A Kid’s Board Game Review: Barnyard Bunch

A roll and move game for 2-4 farmers

Playtime: 15-20 minutes
Designer:Justin Lee
Publisher: HABA

In Barnyard Bunch 2-4 players aged 4+ work together to help Farmer Fridolin and his dog keep the young farm animals from running away. This game checks our 3.5 year old’s constant desire to play “rescue” with all his babies. 

Barnyard Bunch was generously provided to us by the publisher for an honest review. Please see our review policy [HERE].

Gameplay Overview

Setup is so simple Rowan can do it almost by himself

Barnyard Bunch is a co-op game, meaning everyone wins or loses together. Setup is quick, but may require grown up oversight to line up the paths so that each path starts with a different color than the starting barn space. 

The game begins with a central barn tile and eight paths spreading out from the barn with each path dedicated to one farm animal. 

A players turn consists of two steps: 

  1. Roll the die and take action based on the die face
    1. Color – move all animals on the spaces that match the color of the die forward one space away from the barn. 
      1. Example: if the die face is red, all animals on red spaces will move forward one space away from the barn. 
    2. Farmer Fridolin – move one animal backward one space toward the barn. 
    3. Lilli the Dog – move one animal all the way back to the barn.
  2. Flip the top card of the deck (see video for Rowan’s explanation)
    1. Animal – move the shown animal one space forward away from the barn
    2. Lure – move the animal one space back toward the barn. 

Pro Tip: We talk about the cards as there is either something the animal likes (lure card) that brings him back to the bar, or there isn’t anything the animal likes so the animal continues looking for something they like (animal card)

  1. Farmer Fridolin – move one animal backward one space toward the barn. 
  2. Lilli the Dog – move one animal all the way back to the barn.

The game ends when either one animal runs off their path (players lose) or the deck runs out (players win).

What do we think?

We had a pretty good idea going into this game that Rowan was going to like it. One of his favorite things to play with toys is “rescue”. He is all about anything and everything that can rescue or save. Also, baby farm animals. Who can say no to baby farm animals?

Barnyard Bunch takes a theme that he is very drawn to and adds cooperative play, goal-oriented decision-making, and moving pieces around. The game pieces are the same high-quality wooden pieces that HABA games are known for and cardboard tiles.

Moms Take

Rowan definitely has a preference for Barnyard Bunch over several other kids games we have. He was able to pick up on the gameplay right away and even now its one of the few games he consistently can play all the way through without much prodding on his turn. It’s been a great intro for following slightly more complicated rules than other games he plays, like remembering what to do for all the different card types. 

Rowan's Take

I like the cat. This is my favorite game. The cow likes the bell and goes back ONE spot. Roll the die and there’s a color.

Momma: why is this your favorite game?

Rowan: the cat. 

Rating Breakdown

Rulebook

The rules are simple, easy to understand, and well laid out. 

First Play

The first play of Barnyard Bunch was just Rowan and Sarah. Once he heard that his job was to save the animals from running away he was laser focused on paying attention and playing. This is actually a rare thing for Rowan and we often start with making games simpler and breaking them down and introducing one mechanism at a time for him. We didn’t have to do that with this game – aside from reminding him what certain cards meant, he got the gist pretty quick. 

The pieces also make standalone toys

Subsequent Plays

Rowan and Sarah played the first few games of Barnyard Bunch, Emily joined for several subsequent plays. It’s now a go-to for family games since Rowan likes it so much.

Parenting note: It’s hard to watch your kid make sub-optimal plays. Our approach is to explain the pros and cons of each option (when multiple options are available) but let him make the final decision. 

Gaming Skills (for the budding boardgamer)

  • Dice rolling, applying results
  • Card flipping, applying results
  • Playing independently (taking his own turn)
  • Goal-oriented decision making
  • Losing/Winning with grace

Life Skills

  • Following directions/rules
  • Taking turns
  • Teamwork
  • Counting
  • Color recognition
  • Fine motor skills
  • Risk/reward
  • Losing/winning with grace
  • Bonding with friends & family (we’ll just keep this here for every game)

Follow us on social media for post updates and to see what we’re playing!