This is a re-make of the game Razzia (Raid) by Ravensburger and published in 1992. The game is essentially the same but wrapped in a more family oriented theme of foxes and ducks.

The object of the game is to score points, which are mainly gained by the fowl eating food. Six colour coded pens are placed in the centre of the table and a random block of food is placed on each. Players acquire these blocks, which are worth 1, 2 or 3 points each, by playing cards of the same colour as the pens. Each player plays one card, face down and the cards are then revealed simultaneously. Each card shows either a bird or a fox together with a number, which is its value.

If yours is the only fowl present, it eats all the food (i.e. you gain all the blocks). If there are other birds present but no foxes, you either make a deal or (more likely) scrap for the food. You do this by adding a normal D6 die roll to the value of your card (3 to 6), with the winner taking all. If a fox has turned up at the pen, he eats the fowl and scores the card value as points, by displaying the card face up in front of him. If there is more than one fox, then they can either agree which fowl to eat or fight in a similar way to the fowl.

A twist in the choice of fowl is the flight-ready bird -- a card of value -2. This can zoom in and get a green food block (worth 1 point) and fly out before foxes or other fowl can do anything about it.

That's basically it. You replenish your hand at the end of your turn and the game lasts about 12 rounds, when there is no more food to distribute. It's fun, light and fluffy. Good for people who like bluffing, but you'll often find your choices from the hand you have prevent you from going to the pen where the food is stacking up.

Card counters may have slight advantage in knowing when foxes have been played, but if you take this game too seriously, you need some help. Good for 20 minutes light entertainment and laughs.

Six fields in different colors show randomly scattered grains (cubes). Everyone simultaneously chooses a card each turn, and places it on the field of its color. You capture all fowl at a field if you played the only fox there. You capture all the grains at fields where your fowl stands alone. Negotiate with competitors present to split the booty. Otherwise, contestants roll the die and add the roll to the value of their cards: Highest total wins all the fowl or grain. Most points, scored for grain and fowl, wins when the grains are depleted.

We welcome Rio Grande's translation of Zoch's Hick Hack in Gackelwack, featured in last year's Games 100. Only foxy types who enjoy fowl play need apply.

Here's some entertaining fowl play. Each field has chicken and fox cards in its color, valued from -2 to +6. Rounds begin with different grains, valued according to color; randomly placed on each field. Everyone places facedown cards, which are simultaneously revealed and allocated to their fields. Earn a field's grain if your chicken is alone there, or gain the visiting fowl if you played the only fox. Resolve conflicts by negotiating, or by competitors adding a die roll to their card's value. Discard foxes and unclaimed fowl, but leave unearned grain for the next round. Play ends after all the grain has been used. The player with the most points in grain and fowl wins. Even if you don't outfox your sly opponents, you'll enjoy plenty of laughs.

A.k.a., the duck poop game, and well deserving of the title, in the best possible way. Pheasants, geese, ducksin all, 6 different types of birds are having picnics today, and there will be corn aplenty! But where birds hang out, foxes are sure to follow. Players try and play foxes to catch birds, or birds to grab corn, or duck poop to frustrate the foxes! Intrigued? Why wouldnt you be? =)

6 colored cardboard mats are set out in the center of the table, each depicting a different type of bird frolicking or lazing about at their own picnic. Each player is dealt a hand of 5 cards. Each card depicts either a bird numbered 3-6, a fox numbered 4-6, or a duck poop card with a 2 on it. These cards can be in any one of the 6 colors corresponding to the same colored picnic; e.g. red bird corresponds to red picnic.

At the beginning of every round, one random piece of corn is dropped on each picnic. Corn is one of 3 colors, value 1, 2, or 3 points each, giving different picnics different values, and therefore varying degrees of temptation for the birds! Each player secretly selects a card from his or her own hand, then all players simultaneously reveal. And heres how it plays out:

If a bird is the only card at that picnic, it gets all the corn at that spot thats the easy part. If several birds show up, but no fox, then they must either decide how to split up the corn, or if they cant agree, they roll a die and add it to the birds value, with the highest sum taking all the corn at that picnic. But not the duck poop card! That guy is a chicken! (Some pun intended.) If a bird poop card and any other card (fox or bird) are at the same picnic, the fast fowl grabs one piece of green corn and runs away, leaving the other birds to sort things out amongst themselves. If there is no piece of green corn, he runs away with nothing.

But the wily fox, hes a different story all together! If a fox shows up at a picnic, and there are no birds there, it gets nothing (foxes aint about to eat no corn!) If a fox and any number of birds show up at a picnic, the fox eats all of them and gets points equal to the numbers on the bird cards (those are some valuable birds!) but the devoured birds get nothing with the corn carrying over to the next round. If more than one fox show up with birds, foxes wont share with other foxes and most roll and add the total of the die to the number on their card, highest number takes all bird points. But if theres a duck poop card there, the winning fox must take that card worth 2 points!

Since corn may not be claimed because either no one went to that picnic the previous round, or a fox ate all the birds there the previous round, some picnics start to become very valuable from round to round attracting birds, but of course, provides extra motivation for players to play foxes too! A neat balance between wanting to get lots of corn and trying to balance risk versus reward makes this family game an absolute blast. Since players can only chose from their hand, options are a bit limited resulting in some unpredictable picnics! This game can be talk very easily, even to younger children and has been a hit with everyone I have played it with so far (though Ive not yet tried my game group!) I dont think games span ages much better than this, as nearly any age should get some enjoyment out of it, and the short duration and small box make it an ideal family game, and make it easy to carry with you. Simple, lucky, fun. And highly recommended.

If you are looking for a light, fast, easy-to-learn party game for casual gamers, this game is a great one.

It is compact in size with eye-pleasing cards and colorful fields. The rules are simple to learn and it is very exciting if played fast. Greed in most of the cases will cost your birds while bold plays sometimes reward you with big surprises.

I find it fun to play with 3-6 players, with 3 players (each placing 2 cards a round) especially exciting. Each game is about 15 min. And we always want to play one game after another. Even playing 8 games consecutively won't bore the players.

This game has no long term strategies or abstract rules. Most of the time you play your cards by instant decisions, not after deep thoughts. But you can still master the game by briefly memorizing the cards played in each color, and keeping your foxes for later part of the game.

I have no complaint for this party game and it is a MUST-HAVE if you like playing quick card games with friends. Lots of fun guaranteed.