Experience the bovine bliss!
•••Game Stats•••
•Publisher: Mighty Boards / (APE Games for base)
•Designers: David Chircop / Dávid Turczi
•Artist: Daniela Attard
•Players: 1-4 (5th player added with Flowers Exp)
•Sweet Spot: 2-4 (Any, really!)
•Mechanics: Area Control / Hand Management / Voting
•Long-Distance Hacks: Dry erase tokens to mark tiles for easy reference.
!!!Find it on Kickstarter now!!!
This is not a paid endorsement, nor does it need to be for us to gush over Petrichor! For a game we absolutely love, comes an expansion we absolutely needed! Mighty Boards is at it again with Cows, a cheeky expansion about fertilization and it’s environmental impact. Who knew greenhouse gasses could be so much fun? Strap in and heed these words of wisdom, just like a certain literary masterpiece once said: Everyone Poops!
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•THOUGHTS•
Lizzy: A little while back, out of the blue, prompted by a tweet about how Petrichor was one of our favorite games, Mighty Boards slid into our DM’s to suggest we start a blog to share our gaming thoughts. Of course we remained perfectly poised and calm (fangirled so hard we nearly lost our minds with excitement) and decided that a blog was the next logical step to our little passion project. With bolstered confidence that a wider audience might care about our gaming thoughts, the three of us trekked into the unknown and gave it a shot! Now here we are reviewing a preview copy of an expansion for one of our favorite games! Is this real life???
Kitty: In true Petrichor fashion, the Cows expansion has continued the tradition of beautiful, understated artwork, appearing to have been pulled straight from a horticulturist’s sketchbook. This small yet mighty expansion offers four new vegetation tiles, two adorable cows with one-track minds, a climate tracking board, and heaps of methane and manure (a phrase I never knew I’d say with excitement)! The design of the cows and tokens all fit perfectly into the artistic family. Although… they’re clearly not as beautiful as Brooks & my proxy tiles (gracing you below with evidence of my artistry), or as our proxy cows (unicorn/dragon, ftw)!
Lizzy: Wow… that should be in a museum, Kitty! Also, how many times did I brag about having the prototype? I lost count!
Brooks: About as many times as we yelled at you for interrupting gameplay to talk about all the things you would train our Cow/Dragon to do if it were your pet: aka, a lot! This expansion contains a substantial amount of weight. While we love Flowers and Honeybees, the Cows expansion actually feels like an extension to the game, rather than just an addition. It integrates with the original strategy and creates a background tug of war mechanic over vying for the exact temperature you need for new tile activation, as well as the opportunity for methane majority and the benefits that come with that. We lovingly refer to this as being the Methane Princess!
Lizzy: Ah, yes. Being the Methane Princess: heavy is the head that wears the crown. The temperature is dictated by how much methane is currently sitting in the active clouds. The Cows expansion offers new tiles with point values directly correlated to the current temperature, the top-most and bottom-most temperatures being difficult to achieve without forethought and guile. One playthrough in particular was a spectacular grind! We paired the Sweet Chestnut (requiring a Temperate climate) and the Baobab Tree (requiring Scorching climate, the hottest option) together. This was like turning the game setting up to hardcore mode! My takeaway is to pair the hotter or colder options together if you want the perfect strategic addition to the main game, or chuck in opposing temperatures for an all out, brain-busting, tug of war experience.
Kitty: Yeah, we saw smoke come out of Lizzy’s ears at one point. Although the cows provide much respite for all; looking cute while relieving themselves all over the board bequeathing us more points. The cows also add a thematic point boost if placed on a tile of a natural food source for them (wheat, grass, or corn). This expansion adds a cornucopia of strategic diversity.
Brooks: Exactly! This is our favorite expansion and we fully feel it is a must-buy, but we do suggest being proficient with the base game before you dive right into the Cows expansion, as to not be overwhelmed with the sheer number of moving parts. Petrichor was a favorite of ours from the very beginning. Originally backing the first Kickstarter, and all subsequent expansions since, it really is a staple on our table. Games can be short or long, intense or breezy, multi-layered or straightforward, always providing a multitude of options for consistently unique plays. So get out there and grow some plants, rain on some parades, and poo on some opponents. Cows cements itself as yet another successful installment for a game that has brought our group countless hours of joy, laughter, and always a little well deserved ire for that one player that will always swoop in and steal your sweet, sweet wheat.
Lizzy: *giggles & blushes*
Brooks: So go on!
Kitty: Moo!
Lizzy: Poo!
Brooks: And be merry!
Kitty: 9/10 ~ Lizzy: 10/10 ~ Brooks 10/10
!!!Game Playlist!!!
Light Shine In ~ Wilder Woods
Daisies ~ Katy Perry
Space Cowboy ~ Kacey Musgraves
Cold Air ~ Acceptance
Temperature ~ Sean Paul
Clouds ~ Milky Chance
The Forecast ~ Jason Mraz
Bring On The Rain ~ Jo Dee Messina / Tim McGraw
I Need Water ~ Brevin Kim
Magnetic Field ~ Lights
April Showers ~ Maisie Peters
Water Me ~ Lizzo
Clouds ~ Before You Exit
!!!Grab your own copy on Kickstarter now!!!
Long Distance Gamers 