Preview: Claim Territory in Light Doggy Card Game What the Woof

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there and there’s not enough territory to go around. You’ve got to lay claim while the going’s good if you hope to be Top Dog by the end.

What the Woof is a light, casual take-that card game currently on Kickstarter, about dogs competing for territory.

Gameplay

The deck of cards is shuffled, five cards are dealt to each player, and the remaining cards are placed in the center of the table as the draw pile.

On your turn, you may take two actions. You may draw a card, or you may play an action card to the discard pile. You may take the same action twice. If you draw a drop card, it is immediately played. There are also territory cards worth one, two, three, or five points. There is no hand limit in the game, but if your hand is ever empty, you immediately draw two cards. If you discard three of the one point territory cards, you can name a card and demand another player to give it to you from their hand, if they have it.

Some action cards might force everyone to give you a territory card of a particular type, or force another player to show you all their cards and exchange one of yours with one of theirs. Meanwhile, drop cards also have a wide range of effects such as forcing you to discard your two highest point value territory cards or having all players simultaneously reveal a territory card, and the card worth the most points is immune for the rest of the game.

After the draw pile runs empty, each player gets one last chance to play a card, and then the game ends. Players count up the points from the territory cards in their hand, double their points if they have a treat card, and lose three points for each action card they’re holding. The player with the most points wins.

Review

What the Woof is a simple game, with easy rules that are quick to teach. It’s light and fast, with swift turns and plenty of player interaction and take-that elements — the action cards are almost all about forcing other players to discard or stealing cards from each other. There’s also an element of memory involved, as you try to track which cards each player has so that you can use your action cards to the best effect.

The wide range of actions is where the game really shines. The multiple different effects keep cards flowing between players and the discard pile, making the game unpredictable up until the very end.

Due to the theme of the game, there is some artwork and humor on the cards that some players may find a little crude, though not as much as you might expect and this is going to vary significantly from player to player. The artwork itself is extremely well-done — impressively, all the territory cards feature unique illustrations, and all the dogs have a lot of character.

If you enjoy card games with lots of take-that, What the Woof is a good fit that’s pleasant and light with minimal downtime. It keeps things simple, short, and sweet, and of course, features lots of dogs (hard to go wrong with that!). Check it out on Kickstarter and see for yourself.

Pros: Wide range of card effects, lots of player interaction, great artwork

Cons: Some players may dislike some of the humor in the game

Disclosure: this preview is based on our evaluation of an unpublished prototype of the game, which is subject to change prior to publication. While a modest payment was received to expedite the review process, our thoughts and opinions expressed here are honest and accurate.