Happy Pigs

Raise, vaccinate and sell pigs, but only if you pick your actions without clashing with rivals.

Designer: Kuraki Mura
Publishers: IELLO, Kuraki Mura B.G. Studio
Editions by: Portal Games, Swan Panasia Co., Ltd., uplay.it edizioni, 2 Pionki

You are a pig farmer, and your pigs need to stay healthy, grow big and be sold at the right price. Each round everyone secretly chooses actions at the same time: feed, mate, purchase or sell, plus tools like vaccines, nutritional supplements and birth amulets. But if too many players pick the same action, each of you gets less out of it. Events such as Pig Shows and the Sausage Fest shake up each round. The catch is that all unvaccinated pigs die at every season change, and after four seasons the surviving pigs are sold by size. Most profit wins. Two to six players, about 40 minutes, from age 10.

Everyone picks actions at onceUnvaccinated pigs die each seasonPigs sell by size at the end

Who it's for

You like light economic games with a bit of bluffing about what everyone else will choose.

Not for you if…

You want something with no luck or no guessing. Event cards and simultaneous picks shake plans up.

Vibe's take

Funny on the surface, sharp underneath. You read your opponents, guess which actions are crowded and plan around the seasonal reset that wipes out unprotected pigs.