Mountain Goats Game Review

Mountain Goats

Players: 2-4

Play Time: 15-20 min

Ages: 7+ 

Overview:

Mountain Goats is a dice rolling race to the top of the mountain, however, be prepared to get kicked off by your opponents. The mountain consists of various peaks of different heights numbered 5-10. On your turn, you roll 4 dice that you can use in any combination to have your goats climb up the mountain. Each number you roll/create lets a goat go one space up that numbered mountain, gaining a point token at the top. If you're already at the top, you can keep gaining additional point tokens for each subsequent roll of that number. However, if someone else gets to the top, your goat is knocked all the way back to the beginning. You can also score bonus points for getting a goat to the top of each mountain.

Review:

This game is simple to teach and get to the table quickly. It also plays pretty quickly. I LOVE the small box and the little goat meeples are wonderful. The card based board did make me wish I had a game mat, though, especially when setting up on a relatively small table with a 6 year old. They look bright and colorful on the table, though.

Mountain Goats is light enough, I don't think this is a game I would ever chose to play with just my husband (we would pick something a little bit thinkier). However, this is a great family game or to play with non-gamers. I could see us getting it out with my in-laws or if cousins come over. However, I actually purchased it with playing with my 6 year old in mind.

After testing out Mountain Goats on Board Game Arena a few times, I decided I needed it for my son. I LOVE how much math it requires him to do without feeling like a "math" game. He has to compare his dice, figure out which numbers he can make with his dice, either individually or by combining different numbers of them, and then which moves will be most advantageous. That's a lot of computation per turn! However, it is just such an integral part of the game, he doesn't realize he's having to do it, he's just having fun playing. That means, I will never turn him down for a game!

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