This game was gifted to us by Blue Orange , but all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!
Over several rounds in this semi-cooperative hide and seek game, players take turns hiding Wilson (the wolf) among the sheep. The other players work together as Shep (the sheepdog) to find the sneaky wolf. When you are successful in either mission, you earn a reward token. The player with the most reward tokens at the end wins.
Quick Stats
The Components
The sheep and Wilson tiles are both sturdy cardboard, as are the bone reward tokens. The Shep piece is wooden, which I always prefer over plastic, so that is a plus. But, my favorite part is the box. I love this type of box that a lot of smaller Blue Orange games have. The game box opens from the side with a magnet closure, making it easy for the kids to open and close. I’ll post a video below of how the box works.
Game play
Setting up the game begins by placing all the sheep tokens face down onto the table in a 4×4 grid. Whoever has seen a sheep most recently goes first playing Wilson. Everyone else will play together on the Shep team.
The Wilson player hides the Wilson tile among the sheep while the Shep players all close their eyes. The Wilson player can also rotate some of the other sheep tiles to throw the other players off. Together the Shep players decide where to start and place Shep on top of that Sheep tile.
On Wilson’s turns, the player swaps two adjacent sheep tiles. The player can move the Wilson piece to move it away from Shep or swap random tiles to throw off the other players.
The Shep piece is moved one space on Shep turns, flipping any face down sheep. If the Shep team finds Wilson before flipping the 8th sheep tile, the Shep team has won the round, and each gets a reward token. If Wilson is still hiding after flipping the 8th sheep, Wilson has won, and that player receives a reward token.
Rounds continue in this way with players rotating who play Wilson. At the end of the game, the player with the most reward tokens wins.
Overall Thoughts
The only thing I don’t love about this game is some of the illustrations of the sheep. There is one, in particular, that has mucus coming out of the sheep’s nose. And although I’m sure that sheep can be this gross in real life, I don’t need my kids attempting to imitate it. Yes, this happened. 😆
Besides that, we loved the game. The kids all enjoy it, which is always a plus, and I love that it includes up to 5 players. So often, games are for four, and we have someone sit out or play on teams if we all want to play. I also really enjoyed how it was cooperative while still being competitive.
I would recommend it as a game for just the kids or as a quick, fun, family game night game. You can get your copy of Wilson & Shep here.
