Unexploded Cow

Components

The game has 4 pages of rules and two decks of cards: 12 "City" cards valued 1 through 12; and a 69-card "Cow" and "Event" deck. Each Cow has two monetary values: a Price and the Reward.

Players must supply a six-sided die and $2000 of play money for each player in the game.

Setup

Each player is given $2000 and is dealt three cards from the Cows/Events deck. Before the game begins, each player must ante $200 into the pot. The top card of the City deck is turned over.

Gameplay

The space in front of each player is called their "field". When Cow cards are played, they are placed face-up in a line in a player's field.

At the start of a player's turn, if there is no face-up City card, the player turns over the top card of the City deck. The player then Draws, Plays and Rolls.

• Draw cards: The player draws two cards from the Cow/Event deck.
• Play cards: The player plays as many cards from their hand as desired.
  • Cow card: The active player can place a cow card in any player's field, including their own. The owner of the field must then pay the Price of the Cow into the pot. Generally, 'good' cows, which earn money when they explode, are played into the active player's own field, while 'bad' cows, which cost a player money when they explode, are usually played into other players' herds.
    • The active player may also rearrange the order of the Cows in their own field.
  • Event card: The active player must pay the price of the card in order to play it. Each card describes its Event, which takes place immediately.
• Bomb Roll: The active player makes a bomb die roll. After rolling, the active player starts with the rightmost Cow in their own field and counts that number of cows to the left. If the number is greater than the number of cows in the active player's field, then the player keeps counting into their neighbor's field to the left, and onward if necessary. Example: The active player has three cows and rolls a 5. Starting with their righthand Cow, the player counts their three Cows, then continues with the neighbor to the left, who has one Cow, and then on to the first Cow of the next neighbor to the left.
  • Whatever Cow is indicated by the die roll has found an unexploded shell and explodes. The owner of that field gets the Cow's Reward money from the pot, except if the Cow had a negative Reward value, in which case, the owning player must pay that amount into the pot.
  • If a player blows up their own Cow on their on turn, they collect the current face-up City card, collect the reward indicated and follow any other instructions..

Strategy

Critic Matthew Pook noted, "The strategy behind Unexploded Cow is quite complex for a simple card game. Players try to seed their own fields with the more valuable cows, but other fields with cheaper ones, which can still boost the money in the Pot. Of course, the expensive cows can be stolen, offsetting this strategy."

Victory conditions

When the last City card is obtained, the player with the most money is the winner.