In this fun and sometimes frenetic family card game from Druid City, the 2–6 players are collecting individual cards or sets of matching cards and presenting them initially face down to another player. The player offering the set announces what it is. The recipient has to say whether or not they are telling the truth. Guess correctly and the recipient keeps the set; guess wrong and the successful bluffer keeps the set. The barnyard animal cards all score, and there are bonuses to be had for having the most of each animal and for each complete (one of each) set.
Essentially, James Hudson's game is a variant on the traditional card game Cheat, but the animal scoring and Lina Cossette's appealing artwork add charm that's missing from the brash party game played with ordinary playing cards. There are further subtleties too: action tokens allow players to steal cards or (when playing with three or more) interrupt another player's turn. In addition to the barnyard animals, a 'Copy Cat' can be used as a wild card and a Crow lumbers the recipient with negative points. By way of compensation, for every three Crows you have, you get to draw another action token.
The prospect of end-game bonuses adds an ever-present urgency to this set collecting game as the draw deck runs down, so you'll find yourself bluffing and lying to your friends and loved ones right up until the end. And this isn't a game where you can always lie or always tell the truth: you need to switch between the two or you'll prove yourself an easy mark for the other players.
Barnyard Roundup can be played by both adults and children, and you can expect a game to take around 15 minutes. You'll probably find tho' that the losers demand an immediate rematch!