back to the coop. The player won’t collect any points and the next player starts with just the original 4 white dice.
Chicken! is about big risks and big rewards. As players roll dice, they’re trying to be the first one to 25 points to end the game. It’s tough not to roll a handful of risky dice when someone jumps ahead on the points track. It’s nerve-racking to know that rolling 4, 5 or 6 foxes on your first toss is a possibility.
The game of Chicken! is fast-paced and really inviting for players at any skill level. We have had a blast teaching this game to friends, family and even strangers. With the average game taking 15 minutes, Chicken! hits the table over and over again.
I love hatching lots of new dice on my turn and then sliding the pile of dice over to my opponent. I usually follow it up by saying “Have fun with that.” Chicken! supports up to 8 players, and we’ve had a blast at every player count from 3 to 8. Hopping in and out of games is fun and seamless. I can’t think of a better game to get the whole family around the table. Don’t be surprised when everyone says “One more game.”
Check out the Kickstarter campaign for Chicken! from Keymaster Games launching on November 1, 2022.
A prototype of the game was provided for this coverage. Components and rules covered in this preview are not finalized. Read more about our preview policies at One Board Family.
