Happy Pigs Review

There are many staples in modern board gaming themes: space exploration, Cthulhu, zombies, trading in the Mediterranean, trading zombies to Cthulhu in a Mediterranean spaceship (Wait, what?)…and, of course, farming. I don’t know what it is about farming that is so compelling, but it’s a great way to really feel like you’ve done something with your hour of sitting at the table. And this time, you’re not just farming vegetables; you’re farming pigs!

  

Originally a Chinese release from 2013, the new version of Happy Pigs has been IELLOized, which means all the things you can expect from IELLO: solid gameplay, quality components, and great art. The box is filled with tons of thick cardboard, ensuring you won’t run out of anything you’ll need while playing, and adorable new square pig artwork. (The new illustrations are charming enough, but the Chinese version’s ever-so-slightly NSFW artwork for the “mate” action – explained later – may have the best icon ever.)

However, the best part of Happy Pigs is none of those things specifically; rather, its greatest asset is simplicity. There are four seasons, each with four rounds. At the beginning of the round, each player simultaneously selections and reveals one of the four possible actions: feed (increase the size of your pigs), mate (make babies), buy (spent money to get pigs or items), or sell (your piggies are going to the market and they’ll totally come back home… or not). Whoever has the most money at the end of the game wins. That’s it. So simple. Yet, why it is so agonizing? Depending on how many of each action is available for the round, which is displayed by the round card, players divide that by however many chose the action to come up with how many times they get to take it.

Even though this is a simple family game, there is a lot to consider. One player might start playing some Marvin Gaye to inspire some mating, resulting in a pigsplosion of potential profit. Another might sell some of her big porkers that are taking up precious field space. Let her get away with that many sell actions and she’ll get rich. So you might want to be a jerk and take the action too, just to limit her payday. And you might have to consider all of the above while needing to feed your pigs while another player might be angling to do the same.

To top off this already intense situation, each round has an event – visible under the number of actions – that takes place at the end of the round, making your consideration of what action to select even more agonizing. Sometimes the price of pigs increases, meaning you want to get in on that selling action; other times, the price drops mean it’s time to buy, buy, buy. Another event rewards you for having the most small-sized pigs, which gets you the best prize of all: 3 free vaccines! That’s right, vaccines. Why are vaccines so exciting? Well, at the end of each season, all unvaccinated pigs die. (Hey, nobody said pig farming would be easy.) So vaccines become a very coveted possession since it means you won’t have to take the buy action next around just to avoid your unvaccinated oinkers from dying.

One other thing to mention: you can “buff” some of your actions by playing items. There are dietary supplements – which we dubbed PGH (Pig Growth Hormone) – to skip a size increase when feeding. There are also amulets of life – a.k.a. “Love Potion No.9” – that allow you to skip from having a piglet to a small pig when mating. In a game that’s all about efficiency, these little boosts can be a huge help for growing your pig farm.

Now, other than no actual pigs being included, my main complaint about the game is that things can get a bit crunchy in the math department, meaning playtime can get a little bogged down by players deciding which action to take since every choice matters. Some players might get turned off by this, but it’s usually not too bad. Most of the game moves along smoothly because once you figure out how many actions you have, everyone can resolve their turns simultaneously. This allows the game to clock in right around the one hour mark.

One other thing to mention is that the rulebook fumbles in a few places, leaving out a couple of minor details. A quick check of the original rules clarified the confusion. Regardless, the game is easy to teach since the actions are pretty intuitive for new players to understand. Again, it’s the simplicity of Happy Pigs that makes it such a pleasure to play. So, sit down, grab some pigs, and get farming.