Designed by Gordon and Fraser Lamont; published by Mayfair Games; 3 to 4 players; ages 10 and up; $27 (approximate).
The cute sheep pieces included with Shear Panic might tempt you to think that this is a light, fluffy game. But hiding behind all that wool is some deep strategy. The game starts with the nine sheep arranged in a square on the table. The sheep are marked with four colors, two of each color. The ninth sheep is the black sheep and starts the game in the middle.
Players have a collection of 12 moves they can use (five moves can be used twice each; two moves are only available once each). Depending where the flock marker is on the timer track, points are scored for different reasons. For example, in the first field players want their two sheep to be next to each other; in the second field, the goal is to be close to the black sheep. When the flock marker reaches the end of the track, a final scoring round takes place and the winner is the player with the most points.
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