by Gustav Eliasson, Silas Ulv Lundsby Grodin and Daniel Lundsby
The Goats have escaped the fold and are now lost in the woods!
You play as The Dutiful Goatherder, The Hungry Wolfpack, The Wicked Cultists or one of several other asymmetric factions. It is your goal to explore the forest and locate the goats. Whoever can find and claim them will decide their fate!
Presentation
- Duration: 30-90 minutes
- Player count: 2-4
- Language: Danish and English
In GOAT, you play as one of several unique factions, moving your pieces and searching through the woods for goats.
As you explore the hexes of the forest, you get to choose the orientation of any thickets there, hopefully setting them up for your own benefit. Then, when a goat is found, you must use your special abilities to set up the conditions that allow you to claim it. But you need to take into account the abilities of the other players as well, because they’ll be trying to foil your plans.
The Dutiful Goatherder, aided by his faithful dog, seeks to gather the goats to the sound of his bell and lead them safely back into the fold. His axe lets him cut through thickets, and if others get too close to his goats, he can scare them off with a healthy dose of buckshot.
The Hungry Wolfpack will eat any goats they catch. The scary Big Bad Wolf can take them down all by itself, but the Ravenous Cubs need the aid of a packmate. Together, they sneak through the woods, using their howls to scare prey into an ambush before they pounce on it.
The Wicked Cultists slink through the forest on their own, searching for goats and jumping at shadows. But if they gather together, they become a fearful force, rushing through the woods until the call to mass sounds – then, after sacrificing another goat, they sink back into the shadows from whence they came.
And as if those weren’t enough, there might be Meddlesome Neighbours, Ghastly Ghosts, a Wild Buck and others seeking the goats, each with their own approach, and each for their own purposes.
Once the entire forest has been explored and every goat has been claimed, the player who got the most of them wins.
About the designer
Here we bear witness to a normally shy creature known as Silas. Silas has recently been observed returning to an old habitat known as Fastaval, after a long absence since early childhood. Silas’ role within the pack, among other things, pertains to wielding intense light to generate wooden “tokens”. Silas has been seen taking an interest in games, puzzles, and computers. It is a common misconception that Silas is related to a wolf, this mistake is likely due to Silas’ middle name being “Ulv” which is the danish word for wolf.
Gustav is for the first time contributing a game to Fastaval instead of just making mediocre comedy sketches about them. He loves to tell stories and the DIY aspects of Fastaval culture. IRL he studies to write children’s fiction, plays music and hopes to contribute to the fall of capitalism. Gustavs name is a few letters away from Goat staff, which he hasn’t used yet.
This is Daniel’s second time at Fastaval in this decade – like last year, he’s here with a game, and like last year, it originated at PapJam. When not making games, he’s a professional adult, and when not doing that, he’s part of the team of fans keeping Doomtown alive (or Harrowed, at least). Daniel would never sacrifice a goat in real life.
