Game Review: Dirty Pig

One of my favorite things about playing games with my kids is seeing how excited different games make them. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but my 4-year-old, Lazarus, is drawn to games with a lot of “take that”. He absolutely loves playing cards to ruin other’s plans. And he takes it well when others do it to him too. He understands that it isn’t personal. It’s just the game. But man, the smile on his face when he plays a card to keep someone else from being able to win is like Christmas morning. I figured Dirty Pig from North Star Games would be a hit with my family, but I couldn’t have predicted it would be as popular as it.

Dirty Pig
Designer: Frank Babenroth
Publisher: North Star Games

Gameplay

This is such a simple game. As I said above, my 4-year-old loves it. The first player to have all of their pigs dirty wins the game. Each player has 3 cards in their hand with their double-sided pig cards out in front of them, clean side up. On your turn you play a single card, resolve its effect, and draw a new card to replace it. That’s it.

Dirty Pig cards are how you get your pigs dirty. If you play this card, flip one of your pigs from clean side to dirty.

There are two ways to clean your opponent’s dirty pigs. Farmer cards can be played to wash a single pig, flipping it back over to its clean side. Rain cards can be played to clean ALL dirty pigs in play.

Pigs can go inside the barn to take cover from the rain. Rain cards only clean any dirty pigs that are not inside barns. However, farmers can still go in to the barn to wash a pig.

So, if you have a dirty pig in a barn, they can shut the door to keep the farmer out.

However, a lightning card can be played to light the barn on fire. The barn is destroyed, and the dirty pig is no longer in the barn.

But, if the dirty pig is in the barn, with the door shut, they can put a lightning rod on top of the barn. If they do that, then the barn cannot be struck by lightning. So, a dirty pig, in a barn, with the door shut, and a lightning rod on top is fully protected and cannot be cleaned.

Sometimes players will need to keep their dirty pigs protected from various threats to win. Sometimes a player will just be able to have 3 dirty pigs out in the open to win. As soon as a player has all of their pigs dirty, the game immediately ends.

Theme

The theme is great. The premise of the game is that pigs are happier when they are dirty. This is something that a lot of kids can relate to. It’s fun to play in the mud and be messy. While barnyard animals aren’t a fully unique theme in children’s board games, the idea of making things messy in order to achieve victory is.

The humor and artwork are a perfect combination here. The game’s designer, Frank Bebenroth, also did the artwork for the game along with Katja Witt.

For Parents

I don’t know if I’ve ever played a more kid-friendly game. The game says Ages 6+, and that’s fair. What it boils down to is just a few things. Does your child know how to wait their turn? Do they know not to bend or mangle the cards?

While I did say that my 4-year-old son loves this game, the big reason he can play it as often as he does is because he always has someone older that knows how to set it up or remind him of the rules if he misplays something. But my 7 and 8 year olds are very capable to getting this out, setting it up, and playing it with no adult overseeing.

Because a large part of the game is luck based, depending on what cards you draw, the playing field is pretty level when I play with the kids as well.

Actions that allow players to stop their opponents instead of progressing themselves are often referred to as “take that” mechanics. In Dirty Pig, the Farmer, Rain, and Lightning cards fall in to this category. “Take that” actions can lead to hurt feelings depending on the child. I’m all for introducing kids to different kinds of games, and getting them to understand that just because I played this card to stop you from winning, doesn’t mean that I don’t want you to have fun. Kids are all different and learn this at different ages. My 4-year-old handles this very well, but my 5-year-old is more likely to get upset by this kind of thing. If your child isn’t ready for this kind of interaction in games, maybe hold off. But I think the humor in this one, especially the artwork showing the unhappy clean pigs, helps offset the potentially hurt feelings and can make kids laugh as well when their pigs are cleaned.

Final Thoughts

I got this game at Origins, about a month and a half ago. There is no game in my collection, new or old, that has seen the table as many times as Dirty Pig has since then. It’s fun to play with the kids, and play time is short enough that it never feels like it’s dragging. It’s one they can play with or without an adult. Which is a huge perk when the littlest ones are napping or other stuff needs done around the house.

I don’t think I would ever really get Dirty Pigs out as a primer to game night with peers or other adults. There are other strategic games that can be played just as easily with adults that are more mentally engaging. But this is a family game. As a parent who plays games with children, Dirty Pigs has already become one of my top family games because of its simplicity, humor, and quick set up time. I would recommend it to anyone who plays games with young kids.