Where Have All The Chickens Gone? (Chupacabra: Survive the Night)

There are those who stalk the night, rumored to be created when one betrays another.  They travel alone, with glowing red eyes and long, sharp teeth.  Their claws are stronger than bone, and they are faster than any beast.  You know they are around when the cries of your goats are silenced, and when the blood is gone from them.  They are El Chupacarbas, the Chupacabra.  And there's one BEHIND YOU!



BACKGROUND:  Chupacabra: Survive the Night is a dice game for 2-4 players.  It was designed by David Blanchard, Brian Frodema, John Jacobsen, and artist Alex Fernandez, and was published by Steve Jackson Games.  Players take the role of a Chupacabra and attempt to steal other players dice and eat all the cattle.

GAMEPLAY:  Each turn, all players roll their dice, and sort them into types.  Starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player with a pair of red eyes, or a Chupacabra, attacks.  It takes 2 Chupacabra to take 1 Bull, or 1 Chupacabra to take 1 Goat or 2 Chickens.  Groups, or Herds, may never be broken apart, so in order to steal a whole Herdfrom one player, the player must use the equivalent number of Chupacabras, i.e., rolling 2 Chupacabras can be used to steal 4 Chickens from a player, if they have 3 or 4, but may not be used to steal if they have more Chickens.  Players may also not steal dice if they have already been stolen from another player.



LOCO:  Once all players have either attacked or passed, all players roll both their stolen and their remaining dice, and attack again with the next player going first.  If a player ever ends up rolling all Chupacabras, they go Loco!  They can now steal any Herd, regardless of size.

WINNING:  Once a player is out of dice, they are eliminated.  The winner is the last player with all the dice.

CONCLUSION:  Chupacabra is a typical Jackson dice game.  Simple, easy, and to the point, there's a good amount going for it to help break up a typical game night.  Just like C'thulhu and Zombie Dice, it's a game entirely build on luck.  Surprisingly, the biggest weakness I have with the game is not in the mechanics, but the dice themselves.  This is designed to be a dice game that glows in the dark.  Now while that sounds like a really clever and neat idea, in practice it's far more underwhelming.  The dice really are too small for the paint to hold much of a charge, especially the red eyes, so it can e hard to identify what is which animal.  The paint itself can fade pretty quickly, making it hard to know what the animal was to begin with even in the light.  So while the game is fine, I would suggest that if it interests you, buy the game and make your own dice that don't rub off.