Introduction
Chicken!, published by Keymaster Games, is a push-your-luck dice game for 2-8 players. It plays in under 20 minutes, depending on the number of players.
My group's night cap game is Farkle. We love pushing our luck; however, when playing with new comers, Farkle is intimidating. That's where Chicken! comes in. A super cute and portable, the game comes in a package the size of a Coke can. Language-independent, easy to teach, and fast-paced, Chicken! is perfect for playing with non-gamers or when you want a quick and light game outside the house. It easily fits in a large jacket pocket or backpack, making it a great travel companion. This has become our go-to game for those situations!
Components
Adorable Coke can size portable box
Cloth mat that serves as the coop to keep extra dice and use as a score tracker
Simple to understand rulebook
Twelve six-sided dice with chicken, fox, and blank symbols
The dice are divided in two three sets of four
These set of dice
8 player tokens
Set Up
Place the chicken coop score tracker in the center of the table.
Have each player pick their player token and place them in the top left of the scoring tracker
Determine who goes first, we usually Chwazi or use something random like who touched an egg last?
How to Play
Chicken! is all about rolling dice and collecting chickens. Each turn, players roll a pool of dice ranging from four to twelve dice.
If at any point, you don't want to roll more than the original four dice, you can chicken out. This is an interesting option. If you're worried about busting on your next roll, you move your score tracker back one point. All the yellow and red dice go back to the coop. You then roll the white dice and start the round.
This can be a strategic move to avoid busting, but what's the point of not pushing your luck in a push-your-luck game?
Each turn, the dice go through three main phases during a player's turn:
Initial Roll: You start with a set of four (almost pink) white dice. This is your mandatory roll for the turn. You roll these dice and see what symbols come up
Sorting the Dice: After the initial roll, you sort the dice based on the symbols:
Chickens: These are good! Each chicken symbol scores you one point at the end of your turn (if you don't bust). Set these aside
Foxes: These are bad! Rolling three foxes makes you bust, meaning you lose all your points for the turn and all the colored dice go back to the pool. Set these aside as well
Eggs: These are neutral, and they add more dice to the pool. For each egg symbol, you add one new yellow die to the pool. Once you run out of yellow dice, you start adding red dice (these dice have double chicken phases as well as more foxes).
Re-roll (Optional): Here's where the "push-your-luck" element comes in. You can choose to re-roll all the dice that are NOT the chickens and foxes you set aside. This allows you to potentially score more points with additional chickens, however, this also carries the risk of rolling three pesky foxes and busting!
After the roll or re-roll, score one point for each chicken you collected. If by chance you have rolled three pesky foxes, you bust and score no points
Scoring
Chicken: Each chicken symbol rolled scores one point.
Fox: Rolling two foxes cancels out any chickens scored that turn.
Three or more Foxes: You bust and score no points for the turn.
Winning
The first player to reach 25 victory points wins the game!
Pros
Easy to Learn: The rules are simple enough for anyone to pick up in minutes
Fast Gameplay: A single game can be played in 10-15 minutes, making it perfect for a quick palette cleanser or a game night warm-up
Family-Friendly: The lighthearted theme and simple rules make it a great game for families and non gamers
Portable: The small box size and few components make it easy to take with you on trips or gatherings
Cons
Limited Depth: Due to the reliance on dice rolling (and only being able to roll twice on each turn), there's not a lot of strategic complexity
Repetitive Gameplay: Some players might find the core mechanic of rolling and re-rolling dice to get stale after repeated plays
Player Count: based on the player count, it may take what seems like a long time for your next turn and the game becomes either too luck base (if playing with more than four players) or too predictable if playing with 2 or 3 players
Conclusion
Chicken! is a delightful little game that delivers big on laughs and lighthearted fun. It's a great choice for non gamers, or anyone looking for a quick and engaging filler game. While the lack of strategic depth might not appeal to hardcore gamers, its simplicity, portability, and exciting push-your-luck mechanic make it a cluck-tastic addition to any game night.
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