My Bachelor's thesis project: the cardboard game "Sheepland". Here are the rules of the game:

Sheepland: a sunny land of rolling green meadows, lush forests, and majestic mountains. The peaceful, happy people of the island want nothing more than to roam the land with their fuzzy little flocks of fluffy white sheep. All is well and good, until somebody has the bright idea to put up some fences...

Now the shepherds must compete for the most profitable lands to raise their flocks, driving the sheep to the lands they own—and fencing them in so they don’t wander off and join some other shepherd’s flock!

And then there’s that strange black sheep that keeps showing up. His rare black wool is certain to fetch a pretty price in the market for the shepherd that can pen him in!

Can you corral the finest herd in the best lands and become the richest shepherd in Sheepland?

Game Components

1 Game board

The game board shows the island of Sheepland, divided into 18 Regions surrounding the Village of Sheepsburg. There are 6 Terrain types, with 3 Regions of each Terrain. The Regions are divided by roads. Each road is marked with a numbered space.

30 Terrain tiles

There are 5 Terrain tiles for each type of Terrain, numbered from 0 to 4. This number determines the cost of the tile (in Dinars).

Sheepsburg

6 Starting Terrain tiles

60 Coins

(Dinars in various values)

1 First Player token

(in 2 pieces; to be assembled)

Roads

20 Fences

12 Final Fences

18 White Sheep 1 Black Sheep

6 Wooden Shep- herds (in 4 colors) 1 die

Numbered Spaces

Regions



Setting up the game

• Open the game board and place it in the middle of the table.

• Place 1 white Sheep in each of the 18 Regions (not in Sheepsburg).

• Place the Black Sheep in Sheepsburg

• Shuffle the 6 starting Terrain tiles and give 1 to each player. Return the unused tiles to the box.

All Terrain tiles must be kept secret from the other players until the end of the game. You may examine your own Terrain tile at any time.

• Sort the other Terrain tiles by Terrain type and place them face up in 6 stacks beside the game board.

The tiles in each stack must be arranged in numerical order with “0” on the top and “4” on the bottom. • Place the Dinars (coins) and the Fences near the game board. Separate the Final Fences from the rest

(they are used only in the final phase of the game).

• Each player chooses a color, and takes the matching Shepherd pawn. Give each player 20 Dinars starting cash

(see special rules for two player at the end of this rulebook).

• The most recent player to caress a sheep is the First Player and takes the First Player token.

Starting with the First Player and going clockwise (to the left), each player places his Shepherd on any unoccupied numbered road space on the game board.

You are now ready to begin!

Playing the game

Sheepland is played in turns, starting with the First Player and going clockwise.

At the beginning of your turn, you must roll the die to see if the Black Sheep moves (see The Black Sheep). Then, you must take three actions, chosen from the following list:

a) Move Your Shepherd b) Move 1 Sheep

c) Buy 1 Terrain Tile

You may choose any selection from the list for each action, and you may perform them in any order except at least one of your actions must be used to move your Shepherd. You may perform the same action twice, but if you do you must move your Shepherd before taking that action for the second time.

You may:

• Move your Shepherd 3 times;

• Move 1 Sheep, buy 1 Terrain tile, then move your Shepherd;

• Buy 1 Terrain tile, move your Shepherd, then buy 1 Terrain tile again; • Move your Shepherd twice, then buy 1 Terrain tile.

You may not:

• Buy 2 Terrain tiles then move your Shepherd;

• Move 1 Sheep, buy 1 Terrain tile, then move 1 Sheep again; • Move your Shepherd, then move 2 Sheep.



MOVE YOUR SHEPHERD

You may move your Shepherd to any road space that is not occupied by another Shepherd or a Fence. If you move to an adjacent road space (connected directly by a road without passing any other road spaces), the movement is free. If you move on any other space on the board, you must pay 1 Dinar.

When you move your Shepherd, you must place a Fence on the space your Shepherd moved from. Do not place the Final Fences until all of the regular Fences have been placed on the game board. The Final Fences are used only during the final phase of the game (see End of the Game).

MOVE ONE SHEEP

You may move any 1 Sheep (including the Black Sheep) from either of the 2 Regions adjacent to your Shepherd to the other Region adjacent to your Shepherd.

You may only move 1 Sheep each time you choose this action.

BUY ONE TERRAIN TILE

You may buy 1 Terrain tile from the supply if it matches either of the 2 Regions adjacent to your Shepherd.

When you buy a Terrain tile, you must take the top tile from the matching stack and pay the price shown on the tile (in Dinars). Place the tile face down in front of you and keep it secret from the other players.

Buying a Terrain tile will reveal a more expensive tile, so the next player to purchase a tile of that type will have to pay a higher price. Important: When you buy a Terrain tile, you are not buying a specific Region on the game board. Instead, you are “investing” in that type of Terrain. The income you will gain from each Terrain tile at the end of the game will be equal to the number of Sheep in all Regions of that Terrain type (see End of the Game).

THE BLACK SHEEP

The Black Sheep starts the game in the Town of Sheepsburg. Like any regular Sheep, it can be moved by spending a Move 1 Sheep action, but it will also try to escape on its own!

At the beginning of your turn, you must roll the die. If there is a road space adjacent to the Black Sheep’s Region that matches the number rolled, you must move the Black Sheep to the Region on the other side of that road.

The Black Sheep does not move if there is no matching road space, or if the matching road space is occupied by a Fence or any Shepherd.

At the end of the game, the Black Sheep counts as 2 Sheep when calculating the final score.



End of the game

When all of the regular Fences have been placed on the game board, the final phase begins. The game continues until the end of the turn of the player to the right of the First Player (so, all players will have an equal number of turns during the game). If you need to place a fence during this final phase of the game, use the Final Fences.

When the last player completes his turn, it’s time to add up your score! The value of each Terrain tile you have at the end of the game is equal to the total number of Sheep in all Regions that match that Terrain type (remember: the Black Sheep counts as 2 sheep for scoring). Take Dinars equal to the value of all of your Terrain tiles and add them to any coins you still have. The player with the most money is the winner! If there is a tie, the player who can bleat like a sheep the loudest wins!

Note: the printed costs of the Terrain tiles have no influence on the final scoring; all tile are treated equal.

Example: You have 2 Pasture tiles and 1 Mountain tile. There are 3 Sheep total in the 3 Pasture Regions, and 4 Sheep total in the 3 Mountain

Regions. Your total score is 10 points (3 + 3 + 4).

special rules for 2-player game

The rules are the same except for these 3 changes:

• Each player begins the game with 30 Dinars.

• Each player uses 2 Shepherds (use only the red and blue Shepherds).

• On your turn, you must choose 1 of your Shepherds and take all 3 of your actions using only that Shepherd.