The Big Pig Game Preview

Okay, what is happening here? Why is it that every game I play that has a super cute theme ends up being way more thinky than I expected it would be? Am I losing my mind? Probably, but I also need to realize that just because it looks like a child’s game, these just aren’t kid games anymore. Suffice it to say that when I heard about The Big Pig Game, and saw it was for ages 10+, I was excited that I could share this with my oldest, being almost 6 and a pretty decent gamer in his own right. Oh how wrong I was.

The Big Pig Game is a cooperative, hand management, event-driven card game for one to four hungry friends. In it, players are Big Pig and her friends who are attempting to clear out their human’s fridge of the yummy food before they return home. As it is cooperative, all players win or lose together as a naughty team.

DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game, as there are just too many. You are invited to download the rulebook, pre-order the game directly from the publisher, or through any retailers stocking it after official release. -T

To setup a game, choose the meal (difficulty level) for the players at the table and grab its food board. Upon it will be placed all the appropriate square food pieces in their exact place. WARNING: this step takes about four days to place out all these food tokens, so be prepared for that. Shuffle each deck of cards (Bad Things, Items, and Actions) and place them nearby. The time track and car token is placed on the table, with the car starting the game on START and traveling home along the path pertaining to the number of players. The +4/+6 encouragement tokens are stacked nearby and one bonus card from each category of food is randomly selected for play this game. Each player chooses a delightfully hungry character, takes four snack tokens (action disks), and Action cards equal to the printed Hand Size value on their character card. The game may now begin, so get to chompin’!

The food board is the central and most important component in the game. Upon it are 48 food pieces that all need to be consumed before the family car returns home to catch the players in the act. Players win if all the food pieces have been eaten, and lose if the family car returns home before they are able to gobble up each piece.

Each round a Bad Things card is read aloud to the players and immediately takes effect for the remainder of the round. These cards may have immediate actions for all players to perform, and also have Lasting Effects which remain in play for the duration of the round. Usually these result in players discarding cards, limiting certain actions, or even adjusting the difficulty of eating certain types of food. Once the Bad Things have been played, players will place out a number of Item cards equal to one plus the number of players to the table. This area is called the Counter, and is accessible to all.

Once these steps have been completed, the players then take their turns in order. Players will have four actions they may complete in a round, with one action being performed each turn. These actions are tracked on their character board by the donut Snack Tokens. Typically, these actions include playing a card, performing a munch (more on this next), or even taking an Item card from the Counter to their board.

The main premise of the game revolves around players eating, or “munching,” food pieces as quickly as possible. They do this by playing Item and Action cards on their turn in order to increase their Hunger value. When a character plays a Munch card, they then use the Hunger value earned this turn to munch, or discard, numbered food pieces from the different categories of food: Savory, Healthy, Spicy, and Sweet. Hunger knows no bounds, but Items in play may affect foods eaten from specific categories. For example, the Chop Sticks shown below add 3 Hunger when munching Healthy foods, and Healthy foods only. So a player may not use this bonus to Hunger when munching Sweets, for example.

Munch cards will allow players to take these actions and, when the final Hunger count is tallied, informs the player the total value of food pieces that can be removed from the food boards. So say the Big Pig player has a total Hunger of 10, they may remove food pieces from the Spicy category totaling 10 value. This could be a single food piece, or several, but their total may not exceed the Big Pig’s Hunger value.

These Munch cards may also be boosted by players. In order to boost a card, a number of food pieces must be discarded from the player’s collection. These pieces then boost a card, usually providing more Munch value, or other wonderful benefits, and make them even better.

When all players have performed their final action, play continues with moving the car one space closer to the house along the appropriate track per number of players. Once the car has been moved, a simple cleanup phase happens in order to setup the game for the next round. The game continues in this fashion of munching food pieces until the players nom the last piece or the car returns home, whichever happens first. Players win or lose together and then take a nap due to food coma.

Components. Again, I was provided a review copy, and I am unsure if the final version will have the exact same components, or they will be different. That said, this game has a surprising amount of components. The most annoying aspect of this game is in the setup – placing all the food pieces in their correct spots on the food board takes a really long time. Maybe it is just me, but I found it tedious, but absolutely necessary. I cannot see any way to reduce setup time or make it any easier. But, I am going to be honest: this is the ONLY negative comment I have about this game. The other components are great, the art is absolutely lovely, and it just looks great on the table.

Gameplay surprised me right from the first play. Reading the rules it seems like a fairly light and easy game. However, in actual play, this one is far more thinky and calculating than its cutesy theme would let on. The game begins well, gets all players into the ether of its charm, then suddenly players realize that food pieces are not being eaten at a fast enough pace to beat the car racing home. This creates an incredibly interesting mid and late game frenzy to get that engine purring and eliminating heaps of food pieces. Usually, I have found, it ends with the old “too little, too late,” and players immediately want to try again. Immediately.

The limitations set forth by the unique stats of each character, combined with the boosts awarded by Item augmentations really keep this one pretty tight and allows all players opportunities to maximize their abilities. That statement somehow just does not reconcile in my brain when I look at the box cover, but yet, it’s one of the best aspects of this game! Yes, it’s incredibly cute and cuddly-wuddly, but you have to use your noggin on EVERY turn until you and your playmates become a well-oiled treat-munching mega-machine.

It is probably no surprise that I am totally diggin’ this little gem here. The theme and art style are perfect. The gameplay is crunchier than expected, and delivers way more punch than other games in similar genres. If only I could hire some kind of board game setup squire to aid me in my The Big Pig Game quest, I would have absolutely zero negative comments. I highly, highly recommend The Big Pig Game to all gamers, but please remember my warnings. This box provides hours and hours of great gaming in a fabulous skin, but man I wish I could figure out how to lessen the setup time. Go pre-order yours ASAP from Evan’s Games. And pickup Bunny Party at Maple Valley as well while you’re there.